Work that doesn't add value to the product
Our cross-functional scrum team has the following expertise's to develop and maintain our 8 products:
Textile / Research / Design / Hardware / Software
However since we are a small company our team we are also responsible for many other areas which don't directly add value to our product like:
Project management / Ordering / Sending packages / Designing and create new office / Outsourcing work to partners / Sales / Promotion / Company Website / Congresses / Production.
At this moment we add all this work to the backlog, as this is the place where we want to manage all the work that needs to be done. This adds a lot of bureaucracy and complexity to the backlog and team. You could say we really evolved the process to something new.
I have the understanding that scrum is only meant for items that add value to the product. And that for example writing a proposal for a project (which can be a big chunk of work) should not be in the backlog. But on the other hand I also have the understanding that Scrum is flexible and can be adjusted per team (which would allow us to make this radical chance).
Is there a way this could be separated so that it becomes less bureaucracy and complex in which we could still manage our work? I can't really find online what it says over how work that don't directly add value to the product is managed. This work almost exceeds 50 percent of the work of the team. Does some wise scrum master have guidance for us?
Greeting Ivo
At this moment we add all this work to the backlog, as this is the place where we want to manage all the work that needs to be done.
What sort of “backlog” are you referring to, and who owns it?
I'm going to start with this statement you made, emphasis added by me.
Our cross-functional scrum team has the following expertise's to develop and maintain our 8 products:
One team working on 8 products is the first thing I'd question. I point out that Scrum has a Product Backlog not Products Backlog. Each Product should have it's own backlog and a Development Team works from a single Product Backlog. This is one of the biggest problems I see in your entire statement. You are not using a Product Backlog to track all of the work needed for a single product to increase the value derived from that product. This is how you arrived at your current practice of putting any and all work that an individual needs to accomplish into your Product Backlog.
It appears that you are using your Product Backlog as a time tracking system which is not the purpose of a Scrum Product Backlog. Your Product Backlog and the resulting Sprint Backlogs are for the purpose of tracking the value being added to a Product. It is obvious that your organization does not expect a Developer to be sitting at their desk working all day on just adding value to your product. So, why do you feel the need to track all that work? The Development Team should be able to estimate a Sprint Backlog from the Product Backlog that will result in an increment of value to the product that is possible for them to accomplish knowing what their full workload will be. I point out that I used the singular product throughout. One product, one backlog.
Scrum is a framework that helps teams navigate complex problems in order to deliver incremental value to a product. It is not intended to be a time tracking, task management system. There is a great deal of work that occurs to keep a business running that would not be considered part of the complex problems related to product value. Stop trying to force Scrum into solving something for which it was not designed.
If you want to use the same tool to manage all work done by people in your company, there is no reason that you can't. You are just using a tool. But you need to make a clear distinction what role Scrum plays in that work because, as you admit, not all of the work is related to solving problems related to value addition to your product.
So while I don't consider myself an expert Scrum Master, I will suggest that you step back and decide how your organization wants to manage work done for the purpose of adding value for your customers to the products you produce. Then you can identify how Scrum can benefit you in solving complex problems that add value for each of the 8 products. Not how Scrum can help you keep track of all the things that an individual needs to do for your organization.
Only 1 scrum team handling 8 products?