It’s highly likely that, if you work in the IT industry, you’ve encountered Agile management. At Antologic we’ve been using Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) for some time to help create the best solutions for our clients, in e-commerce and beyond.
Naturally, the most common methodologies / frameworks are Scrum, Lean, Kanban, and XP. But Agile is not just used in software development. There are organizations around the entire world that implement all their processes in an agile way. The most famous are General Electric, Adobe and Yorkshire Bank. These companies represent completely different sectors, with vastly different functionalities, and they are not alone.
Last year’s report on the global use of Scrum, published by scrumalliance.org, indicates that government agencies, psychological counselling centres, and consulting companies also use this framework. Agile is, as we can see, not just for the IT world. It’s a mindset and methodology that can be applied anywhere. Because of this, it can help streamline management processes, regardless of sector. For more information about how Scrum has been adapted and used in situations outside of work, you can find some great blogs online. So finding out how this framework can be used in every day life is easily accessible. For example, take a look at http://www.scrumyourwedding.com/ for details about how this can be achieved.
In an unusual venture, organised by IT Corner, two of our colleagues were given the chance to test the versatility and flexibility of the Scrum approach. The task was to create a music video. In 2 days. Sounds like quite a challenge, right? Well, that’s exactly what we like at AntoLogic.
The 2 day workshop saw members of IT Corner invite their employees to participate in this challenge. From developers, to business coaches, musicians to film makers, all were invited to participate. Four teams were created, of people who have never met, and using the Scrum approach, they created a music video which showcased their musical talents.
Drummer Paweł
Guitarist Dawid
This is what our stars have to say about the project: Paweł
Before: I was very sceptical about these workshops in the context of working according to SCRUM. I thought that it would be good fun with instruments and music, but that SCRUM elements may not be suitable here. I knew the application of this technique only for the IT world and it was hard for me to imagine how it would work outside of the office.
After: SCRUM just works! I am extremely excited and positively surprised by the effects of its application to create a music product. A group of a dozen or so people, who had just met on the first day of the workshop, managed to cooperate extremely effectively for a very short time, strictly following the work schedule and SCRUM principles. That was enough to achieve great results in the form of a music video, and open our eyes to the versatile application of Agile.
and Dawid
When I heard that SCRUM-based workshops were to take place, during which we would be working on recording a musical piece, I was intrigued but sceptical. Having learned from previous experiences, it was hard for me to imagine the effective use of this methodology in the music industry, and in particular during the development of the whole arrangement of the song and rehearsals, where it would seem that the simultaneous and joint work of the whole band is simply necessary.
However, as it turned out, in the circumstances we had to face (very limited time and a large number of people who had never worked together before) SCRUM fit perfectly. It made it easier for us to plan and divide the work in terms of time and to avoid confusion related to the simultaneous work of many people (team leaders were responsible for communication between groups).
The whole event made me realise that the work methodology created to manage teams in the IT environment works equally well in other areas of life, and a well-designed backlog is capable of saving us a lot of time both at work and outside of it.
Want to see the results? Well, here’s the finished product:
Does Scrum need a better recommendation? We, at AntoLogic, already know the answer. Do you?
Author: Tomasz
