The majority is picking Scrum – does that mean that Scrum is the right choice?

According to State of Agile, 66% of all agile teams choose to work with Scrum – but does that mean that Scrum is the only right choice? That question is actually entirely faulty – ask instead what your challenges are when you are picking a framework.
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I am not afraid to admit it: I am a big proponent of Scrum. I have used that framework for many years, and I am also actively instructing other people in the use of it. Scrum is unquestionably a useful framework – no doubt about it. But on the other hand, I am certainly not fanatical about it.

As with all other things, it is healthy to ”eat with variety”. To spend time on looking at whatever else is possible in relation to working in an agile manner.  

You can do that with two purposes. To discover other agile practices that perhaps fit your team better regarding working with agile. You can also do it just to get some inspiration into an already functioning Scrum setup. Seeking inspiration in other frameworks, methods, and practices is incredibly healthy. There are many other practices that work really well in conjunction with Scrum.
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Take Kanban, for instance. There are none of the 6 practices in Kanban, that you cannot use alongside Scrum. If you want to be good at Scrum, it is essential that you also know what could support your Scrum setup, even if it is not necessarily in the Scrum Guide.

But what other practices do we use?

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A really good approach, if you and your team are considering new practices, is to flip it around. Start by finding out what is challenging you. Only after that should you look at which agile practices could possibly help you with solving your challenges.
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If we do not, we can easily fall into introducing agile practices just for the practices’ sake, and that can easily mean imposing unnecessary bureaucracy on our teams. Then we just add further time-wasting that does not add anything to our productivity.

A practice is an investment, typically investing the time or energy we put into the practice. What you always have to consider is whether or not the investment in time will give you a positive return. Otherwise, do not do it.

Maybe you even have to discontinue some practices…

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Once again, you can flip it around. Right this instant, do you have an practices that have been introduced on the wrong basis? Did you introduce unnecessary bureacracy? Then it is time to be brave and discontinue those practices!
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On the other hand, if you feel like you are missing practices to help you move further, remember to spend some time being curious about what is out there that can support your Scrum process, or any other frameworks you might be using.
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Earlier, I mentioned Kanban. If you are more curious about this framework, I have actually made an online course, where you can learn all about what Kanban can do, and what challenges the Kanban practices can help you with👇‍

‍Read more about the Kanban course

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