Project managers are the backbone of any development project. Their role is both strategic and tactical, which means that they need to be on top of everything happening in their projects at all times.
That’s why it’s so essential for them to be aware of what’s trending in scrum these days – because those trends will have a significant impact on how successfully they can execute their tasks!
The scrum methodology is an agile process that is constantly evolving and changing. So there’s always at least one new thing project managers need to learn about scrum if they want to keep up with the times!
This post covers the top Scrum Trends Project Managers need to know and how they can leverage them to their advantage.
Let’s discuss them in detail.
- Scrum Masters are now called Scrum Coaches.
In the past, scrum masters were responsible for facilitating and conducting regular meetings. They also helped with coordinating tasks between different teams involved in a project.
Today, though, Scrum coaches have a much more comprehensive range of responsibilities. For example, they need to facilitate sprint planning sessions and daily stand-ups and be available for coaching and training throughout the entire project.
It is why it’s so essential for them to have a deep understanding of what drives their team members – they must know exactly how each person on their team works best, which will allow them to provide optimal support.
On top of that, scrum coaches need to understand the technical aspects and provide valuable feedback about architecture, design, or general implementation.
For this trend in scrum management to work smoothly, companies should hire experienced professionals who have deep knowledge of different techniques and scrum tools used by development teams.
- Increased Focus on Automation
Thanks to automation, it’s now much easier for project managers who are running scrum processes in their development projects to keep track of everything happening inside the team.
With automated testing frameworks and continuous integration solutions, setting up a test suite can be done in minutes instead of hours – which means there’s more time for project managers to focus on other essential things.
Using automated testing services can boost the overall productivity of development teams by covering up common pitfalls before they’re even introduced in the production phase.
How can it help you?
- With all the testing automated, project managers can now conduct more frequent releases with lower risk.
- It also means that there’s no need for them to spend time doing the same stuff over and over again.
- Scrum has always relied on collaboration to produce excellent results, which is why it just made sense for automation tools to be built into the already existing scrum process.
- The Importance of Post-Release Monitoring
Thanks to continuous integration solutions, it’s now possible for developers and project managers to keep an eye on the production environment at all times.
It means that whenever a new release is about to go live, they can spot any potential issues with it ahead of time – which means fewer bugs in the final product and happier customers!
This trend in agile development is significant for companies who are working on highly complex solutions and applications. In addition, resource management software is also playing a pivotal role in monitoring post-release updates.
How can it help you?
- With real-time monitoring of your application, you’ll be able to spot issues as they happen and fix them immediately – which will provide a better end-user experience and reduce the chance of a security breach.
- Project managers will be able to spot any bugs or issues that occur in production within minutes.
- Many teams are now putting together scrum roadmaps. However, doing so requires them to look at things from a higher, more strategic perspective – which ultimately helps them make better decisions about their development processes and procedures.
- Scrum Teams are Now More Specialized
In the past, scrum teams were made up of generalists who had to manage all aspects of a project from A to Z.
However, nowadays, these teams tend to be more specialized – and that’s great news for companies running agile development processes!
Teams that include a variety of different specializations usually complete projects faster and with fewer mistakes. It also means that project managers have more time to conduct training, making their development processes even more efficient.
Why is it important?
The most important thing about agile is going from planning a product through its development and testing stages – without any significant hiccups along the way.
That’s why it makes sense for teams to have experts in certain areas of application design, architecture, or coding involved at every stage!
Some focus points that can help:
- With expertise, teams make fewer mistakes and errors. And that saves time and money when it comes to development.
- Scrum teams are utilizing more dispute resolution techniques.
- Not getting along with your teammates can put a real damper on things. It is why more scrum teams are now putting together conflict resolution procedures which they can use when dealing with interpersonal disputes within their groups.
- More Focus on Customer Feedback
In the past, scrum processes mainly were focused on completing sprints and delivering working products. However, a much bigger emphasis is placed on customer feedback, which means that project managers need to include it in their overall development strategy.
By using customer feedback throughout the development process, project managers can see whether or not their final product meets the needs of their customers. If they find that it doesn’t, they can make adjustments before releasing it.
How can it help you?
- By conducting regular user tests with real customers, you can spot potential issues with your product before releasing it – which means a lot less time spent fixing bugs and more happy users.
- It helps teams to address and resolve customers’ issues faster and with fewer mistakes. This process improves the customer retention rate and overall user satisfaction.
- The goal of implementing these scrum trends is to help companies deploy scalable, efficient, and reliable software. And with all the latest developments in automated tools, scrum teams are becoming more agile than ever.
- More Collaboration Between Stakeholders
A successful agile project collaborates between stakeholders, including product owners, scrum teams, and senior management. And that’s precisely why it makes sense to have more of these people involved with the development process!
By involving everyone throughout each step of the way – from design to release planning – you can ensure that all concerns are taken into account and ensure a smooth transition from concept to the product! In addition, teams are using advanced Gantt chart tools to track progress and provide seamless collaboration.
How can it help you?
Regular collaboration between stakeholders means that you can remove any potential roadblocks from your development process – which will help scrum teams complete their sprints faster and get new products to market sooner!
- It keeps your team and the stakeholders on the same page by ensuring that everyone has the same vision and works towards similar goals. IT helps avoid issues between scrum teams, stakeholders, or senior management – which ultimately reduces waste.
- Improvisations are easier to execute when stakeholders and the development team work collaboratively. When each is aware of the constraints and goals of the others, everyone stays on point.
- Companies that want to stay ahead of their competition would be wise to implement these trends into their development processes, saving time and money.
Wrapping up
In the end, agile scrum is all about making development processes more efficient – which means that project managers need to be extra careful with every single aspect of it.
These scrum trends will help you with that! Scrum is becoming increasingly popular in the development world, and it’s probably due to all of these fantastic benefits. Consequently, more companies are also utilizing scrum software to make things run even smoother – which speaks for itself! Implementing these scrum trends is an excellent way for any company.
That’s why they should always focus on keeping an eye out for any new trends that might benefit their projects.
Author Bio: Martin Luenendonk is a 3x serial entrepreneur with a deep passion for digital business models and marketing innovations. He is the Founder of cleverism.com and founderjar.com
