Zombies of Scrum

Written By Allison Pollard

Photo by Dave Mathis

You’ve probably seen it: a team that has a standup meeting each day to provide status updates. A team that demos their work to stakeholders but rarely receives real feedback or changes. A team that works in “sprints” but may or may not have potentially releasable product at the end of the timebox. And the team is ok with this state of being.

I feel like these are the zombie teams of Scrum. Teams who have Scrum events but are not getting the value of them. They have lost sight of the pillars of empirical process control—transparency, inspection, and adaptation—and fallen into a mode of rinse and repeat instead.

These teams need a refresher on Scrum. Feedback. A purpose.  I coach teams out of their zombie state so they are more engaged and productive.

Let’s keep zombies where they belong—dancing in classic music videos:

Allison Pollard

Allison Pollard is a coach, consultant, and trainer who brings the power of relationship systems intelligence to go beyond tasks, roles, and frameworks to create energy for change. She engages with people and teams in a down-to-earth way to build trust and listen for signals to help them learn more and improve. Allison focuses on creating alignment and connection for people to solve business problems together. Her experience includes working with teams and leaders in energy, retail, financial, real estate, and transportation industries to help improve their project/product delivery and culture. Allison currently volunteers as program director for Women in Agile’s mentorship program. Her agile community focus is championing new voices and amplifying women as mentors and sponsors for the next generation of leaders. Allison earned her bachelor’s degrees in computer science, mathematics, and English from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), a foodie, and proud glasses wearer. Allison is a prolific speaker at professional groups and international conferences, including Scrum Gatherings and the Agile Alliance Agile20xx conferences. Allison is co-owner of Helping Improve LLC.

http://www.allisonpollard.com
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