There is a famous story of legendary football coach Vince Lombardi who, after his team lost a championship game the previous season, held up a football and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football,” kicking off the start of training camp and a new season in 1961.
Coach Lombardi understood the importance of basic blocking and tackling in winning games. That same concept, getting back to the basics, also applies to our scrum and agile teams. The principles and values we learn from the Agile Manifesto, SAFe, SBOK, and other bodies of knowledge provide foundations for lean-agile basics. Whether you are a Scrum Master, Product Owner, or team member, get back to basics to improve effectiveness.
Start with an evaluation of your team’s consistency and adherence to events (ceremonies): Iteration (Sprint) Planning, the Team Sync (Daily Standup), Backlog Refinement, Iteration Review, and the Iteration Retrospective. These events have specific agendas and timeboxes for a reason. They provide foundational activities that keep teams aligned, transparent, focused, and relentlessly improving.
Work as a team and objectively view how you follow the parameters for each event. Look to your Scrum Master or Agile Coach to facilitate your discussion and to refresh your understanding of the purpose of these events. Assess your team’s execution for each of these events and determine if adjustments are needed for any of these to be more valuable and make any changes if required.
These events support each other and are crucial to a team’s success with Agile. They are the blocking and tackling activities for Agile Teams. Ensure your team participates in each one.
If your team is struggling in the “Storming” phase of growth or needs to improve its effectiveness, go back to basics, starting with “This is Agile.”
