Running Agile

Kelp (kĕlp):

• Kelp are large seaweeds that grow in underwater forests (kelp forests) [...] It is known for its high growth rate — as fast as 2 feet a day, ultimately reaching 1oo to 250 feet high.

Kelp is one of the fastest growing plant in the world. You won’t see it grow, but after one day, you can easily measure the change.

Agile teams are like kelp. They produce fast. Really fast. You won’t see it if you stare at them (micro manage), but after a few iterations, you can easily measure the improvement.

My experience is that a team new to scrum (coached and running under the agile principles) will double throughout (as defined by 100% completed stories accepted by the client) within 3 months, quadruple (at least) within a year.

I have documented 2 examples recently:

1. a 80 people project done in 18 weeks (scrum of scrum framework), compared to another project of the same size executed by the same team (waterfallish process) in the 18 months. That’s a 400% throughput increase in a year and half.
2. a junior team of 6 people doubled throughput in 2 months by switching from cowboy coding to scrum

Is your team throughput also soaring?