Is It Possible To Use Scrum For Developing Non IT Based Projects? If So, How?

Scrum for non-IT based projects?

Whenever people talk about scrum, they mean a methodology which is capable of adapting to changing development environments, and time bound delivery. Since a very long time, for as long as a decade, scrum has been synonymous with IT development. People tend to think about IT projects when ever scrum is mentioned. The old school of thought often failed to think about scrum as capable of dealing with projects other than IT development. The promoters of scrum rarely though about using scrum for production based or manufacturing related processes. This attitude created many hurdles in making scrum methodology popular in the initial years. Even now, scrum is more popularly associated with IT related development projects. 

Over the years, the question which has always kept on popping up is “Can scrum be used for projects other than IT?” It is a good question to answer, because a lot of confusion has been prevailing regarding scrum, and how it can be implemented for projects other than those which are information technology based.

Scrum framework versus waterfall methodology 

Whatever the product or manufacturing process may be, business owners and companies are always pressed to bring in products which are efficient, easy to produce, and which consume very little manufacturing time. One of the biggest concerns for the development team is catering to the changing market conditions and trends. More than often, the primary objectives and functionalities associated with a particular product to be manufactured may lose its importance and market value. This may happen if a newer version or product is launched which offers a better pricing and added feature, which is not present in the product being developed. 

Traditional waterfall methods fail miserably when the product definition is changed overnight. This is where scrum can score, since the framework is specially developed to incorporate changing development related conditions. Theoretically speaking, regardless of the type of development, scrum can be successfully implemented to produce any type of product or goods. It can be successfully implanted in various fields dealing with market segments such as government and education, including a wide range of industries encompassing automotive design, venture capitalism, and retail.   

Co-relating scrum with traditional development processes – Is scrum feasible?

Implementation of scrum requires a lot of imagination. Even though scrum methodology rules are simple and straightforward, they have to be implemented properly to be effective. No two development projects are alike. What works well in a particular project may not prove to be quite effective in another. This is where the imagination comes in. Scrum projects have to be molded in accordance to the project’s particular requirements. While project managers have been making minor changes to mold IT based projects to suit scrum, it should not prove to be very difficult to implement scrum in non-IT based projects. 

The basic rules of scrum remain the same, irrespective of what product is to be developed or manufactured. For non-IT projects, the product assembly list might be substituted with a product backlog while the actual assembly process could be carried out in the form of sprints. Instead of a supervisor or a production manger supervising the assembly process, the scrum master might overlook the implementation of scrum. The implementation can be carried out using a single sprint, or if required, multiple teams could carry out individual sprints to suit the manufacturing process. 

Implementing scrum for non-IT projects may not prove to be so difficult if you have the inclination and the foresight to correlate traditional manufacturing process with scrum methodology.     

Find out more, and download our free QuickScrum tool which can help you in implementing scrum in an effective and profitable way!