Skip to main content

What if Agile/Scrum does not make sense?

Last post 03:19 pm April 24, 2017 by Melissa Ritts
3 replies
12:30 pm April 21, 2017

Is there a time or situation where Agile and/or Scrum do not make sense?

Looking at a team who is a BAU sort of team. They produce work on a monthly basis that is consumed and output, but this is not new development type stuff. They are not delivering new functionality or new software. They have very fixed deadlines for when things need to be completed within their processing window. 

I'm having trouble seeing the benefit of changing the way this team works.

Also - they are not 100% dedicated to this product and also perform 24/7 on-call rotation schedules supporting 2 other products.

Please share your thoughts.


04:53 pm April 21, 2017

Yes, there are situations where Agile or Scrum do not make sense.  Agile is not a magic bullet.  Many projects benefit from Agile, but not every project does.



I would first question whether you're running a process or a project.  Are you creating a unique deliverable that generates an increment of value, or are you delivering a finished product at the end of each Sprint, and repeating it indefinitely?  If it's the latter, what benefit does an iterative framework give you over a clearly defined process/workflow?

I would also ask you whether your teams will benefit from being self-directed and value-oriented.  If a static, ordered checklist is conducive to maximizing client value, then what benefits would you gain or give up by making it dynamic?


08:33 pm April 21, 2017

The very first line of the Scrum Guide says "Scrum is a framework for developing and sustaining complex products".

What does that tell you about the situations for which Scrum might not be appropriate? What might the implications be for the BAU work you describe?


03:19 pm April 24, 2017

Thank you both for your input. I am of the opinion that Scrum will not work well for this team, but Kanban might. Their release schedule is based on the day of the month, so even trying to fit Scrum within their schedule would be difficult. The Definition of Done would change with every sprint.

But Kanban might give them the flexibility they need to deliver but also to increase transparency and progress.

To Jason's point, this is a process, not a project. 

I'm meeting with the PO later today to discuss.


By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.