Scrum for Home???
Having just recently acquired my Scrum Master certification, I posed a question in my social networks on whether or not a Project Manager can also function as a Scrum Master on the same project. I got some thought-provoking and very helpful responses–one of which was a link to a discussion on the subject at LinkedIn.
The best response I got, however, was not an aswer–it was a comment shared by my son and husband. The comment was: Oh no, now we’re going to have a Scrum Master in addition to a Project Manager at home!
I guess I’ve PMBOK’ed my family out. It had never occured to me that creating project plans for my son’s school and home deliverables were a bit much. I swear I had good intentions when I regularly send my husband and son tasks in Outlook with due dates in an effort to manage our family life. I had no idea the nag emails they got when tasks weren’t completed by the due dates were somewhat extreme. What’s a Type A mom/PM supposed to do?Today I demo’ed my deliverables (chocolate chip cookies and a healthy meal) for this week’s sprint (see pictures below) and the Product Owners were happy. Obviously, we had to mod the framework a little bit to fit the sitch. We do our sit downs (as opposed to stand ups) at dinnertime when we update each other on what we did today, what we’re doing tomorrow, and what’s standing in our way.
As to the question of whether or not a PM should also be a Scrum Master, I would say it depends. But what I do know is that at home, Scrum can play an important role in creating a healthy, productive environment for the family.
Note: I signed up for the Scrum Master Certification course here: http://www.danube.com/training.
Project Management the Unusual Way, Scrum for Home
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientiousness
Yoko and I have used Scrum on and off at home. Usually we use our default process, best described as "hope for the best." When we were overwhelmed with changes and needed prioritization and clear goals, we've used PostIt notes + corkboard or ScrumWorks, then reverted to old habits when everything settled down.
A friend of mine has five kids, one of them developmentally disabled. He told me he and his family always use a Product Backlog plus taskboard. Maybe when our own daughter gets old enough Yoko and I will use Scrum at home more often. I doubt ours will ever look as neat as yours does… order was never my forte.
–mj
MJ–
Thanks for the comment. Great to know I'm not alone on this one.
Jenn
[...] geeignet scheinen wiederkehrende Aufgaben wie der wochenendliche Putzplan, ein gemeinsames Essen in Familie oder der bevorstehende Besuch des Weihnachtsmanns zu [...]
I’m only going off the English translation of your website but it looks like you’re doing a good thing here: using Scrum for schools and children. Way to go!