The effectiveness of Scrum at P2P
Scrum framework uses a holistic product development strategy of a team working together as a unit to reach a common goal and enables product teams to self-organize through communication and collaboration of all team members ( Cervone, 2011) . When Scrum was introduced at P2P, Kendra and the team were unfamiliar with its working and lacked an understanding of how to implement it. However, after attending a training workshop, the team managed to grasp its operation including all the necessary Scrum tools, concepts, and role. In this regard, the framework was working during the first part but started to faint in the second sprint when the project began to experience trouble. In the first sprint, the team started on the right foot, adhering to Scrum guidelines that helped in making significant progress on the project. The team had developed positive interactions and worked together towards achieving the goals.
However, Prem who was assigned as the Scrum Master misunderstood the position and led to the troubles in the second phase. While a scrum master is supposed to be a facilitator to the team, Prem reverted to being a task manager immediately a sign of trouble showed up during the second part of the project. He, therefore, affected the effectiveness of Scrum and reduced the creativity and productivity of the team. The positivity that had developed in the first phase disappeared, and the team seemed disintegrated from the project. He failed to help the team solve the problem on their own by becoming more assertive and telling them everything they needed to do ( Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017) . He seemed to make things worse for team members by taking control of the team away from the members, who no longer felt responsible for their tasks.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Was Scrum P2P the best choice for Agile Project Management?
Scrum P2P was the right choice to be introduced at P2P for the big foot project. When several teams combine to work on one product, there is a need to have a single product manager who can make overall decisions as well as a product backlog with customer-centric requirements ( Cervone, 2011) . The team is required to learn Scrum principles and coordinate with other members. Several reasons are explaining why the company was right to implement this framework and why Scrum P2P was the best choice for Agile Project Management. For example, the Big Foot Project had a small, co-located and cross-functional tea in mind, which made it suitable for implementing Scrum. The project also had a team of experienced and disciplined developers with the experience of working on a wide range of projects such as system upgrades, inventory control, customer database, billing, and GPS tracking. This team thus makes it suitable for implementing Scum.
The implementation of Scum P2P requires access to customers to understand their concerns. The Big Foot Project would make it possible to implement this framework. At the same time, the volatility of the situation at the moment needed Scum to help in bringing stability. The critical principle of Scum is the dual recognition that consumers are bound to change their minds regarding their preferences ( Schwaber & Beedle, 2002) . P2P was facing numerous challenges with a change in customer needs, and Scrum was suitable to facilitate this transition.
Should Kendra have spoken up to Prem Gupta and what would she have said?
This project was already plagued with some challenges such as an ineffective scum master, lack of motivation and interaction from the team members as well as changing of the product catalog. As such, it was the right move for Kendra to speak up to Prem Gupta on behalf of the team. The Scrum Master or Project Manager has a duty of facilitating the scrum process and resolve any impediments within the group ( Schwaber & Beedle, 2002) . The manager is required to act as a buffer between the team and any interference from outside. Prem had failed to keep the team together and guide it towards its goal, and someone was needed to eliminate the conflicts.
In this regard, Kendra was right to speak up to Prem Gupta correcting his actions and take the initiative to ensure the team does not lose its direction. Kendra had the responsibilities of keeping the operations of the team running within the prospective boundaries. She needed to ensure the team is focused on accomplishing the mission and satisfy the needs of the customers by eliminating any possibility of friction within the group. She should have also addressed the need for allowing autonomy in the group as one way of facilitating efficiency among the team members. The independence would allow tea members to solve problems on their own, thus creating self-organizing teams.
At the same time, Kendra should have spoken up highlighting the need for getting an active scrum master or product manager with the proficiency to guide the team and bolster the scrum process. Some improvements needed at the Prem include reestablishing the method that seemed to be working during the first break. Such ways include improving the interaction and commitment among team members.
Training a new project manager
When preparing a new project manager, the focus should be placed on understanding the role of a project manager that includes functioning as a facilitator rather than tax manager in guiding the team to stay focused on the overall goal of the project while removing any impediment on the way ( Larson & Gray, 2014) . In this regard, some of the messages that to pass to the employee include not focusing on the failures but always thinking of the ways to overcome an adverse situation.
A project manager should create a collaborative working relationship is also crucial in facilitating open communication at all levels, which is required to manage any issues and scope of change. Communication is essential for every team project to ensure all members are at par and working towards achieving the set goal ( Larson & Gray, 2014). As such, a project manager has to allow for contribution from all team members, listening to their opinions and integrating them in managing the project. A project should also maintain open communications with the stakeholders that include informing them in case of any errors in the operations and how they are being fixed. They should also strive to build a strong character with honesty and integrity that ensures accountability. Whenever there are conflicts, the project manager should address them promptly by discussing with all the involved parties to ensure they do not disrupt the operations.
References
Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2014). Project management: The Managerial Process . New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Schwaber, K., & Beedle, M. (2002). Agile software development with Scrum (Vol. 1). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Cervone, H. F. (2011). Understanding agile project management methods using Scrum. OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives , 27 (1), 18-22.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling . John Wiley & Sons.
