Scrum - the most popular Agile framework today - helps teams to embrace an incremental approach to value delivery. Incremental delivery means that work is delivered in smaller chunks of usable product, rather than in one giant delivery. It means that teams don't maintain a high inventory of half-done work. Instead, teams start something, deliver it, and then start on something else.
When I think about incremental delivery, I sometimes think that it is a lot like the inventory management practices used by many manufacturing companies for supply chain management.
The idea of Incremental delivery is central to Scrum's approach. When I think about the ideas behind incremental delivery, I sometimes compare it to just-in-time inventory management.
In manufacturing and supply chain management, inventory control involves managing raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP), and finished goods to meet customer demand while minimizing costs by keeping inventory as low as possible. Techniques such as Just-In-Time (JIT) and Lean manufacturing are intended to reduce excess inventory, thereby lowering storage costs and waste. The focus is on producing only what is needed when it is needed, which enhances responsiveness to market changes and reduces overproduction.
"Scrum is founded on empiricism and lean thinking. Empiricism asserts that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is observed. Lean thinking reduces waste and focuses on the essentials." - 2020 Scrum Guide
Scrum teams - like their manufacturing counterparts - limit the amount of work sitting on the shelf. The way this happens for a Scrum team is that the team plans and delivers work every Sprint. Because the Sprint is limited to one month or less, that means that at any given time, a Scrum team has an inventory of one month or less of in-progress work. This is one of the many ways in which Scrum teams implement lean thinking.
Why does it matter?
Scrum's lean approach has many benefits to the larger organization, from reduced waste to earlier realization of value.
Reduced waste: By focusing on completing tasks within each sprint, Scrum teams reduce the waste associated with context switching and partially completed work. This focus on finishing what’s started parallels Lean principles in manufacturing, which try to eliminate waste and maximize value.
Responsiveness: Scrum teams limit their inventory of in-progress work because in the real world, things change. Limiting the amount of in-progress work makes it easier for the Scrum team to change direction based on changing business needs. This adaptability is similar to a flexible supply chain that can quickly respond to shifts in market demand.
Faster Feedback: Regular feedback loops in Scrum encourage continuous improvement and quality enhancement, similar to how inventory control practices focus on maintaining product quality and refining processes. Techniques like Total Quality Management (TQM) in inventory control emphasize continuous quality improvement, ensuring products meet customer expectations consistently.
Reduced Risk: By delivering small increments regularly, Agile teams can identify and address issues early, reducing the risk of large-scale project failures. Similarly, maintaining lower inventory reduces the risk associated with holding obsolete or unsellable goods.
Improved Stakeholder Engagement: Frequent deliveries allow stakeholders to provide feedback continuously, ensuring the product evolves in line with customer needs. This continuous interaction is similar to maintaining strong supplier and customer relationships in inventory management, ensuring alignment and responsiveness.
Deliver value sooner: Because Scrum teams deliver value in smaller increments, this means that the organization can start to use what was delivered sooner than for teams using traditional approaches. This lean approach has been embraced in manufacturing as well, where organizations have found that by maintaining lower inventory, they can actually streamline processes.
Conclusion
Scrum’s incremental approach to value delivery shares many principles with inventory control practices. By keeping a lower “inventory” of half-done work, Scrum teams enhance their ability to adapt, reduce waste, and deliver quality products efficiently. This analogy not only highlights the practical benefits of Scrum but also underscores the universal applicability of lean principles across different domains. As organizations strive for greater efficiency and responsiveness, embracing these parallels can lead to more innovative and adaptable practices, whether in software development or supply chain management.
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