In the fall of 2017, the AIM introduced the Scrum as a key operational mechanism in the company.
Having been used in software development and support around the globe for over 20 years, Scrum is a universally-applicable agile framework which can be used in various areas of activity.
We have decided to implement the Scrum in order to complete the tasks of the B2B markets.
Shortly after, we have seen that the new approach has revolutionized the entire work arrangement process.
Scrum helped us improve both internal system of the Analytics Department and the way we cooperate with our clients.
«In the early stages, even the customers sometimes have no clue what they wish to get in the end –the analysts claim. – There is only a rough idea that has to be eventually transformed into a technical assignment. Scrum allows coordinating the work with the customer in a flexible manner during project implementation, getting continuous feedback, while checking the value at every stage and possibly even cutting back on unnecessary portions of work».
«When implementing the projects, we, the analysts, believe that the stages of work that are more challenging for us are of greater importance. However, in real-case scenario, the client often values those portions of the project that require no major labor costs. So, the correlation between the analysts’ work and client’s requests is absolutely essential, whereas the teamwork makes it possible to allocate responsibilities, as well as timing budget and labor force».
The customers and their interests are the number one priority in the work of the Analytics Department. By applying Scrum, we are able to identify the client’s needs faster and offer relevant solutions.
Below is just a small portion of the Scrum’s advantages which we have felt ourselves:
- Flexibility in project implementation.
- Constant coordination with the customer (no pig in a poke type of situation, since the customer participates in the project).
- Solving both the client and contractor’s tasks.
- Distribution of roles for large projects.
- A freedom to act when executing the task (the contractor decides how to complete the task in a better, more efficient and timely manner).
Scrum turned out to be the most useful when implementing large analytical projects for complex industrial markets. The new system allowed to divide the extensive process of the task performance into sections, while staying in touch with the customer helped focus on implementation of the value requested by the client.
Needless to say, Scrum is largely a well-coordinated teamwork. When it comes to implementing the Scrum methodology, it is a challenge for the whole staff. Particularly, the team needs to have a complete set of competencies to be able to address the existing problems.
An analyst who joins the team that operates based on Scrum improves oneself and advances as a client-oriented professional three times faster than an independent analyst and ten times faster than a regular analyst whom all the grunt work is being dumped on.
Even though introducing Scrum - just like having any other fundamental changes in the team - doesn’t come easy, we are happy to see that implementing this system in our business activities has improved our performance and made our clients more successful.
