• Agile & Scrum Basics

How does an Agile team work? A rock band as an example

Why Agile working and why Scrum?

Fast and frequent delivery and learning

We never rehearse and yet we agree on at least 1 new song every gig. Everyone picks that at home and as soon as Bob (the drummer) taps out we play the song live in the show. Here we always go for an MVP (minimal viable product, also called the minimal version that has customer value). As we’ve played the songs more at other gigs, we add bells and whistles. But the focus is always on new songs. So only when we have time and space to spare do we pimp the other songs.

A new song every gig keeps our repertoire very current. And should we pick a song that doesn’t catch on, we just throw that song out. Compare that to bands who rehearse for six months on a set and find out at the first gig that their concept sucks. Incidentally, not rehearsing and playing live immediately also ensures that we as a band don’t get stuck in a comfort zone, where we play everything in front of them, but stretch ourselves. That challenges us. And admittedly, if we fail once, the panic zone also hits for a while. We learn from that.

Set list is not in concrete

Every gig we start with a setlist consisting of 2 parts. 1 before and 1 after the break and in the back of our minds the product vision: turn the tent upside down. Let’s call the setlist our backlog. It’s not set in stone, of course. If we notice after set 1 that the venue needs a different energy than the songs on the set list can bring (does your first version of your product hit yes or no), we’ll throw things around during intermission(retrospective). Anything to make sure we connect with the product vision. When we start playing songs that are not on the set list, we do it in commitment (on the sprint backlog) with each other. Only when we give a GO with each other do we change the set with new songs.

A rhythm to sustain for a long time

If we wanted to, we could hit the boards at least once every week. Our sustained rhythm is that we play once a month. At most 2 times, if it fits into everyone’s schedule. This way we keep it fun for ourselves and for the whole area.

The T-shaped self-organizing team

We are all T-Shaped team members. Everyone plays an instrument and sings. But it doesn’t stop there. To run a band, more work has to be done. Bob handles technology in addition to drums. Alex plays bass and is the band’s musical conscience and promoter. On guitar we have Frank. He takes care of flashy repertoire and finances. I also rattle some guitar and do the bookings.

We are self-organizing. There is no manager or someone who decides everything. We do that together. From the scrum roles, Frank is the Product Owner who always comes up with visions for new songs and monitors the concept. I fill the role of Scrum Master and provide some extra oil between the wheels. But actually that role on this team is minimal and perhaps even redundant. It often takes care of itself.

How agile is your team? Do you manage to give hands and feet to the agile principles and mindset? Look at your team as a band. What are the similarities to the above account? What do you take away from it? What is not yet successful and will you tackle differently tomorrow?

Need help?

Why Scrum? Why Agile? During our Agile Coach Training you will learn how to put agile principles into practice. You will develop a toolbox that guides teams to an ultimate agile mindset and ownership, so that with agile working their talents are used to create the best for the customer and end user. Read more on the Agile Coach Training page.

Continue reading here in part 2

The photo was taken by Vincent Basler. Our in-house photographer.