Virtual Reality Meets Scrum: How a Senior Team Moved from Management to Leadership

The role of managers in a Scrum organization is a topic of high interest with almost no research. Changes in management roles and behaviors were evaluated in a rapidly growing, social entertainment and gaming company in Finland. Sulake introduced Scrum in 2006 and within 6 months institutionalized Scrum across the organization. The company was surveyed in 2009 and responses from 19 managers and 36 non-managers were carefully studied. The biggest challenges of Scrum for managers were keeping up with the team and learning to "let go" and stop micro-managing the teams. Managers report Scrum increases productivity (73%), increases quality (58%), and makes it easier to change direction (84%). The role of the manager changes from telling people what to do into communicating goals and visions (a key insight of Takeuchi and Nonaka [1]). Increased responsibility of the team affects hiring practices of managers in a Scrum company.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: HICSS
• Authors: Dina Friis, Jens Ostergaard, Jeff Sutherland
• Keywords: Biometrics, HICSS 2011, Managers, Scrum, Scrum Increases Productivity