Means Of Communications For Collocated And Distributed Teams While Implementing Scrum

The scrum development team
The scrum team is the heart of any scrum based project. The development team is directly responsible for manufacturing the functionality linked with the particular project. The development activity is carried out by the team members during the iteration or the sprinting activity, which generally lasts for up to two weeks. It is very important for the team members to “jell” with each other, and collaborate, because it is a prerequisite while implementing scrum. The physical location of the team members plays a very important part while the sprint is carried out. In most cases, the entire development activity, and the sprint too, is carried out in a single location, or the same place – under the same roof. However, with the advent of off-shoring and using scrum for complex and extended product development, it may become necessary for the team members to remain located in different geographical locations owing to various reasons.
 

Advantages of having a collocated team 

For healthy scrum implementation, high level, and frequent communications are essential between the team members as well as the scrum master while the project is underway. It is generally preferred that the team members are collocated. Collocation means all the team members share a common development location, and even similar infrastructure, during the sprint. 

There are several advantages of being collocated:

• Questions can get answered quickly and easily
• Problems can be fixed “on the spot” with minimal wastage of time
• Less friction is created in the interactions of the team members
• Trust is availed and rendered much quickly

Means of communications for collocated and distributed teams participating in the sprint
It is important to communicate in an effective manner to improve collaboration. Several types of tools and methods can be used to improve the collaboration amongst team members.
 

Collocated teams 

Teams working in and sharing the same office.

Since the team members are located in the same premises the preferred methods of communications can be:

• Face-to-face
• Messaging utilities
• Internal chat tools

 Discussions pertaining to the scrum process can also be facilitated using:

• Meeting rooms
• Scrum boards
• Wall displays
• Shared tables

Distributed teams
Teams placed in different geographic locations.

Some of the tools recommended for communication purposes are:

• Video conferencing tools and hardware/software
• Instant messaging utilities
• Chatting utilities
• Social media tools
• Shared screens
• Remote access facilities
• Specialized scrum software which emulate the functionality offered by traditional scrum boards

The daily scrum meetings cannot be conducted in a traditional matter since all the team members cannot remain present in the same place owing to geographical distances. In such cases, remotely located team members should participate in the meeting using electronic and online facilities. It is important to set up a fixed meeting time so everyone included in the sprint can participate easily.
 

Find out more, and download our free QuickScrum tool which can help you in implementing scrum in an effective and profitable way!