Scrum is a framework that focuses on empiricism. It’s main pillars to do so are: transparency, inspection, adaption. Creative leadership is all about inspiring and motivating team members to be their best and come up with innovative solutions. When you combine these two approaches, you get a powerful tool for driving innovation and achieving amazing results. Here’s how scrum and creative leadership can work together to create a winning team.
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The benefits of combining scrum and creative leadership
1. Allow team members to be more flexible and adaptable to change
One of the benefits of scrum is that it allows team members to be more flexible and adaptable to change. This is because the scrum methodology is all about constant iteration and improvement. When you add creative leadership into the mix, team members are even more empowered to come up with new ideas and solutions that can help the team succeed.
2. Encourages collaboration and continual improvement
Another benefit of combining scrum and creative leadership is that it encourages collaboration and continual improvement. With scrum, team members are constantly working together to improve the product or service that they're developing. With creative leadership, team members are encouraged to share their ideas and help each other grow. This combination of collaboration and continual improvement helps teams to achieve their goals more quickly and efficiently.
3. Driving innovation
Combining both practices is a great way to drive innovation. With scrum, team members are constantly coming up with new ideas and solutions. And with creative leadership, team members are inspired to push the boundaries and come up with even more innovative solutions.
4. Helping leaders inspire and motivate their team members
Finally, it can help leaders inspire and motivate their team members. With scrum, leaders are constantly looking for ways to improve the team's performance. With creative leadership, leaders are able to inspire and motivate their team members to be their best and come up with innovative solutions.
Get the most out of scrum and creative leadership
Here are a couple of tips to get the most out of combining scrum and creative leadership.
1. Encourage collaboration
One of the key principles of scrum is team collaboration. All team members need to be encouraged to work together to achieve the best results. Creative leadership also relies on collaboration, as it's often only through teamwork that the most innovative ideas are generated.
2. Encourage creativity
Another key principle of scrum is continual improvement. Team members should always be looking for ways to improve the way they work. Creative leadership also encourages creativity, as it's through this that new and innovative solutions are found.
3. Focus on results
Both scrum and creative leadership place a strong emphasis on results. The team should always be focused on achieving the goals that have been set.
4. Encourage open communication
Open communication is essential for both scrum and creative leadership to be successful. Team members need to feel comfortable sharing their ideas and thoughts with each other. This open communication will help to ensure that the best solutions are found.
- Brainstorm sessions
Combining creative leadership and agile scrum is a great way to facilitate brainstorming sessions. These sessions allow team members to share their ideas and work together to come up with innovative solutions
- Team reflection and feedback
Encouraging team members to provide constructive feedback and reflect on their work is another effective way of combining agile scrum and creative leadership. This helps team members to learn from their mistakes, improve their processes, and come up with more innovative solutions.
5. Be flexible
Both scrum and creative leadership require a certain amount of flexibility. This means that team members need to be able to adapt to changes quickly. It also means that the team should be willing to try new things, even if they haven't been successful in the past.
6. Encourage continual learning
Another key principle of scrum is continual learning. This means that team members should always be looking to improve their skills and knowledge. Creative leadership also encourages continual learning, as it's through this that new ideas are generated. Some examples of how these two come together are:
- Regular knowledge sessions
Team members can share their experiences and learn from each other. When these sessions are combined with agile scrum, team members can learn from each other and come up with new solutions that are based on their collective knowledge.
- Proof of concept work
When proof of concept work is included in your sprints, team members can test their ideas and come up with innovative solutions quickly. This helps to ensure that the team is always working towards the best solution for the current situation.
7. Be open to change
Both scrum and creative leadership require a certain amount of change. This means that team members need to be able to adapt to new situations quickly. It also means that the team should be willing to try new things, even if they haven't been successful in the past.
8. Encourage innovation
The final key principle of scrum is innovation. This means that team members should always be looking for ways to improve the way they work. Creative leadership also encourages innovation, as it's through this that new and innovative solutions are found.
The challenges of combining and creative leadership
While there are many benefits to combining scrum and creative leadership, there are also some challenges that need to be considered.
1. Working remotely
One of the main challenges is that it can be difficult to encourage teamwork and collaboration when team members are working remotely. It can be hard to build trust and rapport when you're not face-to-face.
However, during the pandemic, most of us have learned that working with a remote team is doable and asynchronous meetings can also be an effective option.
2. Result-driven approach
Another challenge is that creative leadership can sometimes be at odds with the focus on results that is central to agile scrum. This is because the creative process often involves taking risks, which may not always lead to the desired results. Using the before mentioned proof of concept work can mitigate some of the risk involved in this.
3. Linear thinking
One of the challenges of scrum is that it relies on linear thinking. This means that team members need to be able to think in a step-by-step way in order to complete the tasks that have been assigned to them. However, creative leadership often relies on thinking outside of the box, which can be difficult to do when you're restricted by linear thinking.
4. Time constraints
Another challenge of scrum is that it can be difficult to encourage creativity when there are time constraints in place. This is because the creative process often takes time and effort, which may not be possible when team members are under pressure to complete tasks quickly.
Things to take-away
- Combining scrum and creative leadership can have many benefits, but there are also some challenges that need to be considered.
- A balance needs to be struck between the focus on results and the need for creativity.
- However, when done correctly, the combination of these two approaches can lead to more innovation and better results.
