Venkat Guntipally’s Take on Scrum outside Software Development

A dynamic IT wizard, Venkat Guntipally has more than twenty years of experience in tacking the software development life cycle. His team-building skills coupled with a solution-oriented approach have helped him reach the top of his profession.

Guntipally held the position of Scrum Master in a Texas-based telecommunication company, AT&T Labs, Inc. He has versatile experience in dealing with projects from different industries including Healthcare, finances, and human resources using appropriate work methodologies including scrum framework.

A Scrum Master sounds like a role-playing game. However, it’s a serious and tough job that needs leadership qualities. As a scrum master, Venkat Guntipally is responsible for holding the true scrum framework, scrum team, product owner, and facilitating the organization process.

Scrum can help you if a list of tasks and a team that needs to achieve a result. According to Guntipally, Scrum is not a project management methodology but a social framework crafted to increase the efficiency of your team.

Here are some tips out forth by Venkat Guntipally if you are considering scrum practices with your non-software team:

· Each project should have the Scrum Master who ensures timely delivery of the project.

· The project should also have an owner who acts as the voice of the customer and has business decision-making powers.

· Work closely with the clients

· Look after the sharing culture and information transparency

· Use meeting notes, live dashboard for project updates, and arrange regular meetings

There is no specific blueprint for implementing Agile. It is sort of a playbook with the Scrum Master as the rule maker and should be used according to the requirements of your business, team, and project.

So, why go outside software? Venkat Gunitpally as an experienced scrum master believes this methodology helps in limiting the unnecessary upfront planning and focuses on the maximization of working. Moreover, allowing short-term priorities over long plans helps to focus on the important work. The team is more adaptable to changing needs of the business, market shifts, and customer demands.

Guntipally says that the scrum provides a predictable progress path. Results are produced regularly with weekly or monthly sprints as there is a plan at the end of every sprint. The scrum master as well as the team doesn’t get carried away with the ambiguous turnover time which keeps getting pushed.

Scrum Master, Venkat Guntipally enumerates some key factors that one wants to consider while adopting the Scrum framework, which are:

· Focus on high-quality work. Ensure that your work offers business value. It’s not just about completing task bit to provide real value.

· Realistic planning is a must. Guntipally mentioned, “Allot the task which is achievable in a given timeframe by the available team members.” Focused planning puts the right pressure on the team to achieve goals in the given time.

· Communication is the key. The scrum framework is designed to have your team interact effectively while getting things down.

Venkat has mastered the teams that have shown increased productivity and reduced time wastage by implementing the above aspects.

Guntipally sees Scrum as a blueprint with a loose framework. You can make it flexible for your team without losing the fundamentals. These fundamental tips from Venkat, could be a valuable reference for organizations looking to implement Scrum in their teams, in a completely different domain than software.