Scrum@Scale Case Study

Case Study Summary 

In “Providing Service Members with Capability Faster”, learn how Registered Scrum@Scale Trainer Denise Jarvie guided a Department of Defense (DoD) contractor to improve their agility and velocity in the critical area of weapons system development, while still complying with government requirements and regulations. The U.S. military needs superior technology delivered at a rapid pace, but heavy regulation and reporting requirements, coupled with traditional ways of doing work, made it impossible for the contractor to keep up with this demand. Denise facilitated a new way of working between the DoD and the contractor to increase collaboration and align development to deliver better products faster.

SUMMARY: Reorganization Rather than Agility-Stifling Regulation

The DoD customer needed the contractor to expedite the development and fielding of capabilities to address urgent warfighter needs, but the contractor was blocked by traditional project management, regulation, and reporting requirements.  The contractor didn’t understand Scrum, or how it could be used in the defense industry while still maintaining compliance with government requirements. In the meantime, other defense contractors were adopting Agile and outpacing their organization. By all means, this DoD customer needed Scrum for providing service members with capability faster. 

The contractor had a very detailed Earned Value Management System Description and lower-level procedures, both of which hindered agility. They received a waterfall Work Breakdown Structure from the DoD and had to adhere to traditional System Engineering Technical Reviews at milestones. The teams also had very detailed plans and were not able to decide “how” to execute the work or easily make changes to the plan. Additionally, there was little involvement from the DoD customer in roadmapping, backlog development, and incremental and technical reviews. Due to their lack of agility, they were falling behind other more Agile-focused defense contractors. Scrum@Scale provided the solution to becoming more Agile while still meeting government requirements.

The Solution: Customer Communication for Velocity & Innovation

Denise trained both the contractor and customer in the basics of Scrum. Leadership and the teams began to communicate with their customer – even before Independent Business Review – about the Agile approach the team planned to use. They also developed a common language and cadence for interaction to improve communications and cause fewer misunderstandings. Both the contractor and customer knew what to expect at events such as the Release Backlog Reviews. Furthermore, the feedback loop improved significantly, as Registered Product Owners spent time with the customer and the team demonstrated capability to the customer’s technical leads. It became easier to adjust the big-picture plans through roadmap reviews and fine-tune product requirements based on iterative testing and stakeholder reviews. By implementing Scrum@Scale and Agile practices, velocity and innovation improved, while still maintaining compliance with government regulations. They were able to meet the DoD’s need for superior technology delivered at a rapid pace.

Outcomes from Implementing Scrum@Scale

This new Agile way of working allowed the contractor to provide the rapid development of the Warfighter capability the DoD needed, as both the contractor and customer learned how to implement Scrum@Scale practices.

• To begin with, the contractor started using test-driven development and demonstrated a working product every sprint.
• A healthy team architecture was developed.
• Both the contractor and customer were trained in Scrum@Scale.
• A common language and work cadence was also developed.
• The feedback loop was significantly improved.
• Additionally customer participation increased, with the DoD customer involved in road mapping, backlog development, and reviews.
• Agile events, artifacts, and roles were implemented, but compliance with government regulations was maintained.
• Increased agility undoubtedly led to increased velocity and competitiveness in the defense market.

Who Is Denise Jarvie

Denise Jarvie is an innovative, Registered Agile Transformation Director who leads with authenticity, awareness, and confidence. She has over ten years of experience using Agile development approaches in complex, highly regulated environments. Denise is passionate about transforming the way people work and developing capability at the speed of relevance. She is a leader of large-scale Agile transformations resulting in the successful expansion of Agile Operating Models. Denise takes pride in being a strong change agent with deep knowledge of Scrum, and a proven mastery of product development and goal-setting frameworks.

Denise is a Registered Scrum Inc. Scrum Trainer, Certified SAFe 5 Program Consultant, Registered Scrum Master, and Registered Product Owner who can train and certify in both the Scrum@Scale and Scaled Agile Frameworks. She is proficient in the use of Agile-EVM techniques and maintaining compliance on DoD and other large contracts.

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