Scrum Flexibility: Navigating the Boundaries of Agile Modification

Published on: September 06, 2021
Last updated: December 20, 2025 Read in fullscreen view

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Modifying Scrum – is it allowed? Yes, and, No.

The Scrum model is very well defined. It works for a reason. Many have modeled it for us before. Any modification you make you are risking doing Scrum half way or being in a what I call Scrum-isch scenario in which case you may miss the actual benefits of Scrum.

However every team has different, unique needs. Start out by integrating the process as clean as possible, do it by the book, and do it for a while. Then observe and listen to feedback from the team.

Ask yourself: What is the person/team struggling with, and why? What are the underlying causes?

Be selective about what modifications you are considering to make. It's typical for people to object to new processes and structure in general, so you will have to separate the standard complaints about the process overall, stand by the argument of why it is useful to keep the process clean and investigate the generic “the process does not work” comments for the actual underlying cause. If you do that, and you still find that there are indeed some minor nuances of the process that could be changed based on recommendations without impacting the larger structure, then by all means do it.

The problem with Scrum is that it is so perfectly pre defined, that people have done it for so long now and know it works, that it leaves no space for a team to be part of the creation process any more. It seems as if you are forcing people into a process they had no say in. Of course it is that way for a reason. Can you imagine the chaos if we created our own process based on everyone's wants and needs? It makes sense for process oriented people to see the benefits of a template, but psychologically it does not work for everyone. Some team members always want to feel that they have a say in what their every day work structure looks like.

Modifications of meeting days/times should always be an option for the team to decide on as a whole. Meeting length for sprint kick ofs is another one that can be modified. Initially you will need 4 hours, but over time as you become more efficient with the team, perhaps there is an opportunity to change it. If you end early often, this is a good indicator that you are ready to reduce the meeting time. I wouldn’t recommend going below 2 hours for kickoff meetings or else you are prone to rush through your items and don’t allow the time needed to drill into the stories deep enough. Overall the message should be that the time invested in the Scrum meetings is time well spent.

Ask the team what format they want to follow for the retrospective? Shall the group use a spreadsheet for tracking of action items or just talk free form in the rounds about how the sprint went?

Can we please sit down in stand ups? I know - it couldn't be more obvious than calling a meeting a "stand up" - however I get asked this all the time. So, I passed the question back to the team. If the majority would want to sit I feel we could compromise on this, even though there are clear benefits to standing. So far it hasn't been the majority who want to go this route, only one or two. So we stand. At least we asked.

How to track velocity may not be something you easily want to change since it takes several sprints to accumulate an average velocity in either metric and is an important artifact to plan and measure on a company level.

When making changes, keep in mind that anything can be a trial. Agree to try something new, just the tiniest thing and then change it again if it doesn’t work. Discuss at retrospectives. With that you are applying one of the top Agile principles of “inspect and adapt” to the process and are modeling what you are teaching.

Remain open and listen. Rather than having to refer back to Scrum rules and use the "this is how it is" expression, in my experience it is better to let the team come to their own realizations of the benefits of the structure of the process as it is. And sometimes that can only happen if you change it.

About the Author

Judith Basler, MBA

Program & Project Management

I am a creative operations leader with many years of experience supporting product development teams in various sectors. I spent the last 4.5 years at Meta working in Integrity and Responsible Innovation, instating company wide principles and furthering the understanding of how to produce products that are more ethical and inclusive. Once I started focusing on Product Ethics I never could look back, everything I do I view under the lens of product equity, trust and safety. I am convinced that educating people and developing an operations process that is inclusive of responsible innovation checkpoints can fundamentally enhance the positive impact a product has on society and minimize the negative consequences. I am excited for the opportunity to partner with anyone who wants to put actionable changes in place.

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