Everyone take a sigh and a breather. Sometimes I think you need it. I do.

A few years ago, when I was still starting out using Scrum, I got this idea that Scrum could be used outside of the IT world. And even the “business” world.

So I posted this. And it has generated a lot of comments and thoughts over the years. People have even organized weddings using this technique.

I tried to implement it at home. So have others.

Over the years, we have been able to do this with some sort of success.

Is it totally Scrum?

Nope.

Can I still talk about it?

Sure. And I hope even one of you walks away with an idea or two about how (or how not) to implement this at home.

Go out an buy yourself a white board, some markers, and some index cards. If you want to go really gung-ho, get those large wall-sized sticky-note-pads.

Start your Product Backlog.

Could be like the cartoon… but I am sure there are other things that need to get done.

Remember.

This Product Backlog continues to evolve and change. Anyone can have input into it.

Anyone.

Now. Also remember….

There is one Product Owner.

Only one.

Really.

Your Product Owner is responsible for prioritizing this list before each meeting. We wind up now calling them “family meetings” to keep it non-IT centric.

Our Sprints are supposed to be week-long. They do not work out that way in reality. And, we have a tough time with the demarcation between the Product Backlog and the Sprint Backlog.

Reality sucks some times, eh?

Deal with it and move on. This is your family… not a company (smile).

Talk about the Sprint Goal and what User Stories (don’t jump right to the tasks!) need to be done. THEN define the tasks and have family members help figure this out.

You can assign story points and hours.

You can track your progress via a burn down chart.

You can then have your Sprint Review.

And a Retrospective.

It can be fun.

And…. stuff actually can get done.

Like at work when Scrum is working “right”.

So.

This is great. Right?

Maybe you are implementing Scrum today at work. Maybe you got a good laugh about the idea of running Scrum outside of Work.

But.

Think about the world outside of IT.

Your business.

You know, the thing that creates customers who pay your salary?

What can you start doing differently using Scrum today?

Heh.

Gotta run….

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