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Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 6de5b3dd04fbbd1a2fbb47b716530a099d63212f9eb52ef189d8ba18c0401493

# Is Scrum Right for Us?

Teams test core Scrum mechanics through a fast-build challenge, a visual task board, and a timed stand-up. They evaluate the experience and decide whether to run a trial sprint or adopt other work habits.

**Time:** 115 minutes. 115 minutes total. WorkshopBank outlines a 2-hour agenda; this run sheet budgets 115 minutes across 6 structured steps.
**People:** 4 to 24. Subgroups of 3 to 4 for the build exercise. Intact working teams of 4 to 8 for the task board, stand-up, and decision. For groups larger than 8, run 2 or 3 parallel team boards with a shared room synthesis.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Experience key Scrum practices directly so a team can make a grounded decision on piloting the framework.
**Use it when:** Use when a team faces project drift, unclear weekly progress, or wants to explore agile practices before committing.
**Skip it when:** Skip when team members work purely as independent solo contributors with no shared deliverables, or when leadership has already mandated Scrum without team input.

## Materials and tools

- Flip chart easel pads and blank wall space
- Standard sticky notes (3x3 inch, 2 pads per subgroup of 4)
- Broad-tip marker pens (1 per participant)
- Drafting supplies for build challenge (blank paper, index cards, tape, 1 kit per subgroup of 4)
- Digital countdown timer
- Action plan template poster or printed copies (1 per intact working team)

## Before participants arrive

1. Arrange tables for subgroups of 3 to 4 people.
2. Set up a task board with columns To Do, Doing, and Done for each intact working team (1 board for groups up to 8; 2 to 3 boards for larger cohorts).
3. Prepare a flip chart titled Questions and Concerns near the entrance.
4. Prepare a flip chart titled Reflections with columns: Helpful, Not Helpful, Unsure / Questions.

## Say this to open

Today we are testing whether Scrum practices feel useful for our work, not committing to a framework forever. We will simulate short sprints, visualize our current tasks, try a mini stand-up, and decide together whether to pilot this or take another path.

## How to run it

### 1. Frame purpose and capture initial concerns (10 minutes)

Deliver the opening script. Ask: 'What questions or concerns do you have about Scrum?' Invite participants to call out or write one concern on a sticky note. Post these notes on the Questions and Concerns flip chart to revisit during reflection.

### 2. Run fast-build sprint challenge (25 minutes)

Divide participants into subgroups of 3 to 4. Hand each group paper, index cards, and tape. Prompt: 'Design and build a paper prototype of a visitor welcome desk.' Start a 5-minute timer for Sprint 1. Stop at 5 minutes. Announce new requirements: 'The desk must now safely hold a tablet display and include secure storage.' Give 2 minutes to replan. Run Sprint 2 for 5 minutes. Spend 13 minutes debriefing: How did short bursts help or hurt? How did changing feedback affect the build? Does this fit our real work?

### 3. Map current work on a visible board (20 minutes)

Group participants by their intact operational teams (up to 8 per board). Instruct each person to write 3 to 5 real tasks they are working on this week onto sticky notes, one task per note. Have them post notes under To Do, Doing, or Done. Spend 10 minutes analyzing the Doing column. Ask: What is stuck? Who is overloaded? Discuss whether making work visible every day would help or distract focus.

### 4. Conduct timed stand-up simulation (15 minutes)

Gather each team around their task board. In parallel or turn-by-turn, each person answers three prompts in 30 seconds: 'What did I finish? What will I do next? What is blocking me?' Enforce the 30-second limit with a visible timer. Defer problem-solving until after the circle. Debrief: Did this check-in clarify the big picture or feel like a checkbox exercise?

### 5. Evaluate practices candidly (30 minutes)

Direct attention to the reflection board columns: Helpful, Not Helpful, Unsure / Questions. Give participants 5 minutes to post sticky notes reflecting on the simulations. Review the notes as a whole room. Compare insights to the initial concerns from Step 1. Discuss where Scrum practices could help deliver faster or collaborate better, and where they might add friction.

### 6. Decide practical next steps (15 minutes)

Ask the team: 'Do we want to run a short Scrum trial for 1 to 2 sprints, or adopt specific practices like visual boards, or explore other ways of working?' Take a visible consensus vote. Record the decision on the Action Plan Template. If yes, name Sprint 1 dates and initial scope. If no, agree on alternative process improvements.


## Debrief questions

- Which practice felt most directly applicable to our daily bottlenecks: short cycles, visual boards, or stand-ups?
- Where might strict Scrum mechanics slow us down or add confusion in our specific environment?
- What is the single lowest-risk experiment we are willing to run starting next week?

**Finished output:** A completed Action Plan Template recording whether the team will run a short Scrum trial or adopt specific alternative work improvements.

## Remote

Use a digital whiteboard with designated frames: paper-build prototyping area using shapes and sticky notes, a Kanban board with To Do/Doing/Done columns, and reflection columns. For Step 2, send subgroups to breakout rooms. For Step 4, run the stand-up in the main room using a shared on-screen visual timer and an orderly speaker list in chat.

## Hybrid

Split in-person and remote participants into separate build subgroups in Step 2. For task mapping and stand-ups, mirror the physical board onto a live digital board. A designated remote scribe adds remote contributions as digital sticky notes to the live digital board so all participants share equal visibility during stand-ups and voting.

## Access and participation choices

- Standing is optional; participants may sit comfortably during the stand-up simulation.
- Participants may label confidential work items with generic terms like 'Internal reporting' or 'Admin task'.
- Anyone may choose a silent timer or scribe role during the build challenge instead of hands-on building.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants get bogged down debating Scrum theory, official rules, or certification details.**

Refocus the group on their direct experience during the exercises. Remind them the goal is testing whether these specific habits help their daily workflow.

**Stand-up turns into problem-solving discussions that exceed the time limit.**

Intervene when the timer reaches 30 seconds. Note blockers on a separate parking lot pad and remind everyone that problem-solving takes place after the stand-up.


## Terms used here

- Sprint: A short, fixed time box, typically one to two weeks, during which a team completes an agreed set of work.
- Stand-up: A brief daily check-in where teammates share recent progress, upcoming tasks, and active blockers.
- Work in Progress (WIP): The volume of tasks that have started but are not yet completed.

## Participant material: Action Plan Template

TEAM SCRUM EVALUATION ACTION PLAN

1. Decision:
[ ] Pilot a 1- or 2-week Scrum trial
[ ] Adopt selected agile practices only
[ ] Decline Scrum and test alternative workflow improvements

2. Selected Practices (check all that apply):
[ ] Time-boxed sprints
[ ] Visual task board (To Do / Doing / Done)
[ ] Timed stand-up check-ins
[ ] End-of-cycle review and reflection

3. Trial Details (if running a pilot):
- Target start date:
- Review date:
- Deliverable or project scope:

4. Working Agreements:
- What meetings or tasks will we pause to create space?
- Who helps remove reported blockers?

5. Alternative Action (if Scrum trial is declined):
- Practice to improve:
- Specific action agreed:

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in WorkshopBank as 'Is Scrum Right for Us?'. WorkshopBank notes that Scrum was developed by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber in the early 1990s and presented at OOPSLA 1995.

Retained the 5-part structure, fast-build simulation, task board mapping, stand-up practice, and reflection from WorkshopBank. UWT structured the plan into 6 timed steps totaling 115 minutes, added explicit fast-build debrief questions to Step 2, clarified multi-board logistics for cohorts up to 24, specified one task per note in Step 3, and provided a printable Action Plan Template.

[WorkshopBank](https://workshopbank.com/tools/is-scrum-right-for-us)

[WorkshopBank](https://workshopbank.com/is-scrum-right-for-us)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/is-scrum-right-for-us-workshopbank/