Most companies are hierarchical. Managers make decisions which are cascaded down the ranks to be carried out. While feedback is often encouraged, responsibility often remains with the manager. The subordinate accepts that his boss can overrule any suggestion. Afterall, that's why bosses are paid more for.

A sense of ownership is a powerful motivator for inspiring extraordinary work performance. If the norm is a traditionally top-down approach in the company, it is difficult to convince staff that any change is good, will be recognised and beneficial for all in the long run.

As such, culture change requires a concerted effort to pilot a demonstration of what can be done. Theories in management books and seminars and trainings remain intangible, until the staff can see and feel for themselves that they actually work, and will yield positive results.

One of the core principles of the Agile Manifesto is:

"Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done."

Scrum promotes self-organising teams, fosters ownership, accountability, and collaboration. Scrum empowers teams to make decisions and have ownership over their work. This leads to increased engagement, enthusiasm, and a sense of accomplishment.

Benefits of cross-functional teams and how they eliminate silos, leading to smoother workflows.

Scrum's regular meetings and artifacts (like Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog) ensure everyone has a clear view of progress and priorities.

• Identify 3 staff to draw up plans
• Attend CSPO (Certified Scrum Project Owner) course
• Appoint Product Owner to seek feedback and draws up Product and Sprint Backlogs comprising User stories
• Appoint Scrum Master to attend CSM (Certified Scrum Master) course
• Recruit another upto 6 staff/developers to form pilot Scrum team

In each 2 week sprint (i.e. 10 working days), there is a “cadence” of activities that happen in each sprint. It is very important to have the whole team seated together to foster team cooperation, reduce “silo” behaviour, and allows any simmering issue to surface quickly and resolved.

• Day-1: (4 hours) Pilot Scrum Team conduct Sprint Planning
  • Product Owner presents Product and Sprint Backlog for discussion
  • Team estimates “story points” and agrees to Sprint Backlog (i.e. scope of work)
• Days 1 to 9:
  • Scrum Master conducts Daily Stand-ups every morning (15 mins): Every team member answer 3 questions:
    • What did you do yesterday?
    • What are you planning to do today?
    • What obstacles/issues do you face?
  • Product Owner refine Product Backlog and prepare next Sprint Backlog
  • Developers jointly work together to achieve Sprint Goals
• Day 10:
  • Sprint Review (2 to 3 hours): Team presents completed work to stakeholders and seek feedback (Remember to book stakeholders' time early in advance)
  • Sprint Retrospective (1 to 1.5 hours): Team discusses the Sprint just completed and how to work better together
  • Sprint 2 Planning: See Day-1, iterate

At the end of each Quarter (i.e. every 3 months), it is a good practice to tally up what has been done, achieved, improved and learnt. To consider whether, and how, to take this initiative forward, as well as if any additional resources/support is needed.

• Recruit upto 9 staff for Scrum Team 2
• Product Owner and Scrum Master to attend trainings
• Scrum Masters to conduct Scrum training for developers
• Informal Scrum of Scrums between Scrum Masters to coordinate activities, until there is a need to formalise it.