Scrum takımlarının özelliklerinin takım performansı üzerindeki etkilerinin incelenmesi
Examining the effects of Scrum teams' characteristics on team performance
Yazar: ZEYNEP ARSLAN
Danışman: DR. ÖĞR. ÜYESİ CAFER ERHAN BOZDAĞ
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü / Endüstri Mühendisliği Ana Bilim Dalı / Mühendislik Yönetimi Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2024
Konu: Endüstri ve Endüstri Mühendisliği = Industrial and Industrial Engineering

Özet:
Günümüzde birçok sektöre ait şirket, çevik yöntemleri iş süreçlerine uygulamaktadır. Çevik yaklaşımların, projelerin daha hızlı ve müşteri memnuniyeti sağlayarak teslim edilebilmesi için gerekli olduğu konusu birçok çalışmanın amacı olmuştur. Çevik yöntemlerin performansının ölçülmesiyle ilgili literatürde sınırlı sayıda çalışma bulunmaktadır. Çevik metodolojiler içerisinde dünyada en çok kullanılan yöntem olan Scrum'ı uygulayan takımların algılanan performansının ölçülmesine yönelik bir model kurulmuştur. 

Başarılı çevik projeler ve Scrum takımlarının başarısını ölçümleyen çalışmalarda derin literatür taraması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Yapılan bu araştırmanın ışığında, takımda yer alan ürün sahibi, Scrum ustası ve geliştiricilerin rollerine ait sorumlulukları yerine getirme düzeyleri, ritüellere uyum seviyesi, takım işleyişi ve paydaş odaklılığı gibi değişkenlerin performansa etkisini inceleyen bir model kurulmuştur. 

Özel sektörde Scrum yönetimini uygulayan takımlara anket çıkılarak toplanan 120 veriyle, Smart PLS 4 programı üzerinden formatif göstergeler kullanılarak model kurulmuştur. Normal dağılımı olmayan veriler kullanıldığı, örneklem hacmi küçük olduğu ve açıklayıcı bir model kurulduğu için benzer araştırmalarda da yaygın bir şekilde kullanılan Kısmi En Küçük Kareler Yapısal Eşitlik Modellemesi tercih edilmiştir. Sonuçlar üzerinde değerlendirmeler yapılmıştır. 

Çalışmadan çıkarılan sonuçlarda takım üyelerinin sorumluluklarını yerine getirmesinin takımın algılanan performansı üzerinde anlamlı etkiye sahip olduğu; ritüellere uyum seviyesi, takım işleyişi ve paydaş odaklılığın ise anlamlı bir etkiye sahip olmadığı görülmüştür. Ürün sahiplerinin gereksinim analizi, önceliklendirme; Scrum ustalarının koordinasyon, müzakere edebilme; geliştiricilerin ise ekip uyumunu gözeten, iletişim kurabilen kişilerden oluşmasının önemli olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. 

Paydaş odaklılık, ritüellere uyum seviyesi ve takım işleyişi ile ilgili daha önce literatürde yapılan çalışmaların aksine anlamlı bir sonuçla karşılaşılmamıştır. Çalışmada anket katılımcısının az olması, bu sonuca sebep olarak gösterilebilir. İlerideki çalışmalar çok daha yüksek sayılı katılımcılar ile yapılması sonuçların anlamlılığı üzerinde pozitif etkide bulunabilir. 

Scrum ustası ve ürün sahibinin Beş Faktör Kişilik Analizi üzerinden değerlendirilmesi literatürde yapılan çalışmalara bakıldığında faktörler açısından daha anlamlı sonuçlar sağlayacaktır. Yine, Scrum ustası ve ürün sahibinin takım üyeleri gibi iş almasının bu çalışmada anlamlı bir sonuç elde etmediği görülmüştür. Literatürde daha önce çalışılmayan bu konuyla ilgili eksik mevcuttur, özellikle bu iki rolün perspektifinden odak çalışmaları ve röportajlar ile konu derinleştirilebilir İş hayatında kritik öneme sahip olan performans yönetiminin sağlanmasının kritik olduğu bu dönemde, yapılan çalışma yönetimsel anlamda önemli sonuçlar barındırmaktadır.

Abstract:
Today, companies in many sectors have started applying agile methods. The necessity of agile approaches for faster project delivery and ensuring customer satisfaction has been the focus of many studies. Among agile methods, Scrum is one of the most commonly used and offers many advantages. It consists of a Scrum Master, a Product Owner, and developers. In this study, the performance of Scrum teams has been examined. As with any methodology, Scrum also has some shortcomings and areas that need improvement. The goal is to identify the factors affecting the performance of Scrum teams to reduce disadvantages in practice.

First, an in-depth literature review was conducted on agile project performance and the performance of agile teams. Factors affecting performance in the literature were identified, and a related model was proposed. In the proposed model, role responsibilities, stakeholder focus, adherence to rituals, and team operations were considered as four main factors affecting team performance.

When looking at the unique aspects of the study compared to the literature, the contributions of developers to the team were examined. In addition to the roles of Scrum Master and Product Owner, it is important to consider developers, who are the main contributors to the team's output. In the literature, it was observed that the responsibilities of Product Owners and Scrum Masters are mostly analysed from a managerial perspective. However, in this study, all the responsibilities of these roles identified in the literature were included in the model to provide a more holistic approach. The impact of rituals in Scrum teams has been mostly reduced to retrospectives and review meetings in the literature. In this study, the effects of two other main Scrum rituals, planning and daily Scrum meetings, were also considered. The impact of Scrum Masters and Product Owners taking on tasks like developers was measured. Observations suggest that task allocation may have a meaningful effect on these roles, a topic not previously explored in the literature.

The roles in Scrum teams are Product Owner, Scrum Master, and developers. The unobservable factor called "Role Responsibilities," which shows the influence of these members' skills and the responsibilities they should assume, has been made measurable through indicators.

Stakeholders are defined as customers, users, and investors affected by the outcomes of a team's work. Stakeholder focus refers to the coordination and management of these parties.

Adherence to rituals is defined as performing rituals consistently and ensuring they are conducted by all teams.

Self-management is explained as teams managing their work independently.

Team motivation is explained by stakeholder satisfaction and team morale. Stakeholder satisfaction is described as the contentment of customers and stakeholders due to the value created through the Scrum method. Team morale, on the other hand, is expressed as the importance of doing meaningful work and making valuable contributions.

To measure the proposed model, an online survey was sent via Google Forms to participants who were Product Owners, Scrum Masters, or developers in Scrum teams. The survey consisted of 42 questions, 5 of which were demographic questions. The remaining 37 questions used a Likert scale with the options "Strongly Agree," "Agree," "Neutral," "Disagree," and "Strongly Disagree."

The survey was completed by 23 Product Owners, 26 Scrum Masters, and 71 team members. Of the participants, 63% were male, and 74% were between the ages of 26 and 35. 97% of the total responses were from participants who had been working for more than 6 months, indicating that the data was provided by individuals who had been working and adapting in their roles for a certain period.

When looking at the response rates by role, Product Owners and Scrum Masters had the same number of responses. This suggests that the survey did not show any bias towards a particular role.

Since the data did not follow a normal distribution, the sample size was small, and an explanatory model was built, the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), which is commonly used in similar research, was chosen for analysis.

The analysis of the study was conducted using the Smart PLS 4 software. First, the measurement model was evaluated, followed by the structural model.

Among the hypotheses proposed within the framework of the model, only the hypothesis "Fulfilling role responsibilities positively affects team performance" was found to be significant. No significant relationship was found between stakeholder focus and team performance, adherence to rituals and team performance, or team operations and team performance.

The primary significance of fulfilling role responsibilities for performance lies in the ability to delegate tasks to individuals by clearly defining them. Focusing more on tasks, the Scrum Master improving the team's motivation and coordination, and the Product Owner shaping the product vision and planning contribute to smoother workflow. Since everyone in the team knows their responsibilities clearly, work-related conflicts will decrease, which will improve communication and have a positive impact on performance.

In traditional project and department processes, the manager typically acts like a Scrum Master and Product Owner. In Scrum teams, these two roles are separated, with the Product Owner being knowledgeable about the product and the Scrum Master facilitating the team's operations. This dual perspective from both personal and technical angles provides a comprehensive view of the team.

Another benefit is the ease of task distribution for new work added to each Sprint. Similar to the previous Sprint, the role holder can take on tasks related to their area of expertise, which will increase quality. The improvement in quality will satisfy stakeholders and customers, contributing to better performance.

The lack of significant results in terms of stakeholder focus, adherence to rituals, and team operations, contrary to previous literature, may be due to the small number of survey participants in this study. Future research with larger sample sizes could positively affect the significance of the results.

The survey in this study was conducted only among employees in the financial sector. Conducting surveys in different sectors would be beneficial for demonstrating differences between industries and generalizing the findings.

Evaluating Scrum Masters and Product Owners based on the Big Five Personality Traits could provide more meaningful results, as indicated by studies in the literature.

Additionally, it was found that Scrum Masters and Product Owners taking on tasks like team members did not produce significant results in this study. This topic, which has not been previously explored in the literature, contains gaps, and future research could deepen this focus through interviews and case studies from the perspective of these two roles.