Why Scrum is Stressing You Out

The whole software development process and job can be stressful. I agree with what the author mentions, about the "fake deadlines" which scrum creates. In the past, I had seen some instances where an item was "super urgent" because a developer was working through it, but that sense of urgency suddenly falls away when the item is held up by the non-dev parts of the business - item stands still for days because other people outside the time are dragging their heels for some reason.

I find daily standup meetings a waste of time - you sometimes say the same thing multiple times. Fortunately, my current company does not do daily standup meetings :).

EDIT: Don't even get me started on how pathetic the performance review process is. My previous employer made us write down each work item, together with the story points and a total count on the story points worked on. Each review was done every month. Same company that was substantially underpaying me all these years and had the audacity to present a dry promotion to me.

I think tech jobs pay fairly, but the working conditions can be toxic.
 
Last edited:
The one problem with scrum is “commitments” and “finishing the sprint.”

I absolutely love deadline development, all-nighters and that good-feeling pressure where you can get into the zone

What I don't love is the false sense of deadline, every two weeks, because you “committed” to something.

Most non-developers involved in the scrum process don't understand/comprehend that “commit to” actually means “assuming this is miraculously identical to that thing I did before, it COULD take this long”

Ultimately I am actually lucky, in that a ton of my work is IC work where I get to do what I want, when I want, so I don't really live the full experience of this way of working, all the time
 
Moonlit8377 said:
While on the topic of scrum, is getting a SAFe certificate a good idea as a software dev? I've seen them here and there...
Click to expand...

Not for the developer position directly but it will help you to understand the bigger picture that is the SDLC and why some problems come about and how you can possibly solve them.
So it depends on where you want to go career wise. Learning new things related to your career that will broaden your understanding is never a bad thing.
 
If it would help developers could clearly, succintly and consistently from one update to the next articulate progress made against the interim goals. This is far from the case and means sessions last longer than they should as you are none the wiser. Points to inability to communicate their work - not uncommon amongst software engineers. It then may also point to poorly defined requirements, architecture or design or it is just make it up as you go along and it will be done when it is done.
 
What's the consensus here about SM in 2026? To me it looks like it heavily fell out of favour in 2026?

I'm at the stage where my LinkedIn acc & network is comprehensive and well curated but I don't see SM roles or hardly anything being spoken about it. By chance I saw listing earlier hence for the le bump.

And nope don't want to pursue just a general q.
 
FiestaST said:
What's the consensus here about SM in 2026? To me it looks like it heavily fell out of favour in 2026?

I'm at the stage where my LinkedIn acc & network is comprehensive and well curated but I don't see SM roles or hardly anything being spoken about it. By chance I saw listing earlier hence for the le bump.

And nope don't want to pursue just a general q.
Click to expand...
SM fell out of favour few years ago imo, not just 2026

my prior employer where I left about 2 years ago had already redefined the role 3 years before that to "Agile Delivery Lead", you either accepted accountability for delivery dates and status updates, much more like a project manager, or you went somewhere else, the textbook SM ceased to exist there 5 years ago

my employer before that retrenched all scrum masters outright

my current employer which I joined about 2 years ago certainly didn't value the role anymore when I started, they were down to a total of 2 SMs and they eventually saw the writing on the wall and left, if they didn't I'm relatively sure they would have been retrenched by now

many companies, especially in competitive markets with tight budgets and much delivery pressure, seem to have come to the realisation that pretty much anyone can play that role, and they make it part of someone else's duties rather than waste money on another salary

in a world where "AI efficiency" is used as a reason to layoff even highly skilled engineers, SMs have no hope in hell imo
 
Give me a half decent PM that can manage a Gantt chart any day over a SM that just moves stickies around.

This is just my growing frustration with "IT" - you have developers that never should have become developers because they do not understand coding software development, they copy and paste and hope it works via trail and error and you have people that should not manage any project because they have no clue what they are managing.
 
FiestaST said:
What's the consensus here about SM in 2026? To me it looks like it heavily fell out of favour in 2026?

I'm at the stage where my LinkedIn acc & network is comprehensive and well curated but I don't see SM roles or hardly anything being spoken about it. By chance I saw listing earlier hence for the le bump.

And nope don't want to pursue just a general q.
Click to expand...

Its reached a matured level and AI is all the rage so SM won't get all the attention it used to.

Its also a facilitation role so usually one of the first not to get replaced in a downturn and a existing team member just gets the added workload.
 
Scrum seems to fell away about 5 years ago. Company went back to project management
 
Lupus said:
Scrum seems to fell away about 5 years ago. Company went back to project management
Click to expand...
???
SCRUM is just one of many PM methodologies.

Nothing wrong with SCRUM, but it doesn’t belong everywhere. It’s just a framework, you use the parts that are appropriate as and when appropriate.
 
JerryMungo said:
???
SCRUM is just one of many PM methodologies.

Nothing wrong with SCRUM, but it doesn’t belong everywhere. It’s just a framework, you use the parts that are appropriate as and when appropriate.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but a PM doesn't only just do Scrum. Agile actually seems to be what is dying, it did always feel a bit weird
 
Lupus said:
Yeah, but a PM doesn't only just do Scrum. Agile actually seems to be what is dying, it did always feel a bit weird
Click to expand...
Agile was never meant to mean “no planning” or “no project management”. The original Agile Manifesto was about responding to change, but it doesn’t reject planning, budgets, deadlines, governance, or project managers. Many companies found that pure Scrum works well for some products and teams, but not for every type of work, especially in large enterprises with regulatory, contractual, or infrastructure constraints.

I’d say Scrum’s popularity has declined somewhat, but Agile principles are more widespread than ever. They’re just less ideological and more blended with traditional PM approaches. They are just principles after all, it’s not a box checking exercise… when it becomes one, it’s clunky and an all round bad experience.
 
Thanks for the insight lads. It was valuable.

Ever since getting laid off I'm forced to look at things, well everything, rather differently ie. with clear focus, more attention at various roles & trends etc.

I have/know this not so bright chickie on my LinkedIn & personally know her before that. She is easy on the eyes but not a full box of crayons (not trying to be a dick) & she is a SM & looks to still be one.

And yeah companies scaling back is a major buzz word at present, chance of such roles getting the can are rather high esp with the proliferation of AI.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X