What is Scrum?

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Today, we’re here to answer your question – what is scrum? 

 

Originally developed for software development teams, Scrum has now expanded to be used across a variety of industries.  

 

Much like its rugby namesake, Scrum focuses on team progress towards an established goal.

So what makes it unique from other Agile methods? And how may it be useful for you and your team? 

 

Let us break down the concept of Scrum and why it is important for business

What Scrum means?

Scrum is not the process in and of itself.  It’s the foundation upon which a team can build their own process.  It gives them the framework and structure of how and what gets done. 

The Scrum process promotes teamwork accountability and iterative progress toward an established goal. This makes it well-suited for projects that require constant adaptation and collaboration. 

 

The primary aim of Scrum is to ensure customers’ needs are met by providing transparent information. This means that everyone can see how the project is progressing and adapt to changing customer needs. 

 

There are a number of unique features under the Scrum framework that set it apart from other agile methodologies that we will get into. 

What is the difference between agile and scrum?

Let’s begin with one of the most common questions – what is the difference between Agile and Scrum?

Many people often wonder how Scrum is different, especially when it was created in the early 1990s by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, who were both signaturies of the Agile Manifesto.

Really, it comes down to one main thing – agile is a mindset where-as scrum is a framework you can apply.

An agile transformation, in which every member of a team adopts an agile mindset, can seem overwhelming. So a much better place to get started is by applying a Scrum framework to a particular project.

What are the 6 principles of scrum?

Before we get into the details of Scrum, it is first important to understand the 6 key principles.

Control of empirical processes:

Decisions are based on actual evidence and not just assumptions. This is done by using a feedback-loop where the team constantly inspects and adapts their work based on what they’ve learned.

Self-organisation:

Team members organise and manage their work themselves, with minimal input from management. This allows for greater flexibility and creativity, as team members are able to work on tasks that they are passionate about.

Cooperation:

Team members work together to achieve the common goal. This includes working collaboratively and being open to feedback. Trust and respect are also key! 

Prioritisation:

Tasks are prioritised and allocated according to what would contribute the most value and be the most important.

Time-boxing:

Tasks are completed in sprints (more on that soon) and given a specific amount of time in which they should be completed.

Iterative development:

As the tasks are worked on, the team reflects on what was accomplished and identifies any changes that need to be made. This ensures adaptations are made according to customer needs.

The Scrum Framework: Sprints

The Scrum framework allows teams to establish new processes that allow for short sprints cycles (2 weeks usually), and a test and learn mindset. The sprint cycles establish defined work to be done from ‘the backlog’. 

The purpose of using sprints is to help the team stay focused and avoid becoming overwhelmed. By committing to completing a certain number of tasks in a given time frame, the team can ensure that they’re making progress and avoiding distractions. 

 

Sprints also help to ensure that the product or feature being developed is of high quality. By completing all tasks within a sprint before moving on to the next one, the team can avoid introducing new defects. 

What are the Scrum Ceremonies?

In Agile the Scrum methodology or framework consists of four events or ceremonies. Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum (or standup), Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective. 

Sprint Planning

The Sprint Planning is a meeting where the team decides what tasks they will complete during the sprint. They decide which tasks are most important and which ones can be completed in the allotted time. 

Daily Scrum (or Stand Up)

The daily stand-up is a short meeting that takes place every day to update everyone on what you’ve done since the last meeting, what you’re working on currently, and any blockers you’re facing.  

 

This helps ensure that everyone is always up to date on what’s going on and that everyone is held accountable. 

Sprint Review

The Sprint Review is a meeting where the team shows what they’ve completed during the sprint. They demonstrate the features they’ve built and show how they’ve met the goals they set for the sprint.  

 

This meeting helps ensure that the team is on track and that the product owner is happy with the work that’s been done. 

Sprint retrospective

The Sprint Retrospective is a meeting where the team discusses what went well and what didn’t during the sprint. They identify any areas where they need to improve and come up with a plan to do so.  

 

This meeting helps ensure that the team is constantly improving and becoming more efficient. 

Three Essential Roles for Scrum success

Teams need to see the successful outcomes of adopting change. So for Scrum to work, it requires three defined roles within the framework.

These three roles in Scrum teams aren’t job titles. They aren’t a career path. These three roles in Scrum can be performed by anyone assigned to the responsibility within that project’s Scrum framework.   

Product Owner

The Product Owner is the person responsible for the overall vision of the product or the service. They are in charge of making sure that the product meets the needs of the customer and that it is developed in a way that makes sense.  

 

They work with the team to come up with a roadmap for the product and ensure that everyone is on the same page.  

 

The product owner also understands the needs of the customer and seeks their  feedback to make sure that the product is meeting their needs. 

 

The most effective Product Owners can visualise and clearly articulate the outcome that is expected from the team through good user stories. They do this by using a clear user story format with “who”, “what” and “why”. 

 

If all three elements are clearly described, the team can focus on the best ways to deliver the outcome. 

Team

A scrum team also known as the development team is a group of people who work together to complete a task or goal. These are the members of a Scrum group who actually get the work done! 

 

The team should be composed of individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to complete the task at hand. These individuals should have a varied background and be self-sufficient.  

 

The difference for teams in Scrum vs teams in traditional management construct is this: In an Agile structure, the team directs the leader (Scrum Master – see next role) to act on their behalf, in the traditional management construct, the leader directs the team to act. 

Scrum Master

Scrum Masters are the team coaches that help Scrum teams achieve the best possible results. Unlike the name suggests, they are not a “master” of anyone, but serve the team’s best interests.  

 

The Scrum Master’s role is different from the average project manager – the role provides no daily direction to the organisation or assigns the responsibility to the individual. The Scrum Master acts more like glue holding the team together.  

 

A good Scrum Master protects teams from external distraction, thereby enabling teammates to concentrate during sprinting towards their selected goals.  

 

While Scrum Master helps to make teams the best possible, the Product Owners work hard to steer the team to the right goals for the completion of a Sprint goal.  

What are Scrum artefacts?

Moving on to the artefacts of scrum analysis. Artefacts are tools for solving problems. These provide key information to team members so they can understand how to plan effectively. 

 

So what are the three artefacts of Scrum analysis? 

Product Backlog

The product backlog is a living document that contains a prioritised list of everything that needs to be done in order to deliver a finished product.

For something like software development, this can include features, bug fixes, and other tasks.

Generally, the product owner is responsible for determining what goes on the product backlog, and what the priority of a task is.   

Sprint Backlog

The Sprint Backlog is a list of tasks that need to be completed in order to achieve the goal of the sprint.  

 

This includes tasks that have been added to the product backlog as well as tasks that are specific to the current sprint.  

 

The team is responsible for updating the Sprint Backlog as they work on tasks. 

Increment

The Increment is the product that has been created as a result of the current sprint.  

 

This includes both the tasks that were completed as well as the tasks that were not completed.  

 

The Increment is reviewed by the entire team at the end of each sprint. This enables the team to constantly see their progress towards the ultimate product that will be created through multiple sprints.  

Scrum of Scrums

Now what about problems of growing complexity that require larger, or even multiple Scrum teams to work together?  

 

The Scrum of Scrums was created in order to help multiple scrum teams work more effectively together – a form of Agile at Scale.

A Scrum of Scrums team operates similar to a normal Scrum team, with the same kind of roles and ceremonies but instead with individuals from different teams.  

 

This facilitates transparency, communication and collaboration and ensures teams are coordinated in working towards the final product goal. 

A better way of building products

Ultimately, employing Scrum enables people to deal with complicated adaptive problems while also producing the greatest product possible.  

 

Scrum is lightweight and adaptable and can be used to scale up or down, as well as flex with the complexity of any given problem.  

 

However be careful not to fall into the common trap – as amazing as it may seem, Scrum is not always applicable for every organisation.  

 

No matter what though, taking on board the principles of Scrum, emphasising cooperation, prioritisation and self-organisation can facilitate enhanced transparency, accountability and customer satisfaction can benefit you and your team.  

Need help with understanding Scrum or the Agile mindset in general – get in contact with our team today.

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