Scrum

Scrum is an agile project management framework that helps teams structure and manage their work through a set of values, principles, and practices. Much like a rugby team (where it gets its name) training for the big game, scrum encourages teams to learn through experiences, self-organize while working on a problem, and reflect on their wins and losses to continuously improve.¹

Scrum relies on cross-functional teams to deliver products and services in short cycles, enabling²:

Fast feedback;
Quicker innovation;
Continuous improvement;
Rapid adaptation to change;
More delighted customers;
Accelerated pace from idea to delivery.

Scrum teams inspect each batch of functionality as it is completed and then adapt what will be created next based on learning and feedback, minimizing risk and reducing waste. This cycle repeats until the full product or service is delivered—one that meets customer needs because the business has the opportunity to adjust the fit at the end of each timeframe.³

Scrum team

The Scrum team consists of the following roles⁴:

Product owner (PO). Is the representative of the stakeholders and customers who use the software. They Translate the vision of the project to the team, validate the benefits in stories to be incorporated into the Product Backlog and prioritize them on a regular basis;
Scrum master. The person who leads the team guiding them to comply with the rules and processes of the methodology. Scrum master manages the reduction of impediments of the project and works with the Product Owner. The Scrum Master is in charge of keeping Scrum up to date, providing coaching, mentoring and training to the teams in case it needs it.
Development team. Members of the Scrum development team work together to create and test incremental releases of the final product. Developers must know Scrum and Agile development practices⁵.

Scrum Artifacts

Scrum artifacts help manage the work:

Product Backlog - An emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product and includes the product goal;
Sprint Backlog - The set of product backlog items selected for the sprint by the developers (team members), plus a plan for delivering the increment and realizing the sprint goal;
Increment - A sum of usable sprint backlog items completed by the developers in the sprint that meets the definition of done, plus the value of all the increments that came before. Each increment is a recognizable, visibly improved, operating version of the product.

Scrum Events

Scrum teams work in sprints, each of which includes several events (or activities). Don’t think of these events as meetings or ceremonies; the events that are contained within each sprint are valuable opportunities to inspect and adapt the product or the process (and sometimes both).

The Sprint - The heartbeat of scrum. Each sprint should bring the product closer to the product goal and is a month or less in length;
Sprint Planning - The entire scrum team establishes the sprint goal, what can be done, and how the chosen work will be completed. Planning should be timeboxed to a maximum of 8 hours for a month-long sprint, with a shorter timebox for shorter sprints;
Daily Scrum - The developers (team members delivering the work) inspect the progress toward the sprint goal and adapt the sprint backlog as necessary, adjusting the upcoming planned work. A daily scrum should be timeboxed to 15 minutes each day;
Sprint Review - The entire scrum team inspects the sprint’s outcome with stakeholders and determines future adaptations. Stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on the increment;
Sprint Retrospective - The scrum team inspects how the last sprint went regarding individuals, interactions, processes, tools, and definition of done. The team identifies improvements to make the next sprint more effective and enjoyable. This is the conclusion of the sprint.

Scrum pillars and values

The three pillars of Scrum are adaptation, inspection and transparency:

Adaptation. The team consistently revises its approach to problems and takes on new ones as they arise;
Inspection. The team consistently reflects on and evaluates its performance;
Transparency. The team works in an open environment, where all members have insight into each other’s process and are aware of the challenges others face.

Scrum’s five core values support the pillars. They are the following:

Commitment. The team is self-directed, and everyone is dedicated to doing the work that has been agreed upon;
Courage. The team operates as one entity and succeeds or fails together. Members do the right thing and take on tough problems;
Focus. Distractions are limited, and the team concentrates on the work that must be done today;
Openness. The team spends time sharing where it has succeeded and what must be improved;
Respect. Team members have different strengths, and each member’s strengths are respected. No one is blamed when figuring out how to fix what is not working.

Benefits of Scrum Methodology

Scrum has many advantages over other agile development methodologies. It is currently the most used and trusted framework of reference in the software industry. Below are some of the known benefits of Scrum:

Easily Scalable: Scrum processes are iterative and are handled within specific work periods, which makes it easier for the team to focus on definite functionalities for each period. This not only has the benefit of achieving better deliverables in line with the needs of the user, but also gives the ability to the teams to scale the modules in terms of functionality, design, scope and characteristics in an orderly, transparent and simple manner;
Compliance of expectations: The client establishes their expectations indicating the value that each requirement/ history of the project brings, the team estimates them and with this information the Product Owner establishes its priority. On a regular basis, in the sprint demos, the Product Owner verifies that the requirements have been met and transmits feedback to the team;
Flexible to changes: Quick reaction to changes in requirements generated by customer needs or market developments. The methodology is designed to adapt to the changing requirements that complex projects entail;
Time to Market reduction: The client can start using the most important functionalities of the project before the product is completely ready;
Higher software quality: The working method and the need to obtain a functional version after each iteration, helps to obtain a higher quality software;
Timely Prediction: Using this methodology, we know the average speed of the team by sprint (story points), with which, consequently, it is possible to estimate when a certain functionality that is still in the backlog will be available;
Reduction of risks: The fact of carrying out the most valuable functionalities in the first place and of knowing the speed with which the team advances in the project, allows to clear risks effectively in advance.