What is Scrum?
Scrum is an agile development methodology, used by
Fortune 500 companies around the world, to develop
and deliver products in an iterative
and incremental way by small,
cross-functional, self-managing teams.
It was
created by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber in the early 1990s, taking into
account the term “scrum” introduced by Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka in
1986 in their Harvard Business Review article “New New Product Development Game”.
Since 2010, The Scrum Guide defines the official version of Scrum.
What does it serve for?
It focuses on maximizing the team's ability to deliver quickly, to respond to continuous new requirements, and to adapt to technologies and changes of market conditions.
To of the key principles of Scrum:
- Customers will change their minds about what they want or need
- There will be unpredictable changes
What are its benefits?
- Flexibility to changes
- Reduction of Time to Market
- Increase of the productivity
- Timings forecasting
- Risk reduction
How does it work?
PRODUCT OWNER:
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
SCRUM MASTER (team facilitator)
The workflow is divided into 5 main activities:
- Connection point between the DEVELOPMENT TEAM and the STAKEHOLDERS
- Represents the product’s STAKEHOLDERS and the interest of the customers.
- Defines the PRODUCT BACKLOG -a prioritized wish list- according to the customer needs
- Communicates team status and organizes milestone reviews
- Does not dictate how the team reaches technical solutions.
- Responsible of delivering products or products increments every SPRINT, achieving its goals
- Formed by 3 to 9 members, specialized in different disciplines
- Is self-organizing
- Ensures that the Scrum framework and processes are followed
- Promotes self-organization within the DEVELOPMENT TEAM, coaching them, encouraging the improvement and overcoming the obstacles they face
- Facilitates team meetings and sessions
- Connects the PRODUCT OWNER and the DEVELOPMENT TEAM in terms of understanding the PRODUCT BACKLOG
SPRINT:
SPRINT PLANNING EVENT:
DAILY SCRUM (or stand-up)
SPRINT REVIEW (at
the end of a sprint)
SPRINT RETROSPECTIVE (at the
end of a sprint):
Complementary activities:
- Is the basic unit of development in Scrum, an iteration that is repeated over and over
- Its duration is fixed in advanced, usually between 1 week and 1 month
- Starts with a SPRINT PLANNING EVENT to:
- Define a SPRINT BACKLOG
- Identify the work needed
- Make an estimated forecast for the SPRINT goal
- Ends with a SPRINT REVIEW and SPRINT RETROSPECTIVE, specifying the progress made to show to the stakeholders and the lessons for future sprints.
- At the end of each one, the work should be potentially shippable: ready to hand to a customer, put on a store shelf, or show to a stakeholder.
- Participants: DEVELOPMENT TEAM, SCRUM MASTER and PRODUCT OWNER
- Recommended duration: 4 hours for a 2-week sprint
- Goals:
- To agree the next item to address from the PRODUCT BACKLOG
- To define the SPRINT BACKLOG: the list of tasks to be completed during this sprint
- It happens each day during a sprint between the DEVELOPMENT TEAM and the SCRUM MASTER, at the same time and place, usually standing
- Is limited to 15 minutes
- All members come prepared and share their personal progress the day before, the intended plan for the day and the possible impediments to face
- The SCRUM MASTER writes down the identified challenges and impediments in the SCRUM BOARD and a person is designated to work toward a resolution
- The DEVELOPMENT TEAM shows the completed work to the stakeholders and reviews the unfinished one
- Together they agree on what to work on next
- For a 2-week sprint, the recommended duration is 2h
- The DEVELOPMENT TEAM reflects about the performance on the sprint: what went well and what can be improved
- They identify actions to carry on to continuously improve the process
- It is facilitated by the SCRUM MASTER
- For a 2-week sprint, the recommended duration is 1:30h
BACKLOG REFINEMENT:
- Ongoing process of reviewing PRODUCT BACKLOG items and making sure that they are properly prioritized and well prepared
CANCELLING A SPRINT:
- The sprint can be cancelled by the product owner, for example if external circumstances invalidate the SPRINT goal
