What Is Scrum In Project Management?

Introduction

In project management, Scrum is an agile framework for managing complex projects. It is based on the Agile Manifesto and is a popular choice among project managers, as it helps teams break down large projects into smaller, achievable tasks and to ensure that teams stay on track. By using Scrum, teams can focus on completing their work efficiently and effectively, while still allowing for flexibility and creativity.

While Agile is the mindset, Scrum is a way to be Agile. Scrum is a framework with the main goal of delivering a valuable product. And while scrum has its rules it also has a lot of freedom.

Benefits Of Using Scrum:

The use of Scrum has many advantages that make it a great tool for project management. One of the main benefits is that it helps teams stay focused and organized. It allows teams to break down complex tasks into smaller, manageable pieces that can be completed more efficiently. Additionally, it helps teams stay accountable, as they are responsible for meeting deadlines and reaching milestones. Furthermore, Scrum is a great way for teams to collaborate and communicate effectively, as the meetings allow for open dialogue and feedback. Other benefits include:

• Structured approach to complexity and changes
• Maximized product value
• Higher customer satisfaction
• Better risk control
• High quality
• Decreased time to market
• Early saleable products

Roles In The Scrum Team

Scrum teams benefit from no more than 3 to 9 members with only 3 defined roles:

• Product Owner - responsible for representing the customer, setting the product vision, and defining the product backlog
• Scrum Master - responsible for managing the process and ensuring that the team is following the scrum framework
• Developers - responsible for completing the work and delivering the end product or service

Scrum Events

Scrum events are the key components of the Scrum framework. Each of these events has its own purpose and helps teams stay on track and productive. Scrum events include:

• Sprint
• Sprint Planning
• Daily Scrum or Stand-up
• Sprint Review
• Sprint Retrospective

From PluralSight:

Sprint

A sprint is a time-boxed period of a month or less during which a “done” usable and potentially releasable product increment is created. Sprints enable predictability by ensuring inspection and adaptability of progress towards the sprint goal. Sprints also limit risk to the duration of the sprint.

Sprint Planning

Sprint planning is just as it suggests, planning the work for the coming sprint. But it needs to be a collaborative effort by the entire scrum team. It encompasses the 'why', also called the sprint goal, the what and the why for the next sprint.

Daily Scrum Or Stand-Up

The daily scrum or stand-up is a short 15-minute daily meeting. The general agenda is for each team member to tell the team:

• What they accomplished yesterday
• What they plan to do today
• Any blockers or impediments they are experiencing

The development team reviews the progress toward the sprint goal and how progress is trending toward completing the work in the sprint backlog.

Benefits Of The Daily Scrum:

• Improve communications
• Eliminate other meetings
• Identify impediments
• Enable quick decisions
• Improve level of knowledge

Sprint Review

The sprint review meeting is conducted to review the goals for the sprint and to show what was developed during the sprint. It is an opportunity for the scrum team to collaborate with the stakeholders to gain feedback on the product increment. This is an informal meeting that is the second to last event of the sprint and happens on the last day of the sprint.

Sprint Retrospective

This meeting is conducted to review what worked well during the sprint and what didn’t. It is an opportunity to self inspect and identify improvements to be made for the next sprint. It is considered the accelerator in the scrum. The sprint retrospective is the final event in the sprint. It is usually done on the last day of the sprint and after the sprint review but before the sprint planning for the next sprint.

Scrum Artifact

There are three artifacts in the scrum framework:

• Product Backlog
• Sprint Backlog
• Increment

Product Backlog

The product backlog is all the items that need to be completed as part of the project. It tends to be a single, ordered list that needs to be dynamic and adaptable.

Product Backlog Item Types:

• Features
• Functions
• Requirements
• Enhancements
• Fixes

Product Backlog Item Attributes:

Product backlog items use the acronym of DOVE:

• Description
• Order
• Value
• Estimate

Another attribute is the acceptance criteria.

Sprint Backlog

The sprint backlog are the items from the product backlog that are planned to be delivered in the next sprint. The items that are required to deliver the increment.

Increment

The increment is the sum of all the product backlog items completed in the sprint. It also includes the value of all increments completed in previous sprints. It is a step towards a vision or a goal. The increment must be in a usable condition and meet the scrum team’s definition of done.

Definition Of Done

The Definition of Done (DoD) is a set of criteria that must be met before a product increment can be considered complete. All tasks must meet the criteria listed in the DoD to be considered finished. It serves as a checklist for product owners and development teams to ensure that all requirements have been met before the product increment is accepted.

As stated above, the increment must be in a usable condition but also in a potentially releasable state. The product backlog item is completed and is assessed against done when integrated into the increment. Each increment is additive to all prior increments and thoroughly tested, ensuring that all increments work together.

Conclusion

In summary, Scrum is an Agile project management methodology that is used to manage and control development and maintenance projects. It is based on self-organizing, cross-functional teams that work together to deliver a product or service.