Lesson 2 of 10By Nikita Duggal
Last updated on Sep 9, 20205609Scrum is a common term that is thrown about in the web development world. In this article, we will look into what exactly it constitutes and its various features. Imagine a framework used in software development, sales, marketing, advanced technologies, and now, just about every organization in the world. A framework that can help teams work towards goals divided into iterations, and can help them achieve the organization's goals. In this article, we’ll be covering the following topics:
Now, before we go any further, let’s look at Scrum’s parent methodology - Agile. So, here is what Agile is.
Agile is a collection of methods and practices that focuses on iterative development. It is time-boxed and iterative, focusing on delivering products incrementally throughout the project, rather than all at once, in the end.
The shorter projects are completed in short two-to-four week cycles called iterations. The requirements and solutions are obtained with the collaboration of self-organizing cross-functional teams. Some of the popular Agile methodologies are Scrum, Kanban, XP, Lean, Crystal, etc.
Now that we’ve understood what Agile is, let’s talk about the evolution of Scrum over the years.
The name Scrum is first introduced by management experts Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi.
Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber create the early versions of what would become the Agile methodology.
The Agile Alliance is founded, and the first book on Scrum, the Agile Software Development with Scrum, is published.
Schwaber found the Scrum Alliance, and certifications are added.
Scrum Inc. is created and is in full swing. The certified Scrum courses are taught to users across the world.
Scrum.org is created. It offers the professional Scrum series to users.
The first Scrum guide is published.
Now, let’s answer the primary question - what is Scrum?
Scrum is a popular framework that enables teams to work together. Based on Agile principles, Scrum enables the development, delivery, and sustenance of complex projects. It enables teams to hypothesize how they think something works, try it out, learn and reflect from their experiences, and make appropriate changes.
With Scrum:
Now, let’s look into the members of a Scrum team.
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The Scrum team involves three significant roles.
The Scrum team is a collection of individuals that work together to deliver the requirements of the stakeholders and clients.
The Scrum framework confines itself to software development activities. To get a proper hang of what Scrum is, we must know what could be addressed as ‘Scrum values and principles.’ The Scrum values and principles are what constitute the Scrum framework.
Scrum takes into consideration the following values that revolve around it:
Scrum artifacts are the main components of the Scrum process. These artifacts enable you to improve transparency and the team’s understanding of the work that they’re doing. The artifacts are:
The product backlog consists of a list of new features, the changes made to existing features, bug fixes, changes to the infrastructure, and other artifacts that need to be completed to ensure the team satisfies a particular requirement. It is a source of all things the team works on.
Before we understand the sprint backlog, let’s understand what a sprint is.
A sprint refers to a period during which the team completes a particular task. With sprints, teams can provide workable outputs at the end of each sprint. Sprints are usually one to four weeks long.
The sprint backlog is a subset of the product backlog that contains tasks that the team aims to complete to satisfy goals that were decided based on negotiations between the product owner and the team. Tasks are identified from the product backlog and are added to the sprint backlog.
The product increment is a collection of all the product backlog items tasks completed as part of a sprint and the value of the increments of earlier sprints. Increments refer to inspectable and usable work done at the end of the sprint. It represents a step towards the overall goal of the organization. The outcome must be in functional condition, even if the product owner doesn’t decide to release it.
Now, let’s take a look at the Scrum framework.
Now we’ve answered what Scrum is, and have covered concepts of the Scrum team and Scrum artifacts, let’s talk about the steps within the Scrum process.
The first step is to create a list of tasks that need to be completed to achieve the requirements of the stakeholders/ clients
During this stage, the team determines the tasks from the product backlog that they want to work towards completing during the sprint
The tasks discussed during the sprint planning are added to the sprint backlog
The Scrum team (usually consists of 5 to 9 members) works on the tasks mentioned in the sprint backlog.
The team will have daily Scrum meetings, which are 15-minute sessions, during which the team members synchronize their activities and plan their activities for the day.
After a sprint is completed, a sprint review takes place. Involving the team, scrum master, product owner, and stakeholders, the sprint review shows what the team accomplished during the sprint. During the meeting, questions are asked, observations are made, feedback and suggestions are also given.
At this point, the product owner presents the product backlogs to the stakeholders for suggestions for tasks that can be added in the upcoming sprints, and so on.
After the sprint review, the sprint retrospective takes place. During this meeting, past mistakes, potential issues, and new ways to handle them are identified. Data from here is incorporated when planning the new sprint.
A workable output is provided to the stakeholders.
Next, let’s have a look at what exactly a Scrum board is.
The Scrum board is a physical/ virtual tool that helps the team visualize items that are part of the sprint backlog. It shows all action items that need to be completed during the sprint, keeping the team focused on the task they must complete during the sprint. The board is present in a place that’s easily accessible to all team members and can be either physical (whiteboard/ stickers) or virtual (software tools). The board is divided into slots like to-do, in-progress, and done. When the new sprints are started, the board is reset, and a new board is created.
So in this article, we covered topics like what is Agile, what is Scrum, Scrum teams, artifacts, framework, and Scrum board. Now that you know the basic concepts, you must be wondering what the next step is?
You can check out Simplilearn’s Agile Scrum Master Certification Training Course. We cover how Agile can be implemented in the course, different Agile methodologies, Scrum concepts, and much more in detail. The course will also enhance your ability to develop and deliver quality products to customers.
And in case, you have any questions, let us know in the comment section below, and our experts will get back to you right away.
Nikita Duggal is a passionate digital nomad with a major in English language and literature, a word connoisseur who loves writing about raging technologies, digital marketing, and career conundrums.
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