Understanding Scrum: A Beginner's Guide
According to the 16th State of Agile Report (2022), Scrum is the most used agile methodology by companies around the world. This shows how more and more companies are finding the benefits from using Scrum.
Snippet from the 16th State of Agile Report
But, what is Scrum exactly and how does it work? In this beginner's guide, we'll take a closer look at what Scrum is, its key principles, roles, activities, and how it can bring benefits to you and your team.
What is Scrum?
Scrum is an effective method for managing complex and uncertain products. It focuses on iterative approach where teams work in short, focused sprints to incrementally deliver small segments of a larger product. These sprints, which typically last between one and four weeks, have a specific goal and require close collaboration among team members to plan, track and review progress.
Scrum is based on the principles of transparency, inspection, and adaptation, and is designed to help teams deliver high-quality products and services in a rapid and flexible way. The scrum framework is rooted in agile principles, which emphasises flexibility and frequent iteration, that's why it is one of the most popular agile methodologies.
Scrum consists of a collaborative group of people (Scrum Team), working in loosely structured processes (Scrum Events) to produce valuable output (Scrum Artifacts).
Scrum Team
The Scrum Team contains the core players in the Scrum process. It consists of three roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, and the Developers.
Product Owner
The Product Owner is the key person accountable for the success of the product. They represent the customers and stakeholders, and hold the main vision for the product. The Product Owner defines goals and features to meet customer needs and bring business value.
Within the Scrum Team, the Product Owner communicates work needed for the product by owning and updating a prioritised Product Backlog, the main source of work for the team. The Product Owner is the voice of the customer and strives to maximise product value by delivering items in the Product Backlog.
Scrum Master
The Scrum Master fosters the Scrum Team’s growth and success through the application of Scrum practices and facilitating team interactions. They coach the team to be self-sufficient, and remove obstacles to help the team reach its goals. The Scrum Master's role is crucial for the team's success, promoting Scrum and removing barriers to progress.
The Developers
The Developers are accountable for transforming the Product Backlog into tangible product features. They are a team of experienced specialists with the skills and knowledge to get the job done.
The Developers have the ability to self-organise and work cross-functionally, possessing a range of skills and expertise. This makes them flexible and able to adapt to project changes while collaborating effectively with team members.
Scrum Events
Scrum events make up the main interaction and process within Scrum. They are designed to complement each other to promote a collaborative and adaptive way of working. Here are the different Scrum Events.
The Sprint
A Sprint is a fixed duration of time (between 1 - 4 weeks) in which all the work of the Scrum Team happen. You can think of a sprint is the container for all other Scrum Events. That is, where all the work needed to achieve the product goal happens - including Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective.
By dividing their work into short Sprints, the team naturally breaks down their work strategically to allow better focus and productive work rhythm, so they can continually learn and improve the products they build.
Sprint Planning
Sprint Planning is the starting point of the Sprint. This is where the Scrum Team get together and plan on what they’ll be working on for the coming Sprint. The whole Scrum Team is expected to attend the meeting, and they may also invite others who can provide relevant input for the team to plan their work.
In the Sprint Planning, the Scrum Team would decide the Sprint goal, along with the work items they will be working on. All these information is captured in a Sprint Backlog, which will serve as the single source of work for the Developers.
Daily Scrum
For each working day of the Sprint, the Developers get together in a Daily Scrum. This event is designed to be a short and precise interaction (15mins max) where the Developers discuss the progress of their work, the plan for next day’s work, and raise any blockers for their work. Ultimately, the purpose of this event is to discuss the Scrum Team’s progress against the Sprint Goal.
This meeting is not meant to cover detailed discussions on any solutions, and any lengthy discussions can be done as needed outside of the Daily Scrum.
Sprint Review
The Sprint Review takes place at the end of a Sprint, before the Sprint Retrospective. During this event, the Scrum Team presents their completed work from the Sprint to stakeholders. The purpose of this meeting is to collaborate with the stakeholders to inspect the team's work, provide feedback, and discuss potential areas for improvement.
The Scrum Team uses this session to receive valuable insights and perspectives from stakeholders, which can then be incorporated into future Sprints.
Sprint Retrospective
The Sprint Retrospective is done at the end of a Sprint. Unlike the Sprint Review, which focuses on improving the quality of the product, the Sprint Retrospective is dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of the Scrum Team.
During the Sprint Retrospective, the Scrum Team reflects on their performance from the last Sprint. They assess how well they worked together, their usage of tools, and their workflow. The intent is to identify areas of concern and define practical actions to be implemented in the coming Sprint to improve their work practices.
Scrum Artifacts
Scrum artifacts represent the plan and result of the work done by the Scrum Team. Each artifact is typically an output of one or more activities in Scrum, that also serves as input for another. Each artifact is designed to promote transparency, and increase collaboration within the Scrum Team - by being referred to and inspected regularly throughout the Scrum process. Here are the three Scrum Artifacts.
Product Backlog
The Product Backlog is a prioritised list of work needed to improve the product. It’s owned by the Product Owner and serves as the Scrum Team's single source of work. The Backlog contains a Product Goal (the future product state) and Product Backlog Items (representing ideas, requirements or features to increase product value).
Sprint Backlog
The Sprint Backlog contains items from the Product Backlog that has been chosen to be worked on in the coming Sprint. We can treat the Sprint Backlog as the main source of work for the developers within a Sprint.
The Developers are the ones responsible for maintaining the information in a sprint backlog, by taking relevant input from the Product Owner.
Increment
An increment is the collective result that gets produced by the Scrum Team at the end of a Sprint, and every Sprint before that. This means as the team progresses, the increment becomes more valuable every Sprint and It’s actually possible for multiple increments to be produced within a Sprint.
Benefits of Scrum
Scrum has many benefits, including:
Improved transparency: Scrum provides a clear and visible picture of the product’s development process, which helps stakeholders to understand what is happening and make informed decisions.
Increased efficiency: Scrum encourages teams to be self-organising and cross-functional, which leads to better collaboration and communication among team members. This leads to faster delivery of products and services.
Greater flexibility: Scrum allows for a more flexible approach to product management. Instead of following a rigid plan, teams can adapt and make changes as needed, which can lead to better results and a more successful outcome.
Conclusion
Scrum is a powerful framework that can help organizations of all sizes and industries to improve their performance and achieve better results. By understanding the key principles and practices of Scrum, teams can use it to implement agile methodologies and achieve greater success for their products.
As an Agile Innovation consultancy, we offer Scrum training and coaching services to help organizations and teams to understand and implement Scrum in their projects. Contact us to learn more about our services and how we can help you to improve your performance and achieve better results with Scrum.
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