Salient Features Of Scrum

Agile - The base of Scrum

Agile, and the path to Agility is now becoming a much sought after norm for many businesses across the world. There is a huge demand for understanding, and implementing, Agile based frameworks. Perhaps one of the main reasons why Agile is becoming increasingly popular is because consumer demands are changing radically and people now desire more. And, people are not ready to wait. They want products which offer good value for money, and that too with enhanced features. This has created a need to develop products which are:

• Competitive
• Feature rich
• Quickly available
• Fulfil specific end user requirements

Agile proposes to satisfy these requirements without adding on to the product costs.

The basic issue with all Agile frameworks is that they are – frameworks. They offer guidelines how the Agile process can and should be implemented in a project. For that, it becomes imperative to understand what a framework is, and how it differs from a methodology. Many individuals still feel Agile is a methodology and they could not be more wrong.

Agile methodology misconception

There is still a misconception regarding Agile – some people still tend to refer to Agile as a methodology. This is not true. A methodology offers a set of rules, principles, tools, or practices that can be used to conduct processes and achieve certain goals. A framework, on the other hand, is a loose structure that leaves enough room for other tools and practices to be included, and only provides the process required. In simple terms, a methodology is like a doctor’s prescription – you have to “take” it as per instructions provided, while a framework is like trying out home remedies – you know what can be done to achieve a particular objective, but it is up to you how to implement the remedy, and when to implement it. An Agile framework has to be implemented in a project to be successful, and there are no specific rules about how to do it. You have to follow certain guidelines and configure your project to function as per the rules specified in the framework. This is very much the case with Agile. Agile is a framework.

Agile Scrum salient features

Of all Agile frameworks, Scrum and Extreme Programming “XP” are the most popular. Even though Scrum framework is more generally used for developing software projects, it can also be used for developing non-IT projects. Scrum constitutes a collection of ideas and rules pertaining to effective project management. The framework supports collaboration and self-organisation. The team members work jointly and develop the project. They collaborate and share their ideas and findings. Scrum teams self-manage their activities. The most important aspect of Scrum is that all activities are time boxed. The client receives working versions of the product features on a continued basis through product incremental cycles – sprints – at regular intervals ranging from a week up to a maximum of one month. Cycles keep on repeating until all product features are developed and the product is ready.  

A unique aspect about Scrum is that the framework has a capability of adapting itself to changing market conditions, and incorporates those changes in the product development cycle even late during the development process. The Scrum process focuses upon responding quickly and efficiently to changing environments and assimilating those changes in the product design. The client benefits though the development of a product that is in tune with the most recent market demands. Moreover, participation from the end users and incorporating their suggestions while developing the product features further ensures that the product developed is most likely to assume a high business value or worth.  

• Scrum - an agile process – focuses upon delivering high business values to the client in the shortest time possible.
• It supports rapid and repeated inspection of the actual working software.
• The product is developed in stages through the product incremental cycles known as sprints.
• The client benefits from shippable product releases at the end of incremental cycle.
• Frequent and consistent product increments should be delivered to the client.
• The client, and the business, sets the priority.
• The working process responds quickly and efficiently to the changes occurring in the market conditions, and in incorporating those changes into the product features in the least time possible.
• Scrum teams self-organise and self-manage to determine the most efficient and quick way of delivering high priority features.

Scrum principles

Scrum functions as per certain rules or principles which are very important for its efficient working:

Individuals and interactions	over	Process and tools
Working software	over	Comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration	over	Contract negotiation
Responding to change	over	Following a plan

Breaking Down The Agile Manifesto And Understanding It

The popularity of Agile frameworks, especially XP and Scrum, is increasing by the day, and more and more organisations are deciding in favour of using these frameworks to execute their projects. Agile proposes many advantages – frequent and reliable product increments, delivering product features having high business values, and above all – delivery of shippable product features even while the development process is underway. However, a major issue with Agile, and all Agile based frameworks is that the framework has to be properly understood and later implemented in the project. Moreover, the implementation should be carried out keeping Agile principles in mind. More than often, businesses fail to benefit from Agile simply because the management has not understood the basic principles behind the framework, or has failed to implement those principles in a proper manner.

The Agile manifesto

Since it was developed in 2001, thousands of individuals including project managers, software professionals, and C level executives have endorsed the Agile manifesto. Hundreds of books and references have been written to discuss what the guide has to say, and how it should be interpreted. The manifesto has drastically changed the way in which organisations and individuals develop software projects. The manifesto packs a lot of punch for its 68 words which have been written by 17 software professionals over a two days meet at a ski resort.

The principles of Agile are stated in the official guide written by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. The guide functions as a bible for all Agile groups and Agile professionals. People refer to the guide when in doubt, or when they wish to clarify a particular point during Agile framework implementation. For individuals interested in Agile, it is very important to understand the guide and interpret what it has to say.

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.

Through this work we have come to value:

Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

 
We

To start with, the manifesto states “We” i.e. it emphasis that Agile is not a solo endeavour. It involves group activity and people have to collaborate while working, at every level, and at every instant. Development teams, project teams, and organisation have to work jointly as a composite unit, and rely upon each other for completing work.

 
are uncovering 
Here, the guide suggests that Agile does not offer one-size-fits-all type of solutions. Agile cannot be standardised and implemented in a project. People involved with Agile processes have to put in efforts, and strive to seek answers through discussions and collaborations. Answers have to be discovered through experimentation, and the “adapt” and “inspect” principles which are... Read more

Scrum Product Owner Role And Sprint Planning Meeting Agenda

In many ways, in a Scrum project, the sprint planning meeting agenda plays a very significant part in determining the success of delivering shippable product increments through the sprint iterative cycles. The product owner is very closely involved in the sprint planning agenda, and is responsible for the outcome of the sprint cycle, since he or she is primarily responsible for taking the initiative and “designing” the sprint – the PO decides which user stories should be ideally taken up for development purposes based upon their business values. Moreover, the product backlog needs to be refined on a regular basis. The PO may invite and seek the help of Agile team members to keep the backlog refined so “granular” and developable user stories are available at the time of Scrum planning meeting.

The main issue with Agile Scrum today is that the role of a PO cannot be “standardised” based upon assumptions as to how Scrum ought to be implemented in a project, and what the PO should ideally do to make the project a distinct success. In addition, while considering Scrum sprint planning, the same thoughts might be applicable to it as those associated with the PO’s – it is difficult to create generalised rules regarding how a sprint should be ideally designed. The primary reason is products and requirements change as per fluctuating market conditions, and stakeholders too are liable to change their thoughts as and when end user demand user-specific requirements and development. However, after considering the fact that scaled Scrum versions are likely to “dominate” the Agile scenario over the coming years, it is worthwhile thinking that “some” of the duties of a PO and certain sprint planning “characteristics” are likely to remain common – irrespective of which scaled version is used, and the manner in which Scrum should be, or can be, implemented in a project. In addition, while the sprint planning meeting was traditionally conducted in two parts, the Scrum event has now evolved to be conducted as a whole – as a single event – and include two topics in it, rather than two parts:

• What can be done in this (currently being planned) sprint – the “What” aspect
• How should the chosen “work” be ideally “done” – the “How” aspect

It is interesting to think about how the product owner’s role is likely to modify itself in the future, and what features the sprint planning event is likely to include. The suggestions are open for debate, and the reader is invited to present his or her viewpoints.

Scrum product owner role and responsibilities likely to remain “common”

• Creation of the product backlog based upon the vision as seen by the stakeholders. Defining user stories having high business values so the project “worth” is maintained at all times.
• Monitoring all Scrum related activities in project. Even if the PO’s role may be demanding and “difficult to play”, the PO still has to deal with changing market conditions, stakeholders requests, and negotiate with the development team with regards delivering shippable stories and maintaining team velocity... Read more at Scrum Product Owner Role And Sprint Planning Meeting Agenda

Scrum Product Owner’s Role

Agile professionals have often discussed what the exact role of a product owner should be in Scrum. What virtues should a product owner possess to be considered a “good” PO? The answers are many. And this is not surprising because Scrum is a framework, and its implementation in a project depends upon the requirements specific to the project. When requirements change, the role of the PO also changes. Therefore, it may not be possible to standardise the exact role a PO should play in a Scrum project.

A certain process flow remains common to almost all Scrum projects. The role of a product owner can be thought about in terms of what POs actually do in a typical Scrum project. Here are a few suggestions:

Common role or activities of a Scrum product owner

· Creating the product backlog as per the product vision seen by the stakeholders. Defining user stories having high business values in the backlog so the project “value” is constantly maintained.

· Monitoring and tracking all Scrum activities. The role of a product owner may be difficult to act since a project might be demanding, and the product owner may have to cater to market related issues and still monitor the work carried out by the team. Balancing both the aspects can prove to be trying.

· Make sure that the product backlog is kept refined at all times. Moreover, the product backlog should be accessible by the entire team.

· Each product backlog item “PBI” should be properly stated and defined in the product backlog. The story description, appropriate business value, and the acceptance criteria should be stated precisely in the story card and explained to the entire team so the team members can develop effective stories and develop shippable product features.

· To be available whenever needed, to remain present, and share information, knowledge, as well as expertise with other team members.

· The PO responsibility should also include defining productive sprint goals just before a sprint commences.

· A product owner’s responsibility should also include... Read more at Scrum Product Owner's Role

What is Role of Scrum Product Owner?

Several discussions have been carried out by Agile professionals regarding the Scrum product owner role. What virtues make a product owner an “ideal” one? How should a PO delegate authority? Should it be as per traditional management models, or should a servant-leader role be employed? How should the person handle stakeholders when there are issues? There are many questions. The debate can keep on extending indefinitely since newer “scaled” versions of Scrum keep on coming, and the PO has to change his or her role based upon the traditional, or scaled, version of Scrum the management decides to follow.

It would be more practical to concentrate upon some of the most important, and the most common, activities of a PO.

Read more at  Scrum Product Owner Role

What is Sprint planning meeting agenda?

In a Scrum project, the Sprint planning meeting agenda is one of the most important activities undertaken by the team. The product owner plays an important part in the agenda. In Scrum, out of the many important duties carried out by a PO, a very important one is to create the product backlog based upon the vision of the stakeholders, and subsequently maintain or “groom” it with the help of team members (preferably). However, once the backlog is created and all required product backlog items are properly defined in it, it becomes necessary to “prepare” for the next step in the Agile product development cycle – plan and develop effective sprints so shippable user stories are delivered at the end of sprint cycles. Offering consistent development over successive sprint iterations is an inherent feature of Agile Scrum. In a sprint planning agenda, the objective of a sprint meeting is to prepare productive sprints so the team can develop meaningful stories.

So, what does a sprint planning meeting actually consist of? In practice, the meeting is conducted in two parts – the first part is dominated by the product owner while in the second part the development team actually prepares tasks from user stories taken up for development in the sprint backlog.

1st part of sprint planning

The product owner is the most “conversant” person as far as user stories are concerned since he or she actually “creates” the product backlog. The stories need to be explained to the team members. During the first part of the Scrum sprint planning meeting, the PO selects some of the most important product backlog items from the top of the backlog, and creates a “sprint backlog” by transferring the selected stories into it. So, the sprint backlog is a subset of the main backlog, and contains a “chunk” of stories which carry high business values. The PO explains how the development of a particular story should be carried out by the development team. The acceptance criteria is explained and the team is briefed regarding what it should do to ensure their “development” is shippable i.e. the stories are bug free and satisfy the benchmarks or acceptance criteria linked with each story. The PO also answers any doubts or queries put up by the team.



The first part is attended by the entire team – the product owner, scrum master, and the development team members. It is not necessary for the stakeholders and project owners to attend the meeting, but if they desire to do so, they can attend the meeting as “passive” invitees, and not disturb the proceedings with their suggestions or even try to get “involved” in the meeting.

2nd part of sprint planning

User stories form the base of all development activity in Scrum. The entire product is developed by creating shippable stories, which are later integrated to “form” the complete product. During the second part of the Scrum planning meeting, the team starts discussing how it will carry out the actual development activity and create the stories in the sprint backlog. Generally, a Scrum team is “multi-talented” i.e. each team member possesses more than one type of expertise. However, it is important to know that this may not always be the case in all Scrum projects, since the product requirements and resources may vary depending upon the nature of product to be developed.

The team members – developers, programmers, designers, QA personnel, and technical writers – decide amongst themselves how the user stories should be split up into parts that are more “manageable”. Each such “part” is referred to as a “task” in Scrum. Tasks are developed to create shippable user stories. A developer can develop each task individually. Certain Scrum teams may even work in “pairs”. Members collaborate, and decide amongst themselves as to who should take up which task depending upon the experience and levels of expertise possessed by them. Once the tasks are “distributed” the actual sprint can begin.Read more at

Sprint planning meeting agenda

Why Agile Can Be A Popular Software Development Framework?

Software products penetrate almost every aspect of human existence today. They manifest themselves in a multitude of manner, and remain omnipresent in a host of devices ranging from washing machines and smartphones to automobiles and computers. Owing to a consistent usage of different types of digital devices by people across the world, software applications and utilities have to evolve as and when consumer requirements change and “strive” to fulfil the new set of requirements demanded by end users. It is, therefore, essential to develop newer versions of existing software products more frequently, in the shortest time possible, and in a manner such that end users do not face any problems while using the products in the upcoming months. Stiff market competitions and an ever-increasing consumer “appetite” for feature-rich products have created a special need to implement a reliable and sustainable product development methodology, or a framework, which can aid in developing sophisticated software products in a relatively short time. Moreover, the methodology should also help in reducing the developmental overheads so investment returns can be increased. As on today, a reliable project development methodology is very much required to fulfil the business goals on a consistent basis, and earn large profits from the products manufactured by IT companies.

Over the decades, IT stalwarts have introduced many software development frameworks and project management methodologies. While many of these methodologies have proved to be useless and non-productive, a large number of them have been, in fact, successful in delivering the desired results – with varying levels of acceptance. With the passage of time, two software development frameworks have managed to dominate the field of software development. The frameworks are:

1. Waterfall
It is a traditional software development framework typically featuring “staged” development processes which have to be “carried out” one after the other. A unique aspect about this framework is that product development starts from the “topmost” stage and “flows” towards the “bottommost” stage. Once started, the product development cycle cannot reverse itself – it is unidirectional in nature. The framework is widely used, and is very popular amongst software development companies, primarily because the framework has “been around” for a long time and used by a large number of software developers and IT firms. It is easy to understand and use. Therefore, it is also used for teaching the software development process to engineering students. Even though it is a much sought after development framework, a large number of individuals and companies traditionally using Waterfall methods for developing their software products are now finding it increasingly difficult to meet the changing global software trends, and developing state-of-the-art applications and utilities, which are so much in vogue today.


2. Agile
A comparatively new “entrant” Agile has managed to find a special niche for itself in the IT development field over the years. The Agile framework was originally envisioned, and developed, to overcome the defects of traditional software project management methodologies and frameworks, which had failed to evolve “in the desired direction”, could not adapt themselves to the changing market trends, and offer reduced turnaround times. There are many reasons why “lightweight” Agile frameworks have become popular development platforms:

They support product development through “short bursts” of programming/development activity, generally lasting from two weeks up to one month. It is much easier to develop, test, and document smaller “pieces” of code, features, and functionality rather than entire projects. Individually developed features are later integrated to form the “complete” product. The frameworks primarily focus upon rapid delivery of “shippable” products and business value.
The client is actively involved with the team and the development process. Each feature is checked and “cleared” by the stakeholders before it is accepted as “Done”. This leads to increased customer satisfaction and enhanced user experience.
Potential pitfalls are identified well in advance, at a micro level, so it is much easier to control regression and reduce technical debt. Agile software projects generally help to earn good profit margins.
Agile frameworks support error detection and error correction processes. Technical errors are discovered early during the product development process, and dealt with effectively.
The frameworks provides an opportunity to carry out “retrospective” thinking, reflect in terms of where the project is heading, and what “more” could be done to improve the product development process.

Agile and the scope of software development
Individuals associated with the software industry generally prefer using the term “software development” Read more at Why Agile Can Be A Popular Software Development Framework?