Scrum is a
specialized type of project development framework. It is very popular owning to
its fast and reliable product development cycle. It can be used for developing
products, especially software based products, for which it is very extensively
used nowadays. Many Fortune 500 companies currently use the scrum development
methodology across the world owing to its popularity and effectiveness in
delivering high quality products within the stipulated development time. The
unique aspect about scrum framework is that it has an ability to “inspect” what
is happening “in” and “around” a project in which it is implemented, and it can
take corrective actions based upon the findings received as inputs from the
process flow. The framework supports several activities known as “events” which
can help to identify if anything wrong is happening with the project. When a
malfunction or an erroneous activity is detected, the framework can take
corrective steps to ensure that the “wrong” thing is corrected and rectified in
a correct manner. The scrum framework is so structured that it can
“self-detect” and “self-correct” itself through its events and specialized working.
Typically, scrum is
a development process in which teams collaborate and work together while
creating the product. In scrum, development occurs in small stages known as
“sprints.” Each small burst of development activity, or sprint, generally lasts
from two weeks up to one month. At the end of each sprint, a special event
known as the “sprint review” is held to find out how much development work has
been carried out by the team, and how much of it is acceptable from the quality
control point of view. Completed work is consolidated and accepted as “Done.”
The unique aspect about scrum is that development is carried out in bits and
pieces, rather than “as a whole” and “all together.” Each piece or
developmental unit is developed individually and tested for flaws. These pieces
are subsequently integrated to form the complete product. Rather than
controlling the project as a whole, scrum ventures to control the development
of individual pieces or product functionality. The developmental units, or “pieces”
are referred to as “user stories” in scrum. Once all the user stories are
developed and integrated, a total, comprehensive, and “shippable” product is
automatically developed. This product is tested at a micro level with regards
its functioning and reliability. This is one of the major reasons why many
development companies and organizations prefer to use scrum framework in their
production processes.
There are many
reasons why people choose scrum for their project development activity.
Reduces technical debt and eliminates regression
At any given
instance of time, the team develops a small portion, or a thin slice, of the
actual product. This portion is further divided into even smaller developable
units that are individually developed by the team members. Once a particular “unit”
is completely developed, it is tested for its completeness and usability. It
provides an opportunity for the team to test individual product components at a
micro level. Tackling problems at a root level leads to zero regression and
highly reduced technical debt in the future. This is how scrum controls
technical debt related problems before and after product deployment.
Maintain the business value of the project at all
times
After a small
portion of the product is developed and tested for its reliability, it is
demonstrated or showcased to the project owners and stakeholder – people who
actually own the project. Their feedback is availed regarding the functionality
which has been developed by the scrum team. Once they Okay the development, the
portion is accepted as “Done.” If the owners are not satisfied, the development
is transferred to a master list from which it can be taken up again for
development purposes. Thus, only useful and effective developmental activity is
carried out in the framework. The system is so structured that it can reject
substandard work. Moreover, each developmental unit can be correlated with its
“worth” in the market i.e. when a particular functionality is developed by the
team how much it will be worth in the market when integrated in the actual
product. This ensures that only meaningful development having a certain
financial significance is “churned” out by implementing the scrum framework.
Each product unit developed has a certain business value attached to it. This ascertains
that the business value of the entire project is maintained at all times.
Collaborative features which can streamline
productivity and increase it
One of the biggest
advantage of scrum framework is that it solicits feedback from the team members
and the project owners at all times. Each user story, or the development unit,
is precisely stated in a master list known as a “product backlog.” This master
list contains each and every “item,” or a developmental unit needed to develop
the product in totality. Each item in the list is minutely defined. The
specifications of the functionality to be developed, its description,
explanation, and what benchmarks it needs to satisfy to be accepted as “Done” are
clearly stated in it. This makes development much easier for the team members
since the criteria is clearly laid down and the team knows exactly what
functionality to develop, in what manner, and what kind of outputs are expected
after developing the product item. The feedback system further helps the team
to collaborate and discuss the technical aspects regarding the development
activity. This helps to streamline the production process. The team members can
help each other during the product development phase. All senior as well as junior
team members support the collaborative nature. When the team faces any problems
or impediments, a project leader known as a “product owner” tries to provide a
solution for the problem – if necessary by interacting with the stakeholders
and other technically sound individuals. The collaboration process helps the
team to function in a highly productive manner.
Adapting to changing market conditions and developing
successful projects
A major advantage
with scrum is that if follows the “inspect” and “adapt” principles. The
framework possesses inherent features which facilitates inspection and
retrospection. The development of a product can take a certain time. If the
product definition is complex or complicated, it may take a longer time – even
months – to develop the product in totality. Many a times while the product is
being developed, the market conditions may change over time and render some of
the functionality associated with the product as redundant. As a result, a
product when launched in the market after months of development may lose its
business value and find it difficult to compete with other similar products,
because other products may have gained a “stronghold” and strengthened their
position owing to their prior release. Companies more than often suffer
substantial financial losses when this happens. Scrum helps to avoid this. The
stakeholders are very closely associated with the project during its
developmental phase. They have the opportunity to decide which of the product
functionalities carry high business values, and which functionalities can help
the product to succeed financially in the market. During the product
development cycle, the stakeholders can introduce new functionality, remove
existing functionality, and even suggest changes in existing functionality so
that the entire project is able to maintain its business value at all times –
during its inception, development, and the subsequent release. Projects
developed using scrum framework are profitable and help to earn higher ROI for
the stakeholders.
These are only a couple of reasons why organisations
across the world opt for scrum framework. The are many other factors which
entice “C” level executives and mega corporate to choose scrum as their
development framework, however, it would take a much more detailed discussion
and a personal coaching to truly understand the vastness and depth offered by
scrum. The framework is so agile that it can adapt to almost every type of
project, however large and complicated it may be, and still deliver it
successfully and nicely “wrapped up” for its final deployment. It is worth
knowing something more about scrum to avail a better picture about how it
functions.
The scrum process starts
with an activity known as a “Release Planning.” When a project is planned, or
decided, the stakeholders appoint a person to execute and look after the entire
project. The person is known as a “Product Owner.” The person represents the
stakeholders and their interest in the project. The product owner (or the “PO”
in short) starts planning about what needs to be done to execute the project in
a systematic and planned manner. He or she starts preparing the documentation
which includes various aspects concerning the project, such as the feasibility aspect,
market dynamics, product specifications, etc. The report is presented to the
stakeholders, which helps them to decide further as to what they actually need
and desire out of the project. The report helps the stakeholders to understand
the reality about how the product proposed by them is likely to perform in the
market based upon what they have envisioned. This process is generally known as
a “release planning.” The PO then proceeds with the project based on their
feedback and suggestions. The PO starts preparing a master list known as a “product
backlog” in scrum. The list contains individual items, known as “product
backlog items” or “user stories,” which are required to develop the entire
product. So looking at it conversely, the entire project is bifurcated into
smaller individually developable parts known as user stories, which actually form
the product backlog. The PO carefully writes down these stories. He or she can
also invite and take help from the team members while drafting the stories. The
stories include specifications about the functionality to be developed by the
team. Once the backlog is created, the PO analyses which of the stories are
most important from the functionality point of view, and which of them carry
high business values. Important stories are located in the top of the list so
they can be developed first. Generally, the product backlog is processed from
top to bottom, so important stories can be developed first.
The sprint planning meeting
The actual
development activity starts with a scrum event known as “Sprint Planning.” A
meeting is conducted to support this event. The sprint planning meeting is
actually held in two parts. During the first part of the meeting, the PO takes
some of the important user stories from the top of the product backlog and
transfers them to a temporary list known as a “Sprint Backlog.” This list is
important to the team members since it contains the product items which are to
be developed in the subsequent days. During the meeting, the PO explains what
needs to be developed, in exactly what manner, and what conditions need to be
satisfied to have the user stories accepted as successfully completed. The
conditions are known as “Acceptance Criteria.” The team avails an opportunity
to ask questions and seek clarifications regarding the subtle development
points which are not clear. In the second half of the meeting, the team
analyses the sprint backlog which contains items to be developed in the coming
days. The members split up the stories into small developable sub-units known
as “tasks.” Once the tasks are distributed amongst the team members, the actual
development process starts.
The daily scrum or “stand up” meetings
In scrum, the actual
product development is carried out in short bursts of activities known as
sprints. A sprint generally lasts for two weeks up to a maximum of one month.
The PO and the team collectively decide the actual duration of the sprint keeping
in mind various factors such as the level of complexity, size of the projects,
the product release date, etc. Once a sprint duration is decided, it is “fixed”
and cannot be changed later on. Each day, before the developers start with
their day, a brief meeting is held to initiate the daily sprint activity. This
meeting is called the “stand up” meeting or the “daily scrum.” The reason why
the word “scrum” is used to describe the meeting is that scrum team members
huddle together just as rugby players do on the field when they start with their
“rugger” scrum. The purpose of holding the meeting is to make the team
accountable for the work it has carried out the day before, and discuss what
work is to be carried out on that particular day. The daily scrum meetings
provide an opportunity for the team to briefly discuss and provide feedback
regarding how many tasks have been completed by them. If any team member faces
an issue or a problem, it is discussed in the meeting and a solution is availed
to resolve the impediment. The meeting is very brief and time boxed. It should
not extend for more than 15 minutes. The meeting is held on each day of the
sprint to “start the day.”
The sprint review meeting
The development work
is carried out by the team in the daily sprints. At the end of two weeks (sprint
duration), when the sprint is completed and user stories have been developed by
the team, the PO checks the development and verifies whether the stories have
been developed properly, and whether the acceptance criteria is satisfied
correctly. In scrum, it is very important to develop “shippable” functionality
i.e. the tasks developed by the team should be bug free, documented, tested,
and acceptable by the stakeholders. Many cross-functional scrum teams employ
testers and QC personnel whose sole task is to check whether the user stories
developed by the team fulfil the acceptance criteria. If this is not possible,
the PO evaluates the tasks and verifies whether they are acceptable. This
process is carried out in a scrum event known as the sprint review meeting. It
is held just after a sprint is completed. The main purpose of this meeting is
to verify the development work, and if some of the tasks do not fulfil the
acceptance criteria, they are “rejected” and transferred back to the product
backlog from where the user stories can be taken up again for development. Thus,
regression is “checked” and controlled through the scrum process.
The sprint retrospective meeting
The scrum process
invites feedback from the stakeholders. People who own the project get a chance
to check the productivity and provide feedback while the product is being
developed. In scrum, the development and productivity of the team is directly
and indirectly controlled by the feedback received from the stakeholders, end
users, and the technical teams. If productivity is carried out by the team in a
proper and acceptable manner, the user stories and tasks developed will have a
certain business value attached with the functionality linked with the tasks. A
scrum event known as the “sprint retrospective” provides an opportunity for the
stakeholders to ascertain the work carried out by the team. The sprint
retrospective is held immediately after the sprint review meeting. The main
difference between the review and the retrospective is that in the review the
PO verifies the tasks and checks for acceptance criteria, while in the
retrospective the stakeholders check the user stories and tasks for the
business value availed in the ongoing project. While the PO is primarily
concerned with the technical aspects and represents the stakeholders’
interests, in the retrospective the stakeholders see for themselves how
important the user stories are from the business point of view. The
retrospective also offers an opportunity to educate the team and offer valuable
suggestions to enhance the project vision and make certain aspects clear to the
development team as to what the team should ideally focus upon.
Scrum Roles
Product Owner
He or she is the
main person who executes the scrum project. The person is primarily responsible
for the success or failure of the scrum project, and, in addition, represents
the stakeholders’ interests while scrum framework is being implemented in the
project. There are many responsibilities of the product owner, and it would
take a lengthy discussion to explain all of them.
Just as a supervisor
overseas the production process in a manufacturing unit, similarly a scrum
master overseas that scrum framework is properly implemented at all times while
the project is underway. The scrum master does not actively participates in the
development work carried out by the team, but rather “keeps an eye” on how
things are going on and whether the team faces any impediments while work is
underway. The role of a scrum master is a passive one, but important. The PO
generally does not have enough time to oversee the entire project operation
since he or she is actively busy with the “macro” aspects concerning the
project. The scrum master, on the other hand, concentrates on the “micro”
aspects of the project and remains very close to the team, and helps them
directly and indirectly by removing the obstacles whenever the team faces them
in any way or manner.
Development Team
It is the main
“functional” unit of the scrum team. The product is actually developed by the
development team in scrum. Ideally, the development team is cross-functional
i.e. each team member possesses multiple and varied technical expertise. The
team members collaborate and share ideas while working.
Scrum Artefacts Or Objects
In scrum, the entire
product is broken down into smaller, individually developable units known as
user stories. User stories, also known as product backlog items or PBIs, are
developed by the team during the daily sprints depending upon their importance
and business values. They form the base of the entire product. Individual user
stories are later integrated to form the complete product. Typically, user
stories include a title description, an explanation describing the
functionality to be developed in the story, some important points that clarify
the development activity, and the acceptance criteria. User stories also
include a numeric value which indicates how important the particular story is
from the business value point of view. This value is the “story point.”
Product Backlog
It is the master
list which includes the product backlog items, or the individual product
components, which constitute the actual product developed in the scrum project.
Periodically, the product backlog is checked and verified for any missing
parameters in the user stories (whether any of the product backlog item is
inappropriately described or lacks proper acceptance criteria) and the business
value associated with the user stories. With time, the business values of the
user stories change with changing market conditions. The stakeholders provide
feedback regarding the changes in the business values of the user stories, and
the product owner updates the user stories with the new business value as
provided by the stakeholders. This process of updating the product backlog is
known as “backlog grooming” or “backlog refinement” in scrum.
Sprint Backlog
During the daily
sprint, the user stories prevailing in the entire product backlog are not taken
up for development. Rather a small “chunk” or portion of the product backlog is
taken up for development during the daily sprints. This small portion of the
product backlog is temporarily stored in a list known as the sprint backlog.
The PO creates the sprint backlog during the sprint planning meeting.
Burn down Chart
Each user story in
scrum is associated with a certain business value by using story points (a
numeric value indicating the importance and the business value of the user
story). The correlation of the user stories with story points is important in
scrum since it becomes possible to find the “rate” at which the development
team is “performing.” It becomes easy to create an estimate and determine the
“speed” at which the team is currently developing the user stories. This
estimation can be plotted in a chart, or a graph, known as a “burn down chart”
in scrum.
The QuickScrum
project management tool developed by Bharti
Softtech is a powerful, easy to use, and versatile web based scrum tool
application centred upon Scrum framework. The tool helps to incorporate scrum
methodology into project development, and offers a dynamic scrum management
environment. It includes powerful features such as easy to use drag-and-drop
features, dynamic update of each product backlog item, its status, breakdown of
backlog items into individual tasks, preview of backlog items created in
earlier sprints, and much more. It is ideally recommended for organisations, project
managers, and scrum teams desiring to implement scrum framework in their
projects. The tool helps to save time, reduce operational overheads, and
increase the development team’s productivity, which can lead to higher profits
and increased ROIs.Source:- http://blog.quickscrum.com/post/2014/06/06/A-Brief-Overview-about-What-Is-Agile-Scrum-Framework-and-How-It-Can-Help-You-in-Developing-Successful-Projects.aspx
Please visit http://www.quickscrum.com for
additional details.
