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Quickscrum- Scrum tool

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The QuickScrum tool at www.QuickScrum.com is a powerful, easy to use, and versatile web based scrum tool application centered upon Scrum framework. Discover how to set up dynamic projects, allocate project resources, design and plan your projects, utilize feature rich management tools in your ongoing projects, deliver time-bound projects, and generate higher profit margins.


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Seven Unique Ways To Breath In New Life In Your Sprint Retrospectives

Sprint retrospectives are an important part of scrum methodology. For Agile practitioners, retrospectives hold a special significance, and offer an insight into the self-learning capabilities supported by scrum.

The primary objectives of a sprint retrospective meeting are:

·       Display the user stories to the stakeholders, which have been developed by the team during the daily sprints  

·       Have the user stories accepted by the investors as “shippable”

·       Discuss and review the entire sprint, and analyze it to find how the sprinting process can be improved upon

·       Find what lessons can be learnt from the sprint, and how the team can benefit from prior findings and experiences

 

One of the issues faced by the scrum team is the team members end up discussing the same issues and problems in most of the retrospective meetings. The team feels it is discussing the same topics again-and-again, and therefore it is redundant to hold retrospectives. In all aspects, the retrospectives seem to be going “stale” and the team might be just holding it because scrum advocates it. The learning and self correction process stops in such cases, and the retrospective loses its importance and functionality.

So how can you pump in new life in the retrospectives? A few pointers may help you improve your meetings.

1. Rotating the leadership

Instead of the scrum master facilitating the meeting, invite the team members to temporarily assume the role of a scrum master and conduct the meeting. Each member takes turns and facilitates the meeting in his or her own particular way and manner. The members can be asked to experiment with newer adaptations and ways of holding the meeting.

2. Changing the questions

The two standard questions most commonly asked during the meeting are:

1.     What did we do well this time?

2.     What can be possibly improved upon in the next sprint?

Instead, try asking the question:

·       What actually happened during the sprints, and how did it occur?

Individuals tend to look at things from their own perspectives, and at times, they might fail to comprehend the true situation if they are forced to look at issues from a different point of view which they are not familiar with. Asking questions which they find easy to answer can go a long way in making the retrospective more interesting and useful.

3. Varying the process

Each scrum team has its own method of conducting the meeting. While some teams prefer group discussions during the retrospectives, a few of the teams follow the traditional pattern of having one member demonstrate his or her work to the stakeholders. Whichever process you follow, try to change it by including variations into the meeting pattern. A recommended method is to use histograms indicating member satisfaction levels. The survey can be conducted anonymously and the findings presented to the entire team. Suggestions can be availed from the team members as to what new aspects ought to be incorporated to make the meeting interesting. 

4. Thinking about unique perspectives

Individuals and people who are not directly connected with the scrum project, but are still attached to the project somehow can be invited to attend the meeting. Vendors and system deployment personnel have different insights to offer since they are directly connected with the market and have a “working knowledge” about consumer psychology and requirements. Their participation can help the scrum team to avail a broader perspective regarding how the development of user stories should be ideally carried out.

5. Changing the focus

Every team has a certain focal point, which it concentrates upon while developing the project. Switching the focus can also prompt the team to come up with new ideas about how the scrum process can be improved upon. If the team is concentrating too much upon the engineering practices, the focus could be changed to collaborative working and solving technical issues by sharing out the problems.Read more on http://blog.quickscrum.com/post/2014/04/09/Seven-Unique-Ways-To-Breath-In-New-Life-In-Your-Sprint-Retrospectives.aspx

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How Sprint Reviews Are Different From Sprint Retrospectives In Scrum?

How Sprint Reviews Are Different From Sprint Retrospectives In Scrum?

An Overview Of Scrum Methodology

Scrum framework

Scrum is a unique framework specially designed to build a versatile product.  The framework supports a dynamic design, which allows the features and functionalities linked with the product to be changed, along with the real time changes occurring in the ongoing market conditions. Generally, a scrum project is started when the stakeholders or the investors desire to develop a product for marketing and selling purposes.

Scrum roles

Scrum is basically a team process. There are three important roles in scrum:

·       The Product Owner

Responsible for the work to be done in the scrum project.

·       The Scrum Master

Plays the servant-leader role, ensures that scrum is properly implemented in the project, and acts as a facilitator.

·       The development team members

Undertakes the product development in the form of sprints and actually gives “birth” to the product.

Daily sprints

A sprint is the fundamental unit of developing the product in scrum methodology. Actually, the entire product is developed in short bursts of development activity known as “sprints”. Each sprint generally lasts for two weeks. It can, however, extend up to four weeks if required, but in practice it generally lasts for only two weeks. A fully functional, or a “shippable” product feature or functionality is delivered at the end of each sprint.

Scrum artifacts or objects

Scrum includes three important artifacts which facilitate the scrum process. They are:

·       The Product Backlog

It consists of the user stories, or the list of features and functionalities which actually define the entire product to be developed.

·       The Sprint Backlog

A certain portion, or a subset of the product backlog, is transferred to the sprint backlog for development purposes during the sprint.

·       The Product Increment

It constitutes the list of features and functionalities which have been developed successfully by the development team, and is ready for “shipping”.

Scrum meetings

Scrum also requires five team activities or meetings, which are:

·       Product Backlog Refinement

The meeting includes updating the product backlog items or the user stories with the latest updates and feedback availed from the stakeholders, and resetting the priority of the backlog items on the basis of their importance.

·       Sprint Planning

Scheduled just before a sprint is to be carried out, the meeting is used to plan which tasks should be taken up for development by the team, and to clear the doubts or issues concerning the development.

·       Daily Scrum

The meeting is held just before the sprint commences for the particular day. The purpose is to discuss three important questions associated with daily sprinting:

-        What was done yesterday?

-        What is to be done today?

-        Are there any difficulties?

·       Sprint Review

Once a sprint is carried out, the product owner compares the user stories developed by the team, whether they fulfill the acceptance criteria. The review functions as a “learning” activity, and the team uses the prior experience to avoid potential pitfalls from occurring in the future sprints.

·       Sprint Retrospective

Once the development is carried out in sprints, and the product owner accepts the tasks as “Done”, it is required to demonstrate the successfully completed user stories to the stakeholders and the end users. The retrospective also helps to obtain a feedback from the individuals who are actually going to use the product.

Source:- https://www.apsense.com/article/an-overview-of-scrum-methodology.html

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Agile Values in Scrum: The Important Principles and Values of Scrum Explained

Scrum is perhaps the best known Agile method of implementing successful projects. Scrum projects complete on time, and result into higher ROI for the stakeholders. This makes Scrum an ideal, and the most preferred choice while implementing projects, in which the product definition is liable to change with the changing market conditions. The Agile values and principles apply to scrum.   

Individuals and interactions more important than processes

Scrum, just like other Agile frameworks, relies much upon putting trust in teams and individuals connected with the project. The manner in which the team interacts is important. The team should take a proactive interest in determining what is to be done, and figure out how to achieve the aims and objectives associated with the project. Self correction and self learning is an integral part of scrum methodology, and the team should put in efforts to identify potential issues and problems which can act as impediments and hamper the project. The individuals should also take the responsibility to resolve the issues – they can take the help of the scrum master or the product owner as and when required, since these individuals are usually senior members, and have the required knowledge, as we as the expertise to find a way out and solve the problematic issues. For issues concerning the stakeholders and the investors, the product owner should take a proactive approach in availing the clarifications regarding the acceptance criteria, and guide the team in proceeding with the user stories. In scrum, it is essential that the team feels responsible, and undertake the responsibilities in a proactive manner.

Working and shippable software takes precedence over documentation and marketing concerns

The main purpose and objective of scrum is to produce shippable products through iterations know as sprints. The entire development of the product occurs in sprints. At the end of each sprint, the product owner verifies the quality of the development carried out by the team, and adjudges the completed user stories, whether they comply with the acceptance criteria. It is imperative that sprints deliver shippable products which fulfill the stakeholder’s vision of a successful marketable product. The documentation required to “manufacture” the product, such as the project analysis report, project design, testing and documentation of the results, creating user manuals and technical specifications etc. are important too, but the actual development through the sprints, and churning out shippable products at the end of sprints is more important and precedes the documentation associated with the development.

Collaborating with the customers more important than contracts and legal documentations

The product owner is the main entity which functions as the main point of contact between the team and the stakeholders, as well as the end users of the product. The product owner collaborates with the team, and determines what needs to be done next to make the project a distinct success. A primary responsibility is to ensure that the product maintains the highest possible market value at all times, even while it is being developed. This is the most critical aspect of scrum.

Transparency and taking proper decisions at the right time and the right manner

Scrum stresses heavily upon transparency and sharing information. The entire scrum process is designed to facilitate the flow of information and increase the transparency. Each team member should have access to the required information. They should have access to proper data and important information, so they can make informed decisions and fulfill their responsibilities in a proper and effective manner. Each aspect associated with the scrum process – including the product backlog and user stories – should be made available at all times so that the product increment through sprints is availed as per production plan and schedule.
Source:- http://computersight.com/programming/agile-values-in-scrum-the-important-principles-and-values-of-scrum-explained/

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