Scrum and iterative
development
Scrum framework
actively supports project development in the form of iterations, known
popularly as “iterative development” in technical jargon. Scrum supports
iterative development in the form of sprints. The feature helps to control the
return over investment or the “ROI” in a much better manner, and helps the
stakeholders to decide and prioritize the development activity as well as
production processes. Scrum is all
about incorporating dynamic changes during project development, and promotes
the primary goal of delivering maximum business value within a limited or
minimum time scale. It is possible to achieve dynamic development processes by
properly implementing scrum and controlling the sprint activity in an efficient
manner.
Importance of sprint activity, or iterations, in catering to
constantly changing project environments
Projects can be complex. They can also be subjected to ongoing market trends and changing user- associated requirements. While developing very big or complex projects, it can be difficult to assign fixed goals or objectives. Development takes time. More than often, the functionalists or facilities linked up with a particular project may become obsolete or redundant over time. This can create problems with the development activity if the organization is following traditional waterfall or linear development methodologies. It becomes very difficult to incorporate the changes in such methods since the entire project has to be initiated right from the beginning – from scratch. This result is a significant loss of working hours and productivity. This is where scrum comes in. Scrum framework supports changes occurring in the project environment in a dynamic manner. It is also possible to consistently evaluate the development related requirements, and make amendments in the project development plan in an instant, without any significant loss of time or resources. Moreover, it is much easier to identify redundancy levels and put a curb on nonproductive developmental activities – simply because the sprint process incorporates dynamic updates within the product backlog as and when required. The product owner can update, remove, and add user stories or requirements in the product backlog, and the same can be taken up for development purposes in the sprint backlog. This is the main essence of scrum, and the primary reason why scrum is so popular as a development methodology.
How can you dynamically incorporate changes into your ongoing project or
production plan?
Scrum planning and
implementation starts with the creation of the product backlog – the list of requirements needed to develop the
project in totality. In a typical project, the end product is segregated into
its basic constituent parts called user stories. The product owner represents the interests of the stakeholders, and is
therefore responsible for creating the product backlog.
During the
implementation process, the product owner determines the priority of the
importance of user stories and transfers them to the sprint backlog for
development purpose. Team members take up user stories on the basis of their
levels of expertise and start developing them during the sprint. After the end
of each sprint, user stories are checked for acceptance levels. If they are
found to be acceptable i.e. “shippable” they are accepted as “Done”. In case
the development remains unfinished, the incomplete user stories still go back
to the product backlog, where the product owner reevaluates their importance
and priority, and eventually decides whether to send the incomplete stories
back to the sprint backlog for further development, or to mark them as redundant
and do away with them. This is how scrum helps to check undue wastage of
development time and resources, since the requirement is evaluated every time
the sprint cycle ends. If the particular development is found to be
non-productive, they are simply taken away from the sprint backlog.
