Scrum

Scrum is an iterative, incremental framework for project management often seen in agile software development, a type of software engineering.

Although the Scrum approach was originally suggested for managing product development projects, its use has focused on the management of software development projects, and it can be used to run software maintenance teams or as a general project/program management approach.

Scrum is a process skeleton that contains sets of practices and predefined roles. The main roles in Scrum are^[7]:

1. the “ScrumMaster”, who maintains the processes (typically in lieu of a project manager)
2. the “Product Owner”, who represents the stakeholders and the business
3. the “Team”, a cross-functional group who do the actual analysis, design, implementation, testing, etc.

During each “sprint”, typically a two to four week period (with the length being decided by the team), the team creates a potentially deliverable product increment (for example, working and tested software). The set of features that go into a sprint come from the product “backlog”, which is a prioritized set of high level requirements of work to be done. Which backlog items go into the sprint is determined during the sprint planning meeting. During this meeting, the Product Owner informs the team of the items in the product backlog that he or she wants completed. The team then determines how much of this they can commit to complete during the next sprint, and records this in the sprint backlog.^[6] During a sprint, no one is allowed to change the sprint backlog, which means that the requirements are frozen for that sprint. Development is timeboxed such that the sprint must end on time; if requirements are not completed for any reason they are left out and returned to the product backlog. After a sprint is completed, the team demonstrates how to use the software.

Scrum enables the creation of self-organizing teams by encouraging co-location of all team members, and verbal communication between all team members and disciplines in the project.

A key principle of Scrum is its recognition that during a project the customers can change their minds about what they want and need (often called requirements churn), and that unpredicted challenges cannot be easily addressed in a traditional predictive or planned manner. As such, Scrum adopts an empirical approach—accepting that the problem cannot be fully understood or defined, focusing instead on maximizing the team’s ability to deliver quickly and respond to emerging requirements.

Like other agile development methodologies, Scrum can be implemented through a wide range of tools. Many companies use universal software tools, such as spreadsheets to build and maintain artifacts such as the sprint backlog. There are also open-source and proprietary software packages dedicated to management of products under the Scrum process. Other organizations implement Scrum without the use of any software tools, and maintain their artifacts in hard-copy forms such as paper, whiteboards, and sticky notes.^[8]

Scrum teams consist of three core roles and a range of ancillary roles—core roles are often referred to as pigs and ancillary roles as chickens (after the story The Chicken and the Pig).

[edit]Core Scrum roles

The core roles in Scrum teams are those committed to the project in the Scrum process—they are the ones producing the product (objective of the project).

Product Owner

The Product Owner represents the  voice of the customer and is accountable for ensuring that the Team delivers value to the business. The Product Owner writes customer-centric items (typically  user stories), prioritizes them, and adds them to the  product backlog. Scrum teams should have one Product Owner, and while they may also be a member of the Development Team, it is recommended that this role not be combined with that of ScrumMaster. ^[9]

Team

The Team is responsible for delivering the product. A Team is typically made up of 5–9 people with cross-functional skills who do the actual work (analyse, design, develop, test, technical communication, document, etc.). It is recommended that the Team be self-organizing and self-led, but often work with some form of project or team management.

ScrumMaster

Scrum is facilitated by a ScrumMaster, also written as  Scrum Master, who is accountable for removing impediments to the ability of the team to deliver the sprint goal/deliverables. The ScrumMaster is not the team leader but acts as a buffer between the team and any distracting influences. The ScrumMaster ensures that the Scrum process is used as intended. The ScrumMaster is the enforcer of rules. A key part of the ScrumMaster’s role is to protect the team and keep them focused on the tasks at hand. The role has also been referred to as  servant-leader to reinforce these dual perspectives.

[edit]Ancillary Scrum roles

The ancillary roles in Scrum teams are those with no formal role and infrequent involvement in the Scrum process—but nonetheless, must be taken into account.

Stakeholders (customers, vendors)

These are the people who enable the project and for whom the project will produce the agreed-upon benefit[s], which justify its production. They are only directly involved in the process during the sprint reviews.

Managers (including Project Managers)

People who will set up the environment for product development.

[edit]Agile Project Management with Scrum

Scrum has not only reinforced the interest in software project management, but also challenged the conventional ideas about such management. Scrum focuses on project management institutions where it is difficult to plan ahead with mechanisms for empirical process control, such as where feedback loops constitute the core element of product development compared to traditional command-and-control oriented management. It represents a radically new approach for planning and managing software projects, bringing decision-making authority to the level of operation properties and certainties. Scrum reduces defects and makes the development process more efficient, as well as reducing long-term maintenance costs.^[6]

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