Agile Methodology - Scrum

If we break it down software development is a request or demand for a software product is submitted.?

Product owner creates the product back log and gives it to development and once it is developed, tested then it is implemented and customer or end users are benefited with it and feedback is gathered by product owner.?

There are several methodologies that are used to develop software it can be listed as under

1. Scrum
2. Kanban
3. Extreme Programing
4. ScrumBan
5. Others

Before we go into the different type of agile methodology. We should understand agile first.?

Agile is an iterative approach to project management and software development that helps teams deliver desired value and features of the product to their customers faster and that too with fewer headaches. This methodology emphasis on continuous delivery of small but useful and consumable features of the product to the customer Instead of delivering everything at one (Product launch).

Image 1 - Agile

With this method each and every team member is continuously involved at every stage of the development, delivery and maintenance. As the product is delivered in iterative manner the bugs or changes are reported in the same manner and thus managing those is also quite simple and easy.

With this method stakeholders are in continuously updated with the progress of the product resulting into the inputs frequently thus developers can understand the anticipation of the customer and can deliver the values of the product and matching the expectation of the customers.?

Juts for the reference the market share as of now for different methodology

Image 2 – Market share

Now let’s understand different type of type of methodology

Scrum

Scrum is the most popular agile methodology in the market – as shown in Image 2 above.?

Scrum word is derived from the rugby game where team is training for the big game, encouraging the team to learn through their experience, organizing them self while working on a problem and continuously improve by learning from their wins or losses.?

Scrum was created by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland they have written The Scrum Guide to explain Scrum briefly and clearly.?This Guide contains the definition of Scrum. This definition consists of Scrum’s accountabilities, events, artifacts, and the rules that bind them together.

Image 3: Scrum

Reference https://www.scrumguide.org the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland

Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams and organizations generate value through?adaptive solutions for complex problems.?

In a nutshell, Scrum requires a Scrum Master to foster an environment where:

1. A Product Owner orders the work for a complex problem into a Product Backlog.

2. The Scrum Team turns a selection of the work into an Increment of value during a Sprint.

3. The Scrum Team and its stakeholders inspect the results and adjust for the next Sprint.

4. Repeat

Scrum is simple. Try it as is and determine if its philosophy, theory, and structure help to achieve goals?and create value. The Scrum framework is purposefully incomplete, only defining the parts required to?implement Scrum theory. Scrum is built upon by the collective intelligence of the people using it. Rather?than provide people with detailed instructions, the rules of Scrum guide their relationships and?interactions.

Various processes, techniques and methods can be employed within the framework. Scrum wraps?around existing practices or renders them unnecessary. Scrum makes visible the relative efficacy of?current management, environment, and work techniques, so that improvements can be made.?

In simple words we can say that with scrum methodology the development starts by pulling the high priority items (sprint backlog) from the list of items (product backlog) and start building with those items. Once those lists are built and tested team has a potential shippable feature. This whole process is called sprint.?

During this process the development team focuses on sprint backlog and only on sprint backlog. In exception, If there are any new requirements crop up it has to wait till the sprint is completed.?

During this process team has daily meeting where they discuss about the progress and identify any blockage. At the end of the sprint the features those are completed is packed for release and those are not completed they are sent back to the product back log.?

Image 4 : Scrum Board

During this process a board is used which is known as Scrum board or Agile Board or in more confusing manner KanBan Board. On this board they put list of items that has to be done, Current building process, Items under Q&A Process and Done.?

Scrum uses the Pull method which means it pulls the most important items from the product backlog and start developing it once that (sprint) backlog is completed and delivered it pulls another and so on till all the features are completed. Generally, the sprint duration is between 2 – 4 weeks long.

Sprint ends with sprint reviews and sprint retrospective or we can say sprint is celebrated with Sprint review ceremony and sprint retrospective ceremony as explained under.

Sprint reviews: This is a process where the released product or package is demonstrated to the customer. With this process they explain the features. This meeting consists of developers, product owner, agile coach or scrum master and most importantly the customers. Here they discuss about the increments that are delivered.?

Sprint Retrospective:?

This is the process where all the team members get together and identify what went well and what can be improved. Generally, this is done by the notes taken by the development team during their development process once the meeting is started scrum master or the product manager collect all the notes from the team member and then put them in 2 columns (1 What went well, 2 What can be done in a better way). Here they discuss about the features implemented the method or technology that used and discuss they way that can improve their feature development. These meetings can last up to 3 hours or even longer. At the end of the meeting, they can come up with the list of new feature or development method. New features will go into the product log.?

Sprint retrospective is called the sprint ceremony and normally this meeting is held at the end of the sprint but it is not necessary that it is held at the end of the sprint. Some time it can be held even if the sprint is not completed.?

Kanban and other methodologies will be discussed later posts

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Kanban will be discussed in my next post