Scrum Simplified: From Introduction to Implementation

Scrum is a popular Agile framework that has been widely adopted by companies in the IT industry. It is designed to assist teams to manage and complete complicated projects in a more effective and efficient way. In this newsletter, we'll look more closely at what Scrum is, how it works, and how your organisation can use it.

Scrum is based on the idea that work should be done in small?increments, with regular check-ins and changes along the way. This method lets teams adjust to changing needs and stay on track, even when things are uncertain. The crucial part of Scrum is the usage of "sprints," which are short cycles of work that last between two and four weeks. The team decides on a set of deliverables for each sprint and works together to finish them. At the end of the sprint, the team presents the work Done to all stakeholders, gathers feedback and looks at how well they did and adapts their plan for the next sprint.

How does implementing Scrum help your organisation?

1. Increased flexibility and adaptability: Scrum allows teams to respond quickly to changes in requirements or priorities.
2. Improved collaboration and communication: Scrum emphasises regular meetings and close collaboration between team members, which leads to improved communication and a shared understanding of the project.
3. Faster delivery: Scrum's iterative and incremental approach allows for the delivery of working software early and often.
4. Increased transparency: Scrum's use of visual management tools, such as sprint boards and burn-down charts, helps to increase transparency and visibility into the project's progress.
5. Greater accountability: Scrum's use of cross-functional teams and dedicated roles, such as the Scrum Master and Product Owner, helps to increase accountability and ownership of the project's outcomes.
6. Improved product quality: Scrum's use of regular reviews and inspections helps to identify and address quality issues early on, resulting in a higher-quality end product.
7. Greater customer satisfaction: Scrum's focus on delivering working software and involving the customer in the development process helps to increase customer satisfaction and ensure that the final product meets their needs.

Using cross-functional teams, the Product Owner role, and the Scrum Master role also helps make sure that the work being done is in line with business goals and that problems are quickly found and fixed. Scrum also encourages team members to be involved and work together, which can improve communication and help solve problems.

In the scrum process, four events and three artefacts?are the keys to scrum success. They are:

Scrum Artefacts

• The Product Backlog is a list of all the project work that needs to be done. The team plans their work for each sprint with this list.
• The Sprint Backlog is made by the scrum team during scrum planning. It has a list of the Product Backlog items (PBIs) that the Developers have chosen to work on during the next Sprint. The Sprint Backlog also has a plan for delivering the chosen items from the Product Backlog and a Sprint Goal that explains what the Sprint is for.
• A Sprint Increment is a set of newly completed and potentially releasable product features or improvements delivered at the end of a sprint.

Scrum Events

• The Sprint Planning Meeting is a meeting where the team decides what work they will do during the sprint.
• The Daily Scrum is a short, stand-up meeting (usually 15 minutes) where team members report on their progress and talk about any problems they're having.
• The Sprint Review is a meeting where the team shows what they've done during the sprint and gets feedback from stakeholders.
• The Sprint Retrospective is a meeting where the team talks about the work they did during the sprint and looks for ways to make things better.

In addition to these events and artefacts, Scrum has 3 roles that are necessary for success:

• The Product Owner is the person who represents the stakeholders and ensures that the product backlog is aligned with business goals, and he is responsible for prioritizing the backlog items and making sure that the Development Team is always working on the most important tasks.
• The Scrum Master is the facilitator of Scrum events, a servant leader to the Scrum team, and ensures that everyone understands and follows Scrum values and practices. They are in charge of running the process and keeping the team's focus on its goals, while also helping the team identify and remove any obstacles that may be hindering their progress.
• The Development Team is a group of self-managing and cross-functional individuals who actually do the work to finish the tasks in the Product Backlog. They possess all the necessary skills and expertise to complete the work required.

So, how can you get your own company to use Scrum? Here are some starting points:

• Make sure you've got the right people on your team. Scrum works best with small teams of 3-9 people, who are self-organizing and have all the needed skills to deliver the product increment.
• Find a Product Owner who understands your business, product and the needs of your customers. The Product owner takes all of these into consideration when creating a backlog and prioritizing what would bring the most value.
• Educate or get an experienced Scrum Master to teach Agile values and processes to the team, serve them and keep them on track.

Get a feel for how Scrum works by starting with a small project. Then, as you get used to the process, you can gradually scale it up.

For more, read our blog How do you implement Scrum, and is it appropriate for you? and download your copy to get a step-by-step guide.

Thank you for reading our Scrum newsletter. We hope you found the information helpful and that it gave you some ideas on what scrum is and how to use it in your own organisation. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or want to find out more about how we can help your team adopt Scrum.