Overview of Scrum Method
Scrum is a methodology in the agile framework which works on transparency, keen observation of process, and adaptability. This method is used in product development. The co-founders of scrum are Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland in the early 1990s. The name ‘scrum’ has been taken from the game Rugby. In this topic, we are going to learn about Scrum Method.
The aim of creating a scrum is to provide high performance within a small team, and everyone having an objective task to work on and to provide effective results. Hence keeping this concept, the project methodology has been broken down into sprints. Sprints can go from a week to months, which is dependent on the complexity. Sprint logs consist of Forecast, To-Do, In-Progress, and Done.
Roles of Scrum Method
Scrum suggests three roles in project development are the team, Scrum Master, and product owner.
1. The Team
This is the self-development team that collaborates and functions in an organized structure. It’s the core, base and fundamental team which works in an organized way, also provides effective work in the development of a product.
2. The Scrum Master
The scrum master is a facilitator of the team, he is an expert in agile methodologies and works in accordance with the principles. The scrum master manages the information collaboration within the different departments in a project team. Any changes in the project stage will be quickly brought in by the scrum master. The scrum master will have the responsibility of providing high yield and to make sure everything falls in the right place using the scrum values and principles.
3. Product owner
The scrum product owner stands as the point of vision to the scrum team of the agile development projects. He will make sure to elevate the team’s goal and make it possible for them to work as per sprints. He is also the motivator of the team towards a clear goal. His vision will be in successfully conveying the team what the best they are capable of doing. The product owner can be from any vertical including marketing, or product management having an understanding of markets and project trends. He should be business savvy and with good communication skills to work cross-functionally in the organization.
Events of Scrum Method
There are four events that occur during each sprint:
1. Sprint Planning
It’s the first event in the sprint. The team is involved in the backlog work that they should work on during sprints. The Team decides what to work on for the current period. The team consists of a Scrum Master, the developer’s team and the product owner. This planning stage takes place on the first day of the sprint. Only after the completion of the previous sprint review and retrospection, the next new sprint is taken place. Based on the previous sprint discussion, new sprint planning is considered. The goals are decided using the questionnaire on the scope and plan how to deliver accordingly.
2. Daily Scrum
The scrum team meets for a quick 15 minutes every day of the Sprint to inspect progress and decide what to work on for the next 24 hours. The daily scrum is held every day in sprints. The intention here is to create a planned work for an effective understanding of what is going right now, how and when we can reach our goal. This also helps in effective communication between the teams.
3. Sprint Review
This is the stage where the development team present to the product owner. The Team collaborates about what was done and adapts the Backlog as needed. They present the work which is “done.” This is the end of the sprint. At an ideal stage, the sprint review meeting can go for a duration of one hour per week.
4. Sprint Retrospective
Sprint retrospective stage of the meeting is headed by the scrum master, which is done after the sprint review. The Team discusses what went right, what went wrong, and how to improve in the next sprint. This means it gives the look back on past events and ways to improve. It gives a chance to the team to give feedback to the management on the progress of the project. This creates a plan for improvement in the next sprint.
Artifacts in Scrum Method
There are three artifacts in the scrum method that are product increment, product backlog, and sprint backlog. Let us now understand in detail.
1. Product backlog
The product backlog is the detailed document of the scrum team. It’s the final document that is referred for any details regarding the product. This is owned by the PO, and he uses this to explain the top requirements for any sprint to be carried.
For ease, the product backlog should contain few rules:
- The product backlog should contain priorities. This helps in delivering as per priority.
- The product backlog should not contain any detailed statement, it’s a top requirements document.
- Product backlog must be dynamic, it should change as per when the requirement gets into detailed work. As there are changes per requirement, the document changes and a new requirements area are added upon.
2. Sprint backlog
There are two major points to remember in the sprint backlog.
- Making decisions in a group: Each and every state should be decided by the whole team and grouped.
- Organize task: The Scrum team should not need the assigned task from the Scrum master. They are self-organized to pick and work on tasks.
3. Product Increments
Product Increments, in general, is a sum of all product backlog committed during the sprint. This is generally a piece of software collaborating across the organization, creating transparency. This can also be in the type of task boards or charts.
Conclusion
From this article, we have now known about sprints in the scrum, the scrum cycle, their artifacts, and four events that occur in the scrum, the logs, and also various roles in scrum methodology. The article also gives us information on the product members involved and their key roles in a scrum cycle.
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