awesome-agile-essentials

Scrum

Credits: https://www.crystalloids.com

Definitions

A framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value. [Source: The Scrum Guide™]

Key Points

• Scrum is lightweight, simple to understand yet difficult to master [Reference]
• Scrum is a framework for getting work done, where agile is a mindset [Reference]
• Scrum is a framework, not a method for effective software delivery and building products
• The Scrum Framework, being a type of agile software development, implements the core values defined by the Agile Manifesto:
  1. Individuals and interactions OVER processes and tools
  2. Working software OVER comprehensive documentation
  3. Customer collaboration OVER contract negotiation
  4. Responding to change OVER following a plan
• No two teams adopt SCRUM the same way, but all of them should adhere to the rules and values of SCRUM

SCRUM Theory

• Scrum is founded on empirical process control theory, or empiricism [Reference]
• In philosophy, empiricism is a theory that states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience
• The values behind Scrum are heavily influenced by 3 pillars of Empirical Process Control which are -
  1. Transparency
  2. Inspection
  3. Adaptation

SCRUM Values

1. Commitment: Each member of the team then commits to delivering on decided timeline
2. Openness: The team members must be open so that the process can be inspected and improved transparently
3. Courage: The team members must be couragous in case of individual mistakes
4. Focus: Each team needs to commit to focus on delivering a set of outcomes
5. Respect: Having respect for team members in times of conflict is necessary

SCRUM Events

1. The Sprint: A short, time-boxed period when a scrum team works to complete a set amount of work or, “potentially shippable code” (1-4 weeks)
2. Sprint Planning: The act of planning of what-to-do and how-to-do the sprint tasks (maximum of 8 hours)
3. Daily Scrum: A time-boxed event for the Development Team to reflect on the work progress (not more than 15 minutes)
4. Sprint Review/Demi: Event to inspect the Increment/Sprint Goals and adapt the Product Backlog, if required. And sh
5. Sprint Retrospective: An event, to be occurred after the Sprint Review and prior to the next Sprint Planning, to inspect and create a plan for improvements to be enacted during the next Sprint

Key Points to address on SCRUM Events

• Sprint planning is focused on answering the following questions:
  1. What can be delivered in the upcoming sprint?
  2. How will we achieve the work needed to deliver these items?
• Only the team can decide how many items are chosen for the sprint (i.e., accepted into the sprint backlog) in this way. No manager or Product Owner can tell the team what it must achieve. The team decides what it can achieve
• The daiy stand up addresses the following:
  1. What did you do yesterday?
  2. What you are going to do today?
  3. Do you have any obstacles or impediments (blocker)?
• The Sprint Retrospective addresses the following:
  1. What worked well during the last sprint?
  2. What did not work very well during the last sprint?
  3. What should we improve?

The infamous Pigs and Chickens Theory:

• The members of the SCRUM team are often called pigs and non-members of the SCRUM team are called chickens
• Chickens lay eggs but the pigs can be eaten as pork, therefore the chickens are involved but the pigs are fully committed
• The non-team members of course care about the sprint but it is the members of the SCRUM team who are completely invested

SCRUM Artifacts

1. Product Backlog: The master list of features, requirements, enhancements, and fixes
2. Sprint Backlog: The list of items selected for implementation in the current sprint cycle
3. Product Increment (or, Sprint Goal): The usable end-product from a sprint

• Backlog Grooming: A periodical review of backlog items, if they’re no longer necessary or id estimates have changed, is required.
• Bcklog Visibility: The product backlog should provide the organization and stakeholders a visibility, so that they can evaluate if their observation have been captured properly
• Burndown charts: A graphical representation featuring the amount of remaining work (perhaps in hours) on the vertical axis with time along the horizontal axis
• The most important artifact is the actual product improvements, or in other words, the new code which has been written

The SCRUM Team

1. A Product Owner: Responsible for managing the Product Backlog and its tasks based on their priorities
2. A Scrum Master: Responsible for coaching and applying Scrum by promoting Scrum theory, practices, rules, and values
3. The Development Team: Responsible for creating the Increment & achieving the Sprint Goals

Resources

• Scrum in 5 Minutes - by Stephen Walther. “The goal of this blog entry is to explain the basic concepts of Scrum in less than five minutes. You learn how Scrum can help a team of developers to successfully complete a complex software project.”
• The Scrum Guide™ - by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. The official Scrum Body of Knowledge.
• Scrum Open Assessments
• PROFESSIONAL SCRUM DEVELOPER™ CERTIFICATION
• Reasons Why Scrum Can Fail - by John Yorke. “In essence, I am saying that Scrum fails when those in the named roles fail to live up to the role. This can also include cases where a role isn’t named or when someone or more than one person steps-up into that role. But in either case, if those mindsets are not present on the team it is a recipe for failure.”
• Product Backlog Grooming Best Practices: What it is and Why it’s Critical

This site is open source. Improve this page.