Understand the essence of Scrum: an agile framework that transforms project management. Increase productivity, collaboration and adaptability. Discover how Scrum drives successful, iterative results in technology and more!
If you've ever had the opportunity to be part of a software development project, you've no doubt heard about Scrum. If you've ever talked to a software engineer, you might have heard this too. What's more – if you've ever visited a software development company's website, chances are you've already come across it. Scrum has become a vital part of most software development companies.
But – do you know what it is? Do you know why so many people in the software development world have adopted this methodology as their main framework? And do you know what this can do for your development project? Here are the answers to these questions and some other things you need to understand the Scrum software development methodology.
What is Scrum?
Have you ever watched a rugby game? If so, you are certainly already familiar with the Scrum philosophy. In rugby, a scrum brings together team members to gain control of the ball. It's all about team effort to achieve a specific goal, which can only be achieved through teamwork. This is exactly what drives the Scrum methodology in the world of software development – a way for teams to work together.
Scrum is a framework that promotes team collaboration when dealing with all types of projects.
A more precise definition could say that Scrum is a framework that promotes team collaboration when dealing with all types of projects. This methodology is all about project management, with tools and functions that work together so that teams tackle the work ahead. Thus, Scrum is an iterative process with each team member working on a specific task to help the team achieve a specific goal.
Although it is not specific to software development (all teams in any organization or industry can use this framework), many people often associate Scrum with it because the industry has adopted this methodology virtually as a standard to guide the creation of digital solutions.
The Scrum Framework
One of the most common mistakes people make when approaching Scrum is believing that it is the same as Agile. It is important that you understand that this is not the case. Even when both are focused on continuous improvement, Scrum is a framework and Agile is a mindset.
This means that Scrum is a set of tools that you can start using to handle your work differently. Agile, in turn, implies a change in mentality: it means adopting a set of principles that modify the way you see your entire process.
With this confusion out of the way, we can focus on how Scrum works in a real-world scenario. As we said above, Scrum is focused on continuous improvement. This means that the team understands that they don't know everything there is to know about a given project at the beginning. Because the team takes this stance, they are open to what they will learn along the way and adapt the work (both process and product) to any discoveries they may encounter.
Thus, the Scrum software development methodology allows for more flexibility when creating a digital solution. It will allow teams to better understand the product, the customer, their requirements and the public, which results in a reprioritization of tasks and functionalities that lead to a better user and product experience, as well as an offer more tailored to needs. the requirements.
Using this idea as support, Scrum organizes work into short phases or iterations that allow the team to work on specific parts of the project and close them. After completing these short sprints, they can check out the overall product and draw conclusions that can inform the next iterations, leading them to improve the process and incorporate the new lessons into the software.
Understanding Scrum as a methodology that divides a project into small sprints can help you understand its structure. However, you need to remember that the structure exists to help teams better achieve their goals, but is flexible enough to accommodate new demands. This is exactly what makes it great for software development, especially in projects where the product is aimed at a new audience or is not being built on top of a previous version or known idea.
Why use Scrum?
Through them, the methodology can easily organize work into more manageable parts. Thus, it provides a structure rigid enough to provide security and predictability to the development process, but flexible enough for each team and company to adapt it to their way of doing things.
This translates into a range of benefits, including:
- Greater productivity: Because teams work in very specific iterations and tasks, they can complete them without distractions and in a short amount of time.
- Better quality products: Working on smaller pieces at a time allows for better control of every detail of any product.
- Reduced time to market: Scrum also allows teams to resolve issues as quickly as they arise, reprioritizing work at any time and adding new requirements at any stage, without the need to make significant revisions to the entire product. This results in less rework and faster delivery.
- Better team dynamics: The rapid release cycle keeps teams motivated as they work and close tasks quickly enough and move on to the next iteration. It creates momentum where continuous progress is a motivating factor that promotes more collaboration among team members.
It is also important to highlight that, as Scrum divides projects into smaller parts, it is an excellent methodology for developing complex software. This is because it can reduce ambiguity, limit risk, and provide enough flexibility to change direction as needed.
The Scrum artifacts
Now that you have all the basics of what Scrum is, it's time to review its essential components. And there's no better place to start than so-called Scrum artifacts. Although this name sounds strange, artifacts are just things that the team does with Scrum. There are three main artifacts:
Product Backlog
A list of things that need to be done throughout the project. In software development, this includes features, requirements, fixes, and any other tasks that need to be completed before the product is complete. Scrum is dynamic in nature, so is the product backlog, which will be updated and changed depending on the knowledge gained throughout the different development sprints.
Sprint pending issues
A smaller list of items related to a specific sprint. Each sprint (or small stage of development) includes a list of backlog items that the team will address. As with the product backlog, the sprint backlog can also change during the sprint – as long as the end goal (adding a new feature, designing a new UI, etc.) remains the same.
Definition of Done
The result of a sprint. It's whatever your Scrum team sets as a goal for any specific sprint. For example, you might consider “done” the completion of a specific set of application interface screens during a sprint.
The roles of Scrum
Scrum roles encompass the people who work on any Scrum team and put it into action. It is important that you know that Scrum teams are cross-functional. This means that a typical Scrum team will not only have software engineers, but also other specialists, including testers, UX designers, operations engineers, and different roles required for the project.
Now, let's look at the three main roles in any Scrum team:
- Scrum Product Owner: Responsible for understanding project requirements and managing the work that needs to be done. They are responsible for managing the product backlog, defining its items, prioritizing them to achieve project goals, and ensuring that everyone on the team understands the backlog and has access to it.
- Scrum Master: Responsible for supporting Scrum within the team. They help everyone understand the principles, practices, rules and values of Scrum. You can see this role as a kind of guard that tries to promote Scrum while ensuring that you get maximum value from the Scrum team. They do this by organizing resources, planning sprints, and reviewing sprint results.
- Scrum Development Team: The group responsible for delivering increments after each sprint. As stated above, these teams are cross-functional, but they train each other to ensure there are no bottlenecks. It is often said that Scrum software developer teams need to be self-organized, so that they can better handle the sprint backlog and ensure the successful completion of all sprints.
Scrum ceremonies
Finally, we have the Scrum ceremonies that teams perform regularly. They are more or less flexible, as some teams may find them extremely useful in guiding their work, while others may find them annoying and useless. As a general rule, all teams (especially new Scrum teams) should use them for a while to see if they fit their approach. These ceremonies are:
#1: Backlog Preparation
The product owner takes care of the product backlog, ensuring the list of items is clean and understandable, while also being attentive to feedback from the team, users, and customer.
#2 Sprint Planning
A meeting where the Scrum team defines the product backlog items that will be covered in the next sprint. The Scrum master is the leader and helps the team decide on the sprint goal.
#3 Race
The time when Scrum teams work through the sprint backlog to produce an Increment (or reach the definition of done). Sprints typically last two weeks, although this varies depending on the complexity of the project.
#4 Daily Scrum or Stand Up
Daily meeting where the team briefly discusses the work being carried out, checks whether it is aligned with the sprint objective and maps out the tasks to be carried out during the day. The idea is to discover possible problems or bottlenecks that could affect the sprint and resolve them immediately.
#5 Sprint Review
Once the sprint is complete, the team meets to analyze the resulting increment. This is often the time to get feedback from teammates and stakeholders. The product owner also uses this review to reorganize the product backlog with the insights collected here.
#6 Sprint Retrospective
Another meeting where the team discusses the Scrum process, be it a specific sprint, a project, group dynamics or even the ceremonies themselves. The purpose of the retrospective is clear – to detect weaknesses that can be improved in the future.
Scrum – The Great Ally for Software Development
As you can see, Scrum was designed with continuous improvement in mind. The main idea is to organize the work so that the entire development process is fast, flexible and smooth. Its main strength is that Scrum is aware that the only way to do this is to continually review work to get feedback that can lead to further improvements. That's why it's an excellent framework for software development: it can break down even the most complex projects into more manageable parts and provide support every step of the way.
