Scrum - The agile deveopment framework

Hi all, 

This article is all about Scrum software development framework. Hope this article will be more useful  for the newbies of the field and for the people who are wishing to step in to the industry.

In software development we adapt different development approaches like the the waterfall model, agile development,  spiral development etc.The widely used methodology in today's industry is the agile methodology. The key feature of agile development , it is being iterative and incremental. 

 Agile development has a certain manifesto. It includes,

  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools 

  • Working software over comprehensive documentations

  • Customer collaborations over contract negotiation 

  •  Responding to change over following a plan 

    www.agilemanifesto.org                                                                     
This manifesto explains  while there's value  in the items on the right, agile values the items in the left more.

 When talking about agile development there are number of Agile development frameworks available as,
  • eXtreme programming (XP)
  • Scrum
  • Kanban/  Lean

So let's move on with scrum....:)

 The term scrum came from a technique used in Rugby where one cross-functional team passes the "ball" back and forth on the way to the "goal line”. This was later used to explain projects using small, cross functional teams. Scrum is a framework based on agile principles, not a methodology.

Let's see an overview of the scrum development framework.

 

Overview

When we look in to word "scrum" it comes with different buzz words as shown below. These terms highlight the  specialty of scrum development framework. 

 

 

The story

So let's begin the scrum story by defining the roles.

Once a software is decided to be developed using scrum "Product Owner' who represents the voice of the customer (can be often a customer but can also be a member of the internal organization) creates a to-do-list figuring out what functionalities should be implemented and how they should be prioritized. This so called list is called a "Product backlog". This product owner, including the scrum master and the development team forms the scrum team.

The product owner should have comprehensive knowledge on English ,  Marketing and Business Processes.

 

Scrum master is the person who coaches the team, hold discussions with the scrum team and allows the team to self-organize and make changes quickly. 

 

 The scrum development team is usually a self motivated team consisting of 5-9 people. The specialty of this team is that there are no built in rules within this team and  members need not to be experts in  a particular field.

 

In scrum, all the activities are taken place in sprints.A sprint may consist of 2-4 weeks. But, the period considered for a sprint should be fixed through out the project.
The work which will be carried on during a sprint (from the product backlog) will be planned during the sprint meeting. The team selects how much work to be carried out in the sprint and then creates the sprint backlog. Using planning poker method estimates what needs to be done earlier prioritizing the backlog.
 

Daily scrum meetings are held during the sprint. The goal is to enable the Team to share progress with each other. Each member has to present what was done yesterday, what he/she’s doing today and what is blocking him/ her to achieve the daily goal. This is time boxed to 15 minutes per each team member.
 

Whilst the sprint, a Burn down Chart is maintained so as to track the progress of the team. What worked well during the sprint, what didn’t work so well and how can way of performing work can be increased is evaluated here.

 



After concluding the activities of a sprint a Sprint Review meeting and a Sprint Retrospective meeting are conducted.

In a sprint review meeting it inspects and adopts the product and measures how much working software is made. A demo of the sprint work is done and feedback are received.

The goal of the sprint retrospective meeting is to inspect and adapt the process. What worked
well during the sprint, what didn’t work so well and how can way of performing work can be increased is evaluated here.

So what are Scrum Artifacts?

Artifacts are what are produced in a scrum development process. 

  • Sprint backlog

  • Product backlog

  • Burndown chart 

    So that's all with scrum.Hope you all got certain idea on scrum...See you soon :)


 
 
 
 


 

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