SCRUM PV
Contents |
Introduction
Scrum was introduced in 1986 by Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka with an article named: ‘The New New Product Development Game’, published by Harvard Business Review (REF). In the early 1990s it was further developed by Ken Schwaber and his company. Even though Scrum is spelled in all capital letters a lot of places, it is not an acronym. The word itself originated from rugby, where the term means a formation of players or a team (wiki ref). Scrum was made to help provide organizations flexible solutions to problems. Scrum is an iterative process, with the time frame most commonly being between 2 weeks and a month. This time frame is called a sprint in Scrum terminology. However, this varies a lot depending on the organization needs. Scrum has in recent years become a very popular project management framework. It is commonly used in companies who wish to become agile or lean. Together with the Kanban board, the Scrum framework has become an essential tool within agile and lean management.
Within the framework the Scrum Master manages a group through the following steps:
1. A Product Owner orders the work for a complex problem into a Product Backlog. (REF)
2. The Scrum Team turns a selection of the work into an Increment of value during a Sprint. (REF)
3. The Scrum Team and its stakeholders inspect the results and adjust for the next Sprint. (REF)
4. Repeat. (REF)
This article will go through the steps of the Scrum framework and the ideas behind them:
Values
The Scrum framework is based upon 5 core values that are meant to help illustrate some of benefits of the framework. The five values are:
- Courage
- Focus
- Commitment
- Respect
- Openness
For a Scrum process to be successful, the scrum team must keep these values in mind. The teams must be courageous so that they can use this framework to solve tough and complex issues. Focus and Commitment are also essential. When working with complex issues it is important that the team participating in the process are focused and committed. Finally, this framework is used by teams of people and therefore the participants are forced to work together. To help ensure conflicts are avoided, participants are encouraged to be respectful and open towards their fellow teammates.
TEAM
As mentioned before, the Scrum is performed by a small team of people. A Scrum team consists of a Product owner, a Scrum master and developers. The Scrum team is supposed to be self-managed and consisting of people with the necessary competences to achieve the goal. In order words, the teams should not be relying on any other manager or employees. The Scrum team can vary in size, however, smaller teams are preferable since it helps the team stay nimble and agile. According to the Scrum Guide (REF), a Scrum team should rarely exceed 10 people, but it does of course depend on the objective or goal of the organization.
Developers
One part of the Scrum team is Developers. Ken Scwaber and Jeff Sutherland describes developers as follows in their Scrum Guide: “Developers are the people in the Scrum Team that are committed to creating any aspect of a usable Increment each Sprint.”. In addition to that, they are responsible for making the product at the end of each sprint. You do not need any specific skill in order to become a Developer, since the skill requirement relies heavily on the objective. The competences and background of the Developers varies a lot, however, there are a few characteristics most great Developers should possess, for example, the ability to work together in teams. However, according to the Scrum guide developers are always responsible for:
- Creating a plan for the Sprint, the Sprint Backlog;
- Instilling quality by adhering to a Definition of Done;
- Adapting their plan each day toward the Sprint Goal; and,
- Holding each other accountable as professionals. (Scrum guide)
Product owner
The product owner is often the key stakeholder of the project (REF workfront). Their main purpose is ensuring the maximization of the value that the project intends to provide to the end customer. They do this by managing the product backlog which is an ordered list of the desired features the end product should have. Product owners often takes the perspective of the customer or consumer of the product. This customer centric perspective is meant to help ensure that the product actually delivers on the goals set in the beginning of the process. The product owner is the role within the Scrum framework that acts the most like what a project manager does in a traditional project group. It is fine for a product owner delegate work within the Scrum team, but the product owner is accountable of not only the daily executions of Scrum events but also the final product. A product owner is often a person with knowledge of both the business and technical side of the project and can therefore act as a mediator between developers with different backgrounds. It is also recommended that the product owner is someone with great leadership since the person is in charge of the entire Scrum team and the process. The Scrum guide also emphasizes the importance of their only being one single person as product owner within every Scrum team: “The Product Owner is one person, not a committee. The Product Owner may represent the needs of many stakeholders in the Product Backlog. Those wanting to change the Product Backlog can do so by trying to convince the Product Owner.”(Scrumguide). This also means that, in order for a product owner to be successful, the other members of the Scrum team must trust and respect the product owner decisions.
The product owners key responsibilities can be summed up as follows:
- Defining the vision
- Prioritizing the product backlog
- Taking an overview of development stages
- Handling communications
- Knowing what the client needs
- Evaluating progress (Workfront)
Scrum Master
In short, the Scrum master is responsible for the Scrum team’s effectiveness (Scrumorg master). A Scrum master is someone with a deep understanding and knowledge of the Scrum framework. This includes Scrum team roles, Scrum events and Scrum artifacts. One of the main responsibilities of the Scrum master is to make sure every participant understands the Scrum process and their individual roles and responsibilities. In addition to that, the Scrum master also helps outside of their respective scrum team. They can also help the organization around the Scrum team to have a better understanding of how the framework works. The Scrum master thereby serves the Scrum team, the product owner and the organization in numerous ways. They help team members with self-management and ensuring all of the events are done within the set timeframe. They help product owners with planning and backlog management, and finally they help the entire organization by educating and training employees in the Scrum framework. In order to become an official Scrum master, you have to take a Scrum master certification course. There are many providers of these courses, and they vary in length.
Sprints
Scrum and Agile
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_(software_development)
‘New New Produdct development Game’ - Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka 1986
‘The Scrum guide’ – Ken Scwaber and Jeff Sutherland 2020
