SCRUM PV

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)

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

https://www.kanbanchi.com/lean-management#:~:text=Lean%20management%20is%20a%20popular,to%20increase%20efficiency%20and%20quality.

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/scrum-team#:~:text=A%20scrum%20team%20is%20a,is%20no%20rank%20or%20hierarchy.