Agile Scrum Methodology

As an approach to software development, Scrum was set up to provide for adaptability. It is structured so that changes can be supported and implemented into a project that is currently in process.

Constants and Variables of the Scrum Framework

With the Agile or Scrum approach what is to be done in a given project is not held constant and changes can be added. The scope becomes variable but time and cost are considered constants. The overall project length is broken down into equal length time periods called sprints. In the framework of Scrum each sprint becomes a project in itself, and hopefully, at the end of the sprint (which is commonly thirty days long), there will be increments that are completed or “done” that can be turned over to the user for implementation.

Where the time factor becomes a constant of thirty days, the cost is also constant and would usually be the salaries of all the team members for the thirty days spent working on the just completed sprint.

Under the traditional waterfall approach to software development the “Iron Triangle” of scope, time, and the cost is different. The scope is constant, but time and cost are variable. By using the Scrum approach, there is only one variable (scope) rather than the two variables in the traditional approach.

Framework's Key Components

The key components making up the framework of Scrum can be broken down into the three main areas of personnel, meetings, and input-output reports.

Personnel

• Scrum Team - A small group of usually five to nine people who actually do the work. They are responsible for hopefully coming up with “done” product increments by the end of each sprint. The team is responsible for all aspects of the work to be done in the sprint and have no boss giving them orders of what to do.
• Product Owner - One person who represents the customer’s and user’s wants and works closely with the Scrum team. He is responsible for the success of the team in realizing the project’s goals.
• ScrumMaster - The individual who acts as coach and advisor to the team and is responsible for removing impediments to the team’s success. He also is responsible for the team following Scrum processes and rules
• Stakeholders - Users, customers, or vendors who are not members of the team but whose input is critical to the team’s success.
• Managers - Internal company managers who like stakeholders play an important role in the team’s success in an indirect way.

Meetings

• Daily Scrum - The team meets for fifteen minutes the same time each day to discuss problems and progress from the previous day’s work plus what is on the agenda for them to do in the next twenty-four hours.
• Sprint Planning - The team and product owner meet to agree upon what is to be accomplished during the next sprint.
• Sprint Review - The team explains to the product owner what was done during the just completed sprint.
• Sprint Retrospective - The team discusses the sprint just completed looking for ways future sprints can be improved upon.

Input-Output Reports

• Product Backlog - Prepared by the product owner it lists all of the desired wants and goals in prioritized sequence to be accomplished by the development team during the project.
• Sprint Backlog - A group of tasks from the product backlog report that the team agrees to accomplish in the next sprint it works on. The tasks have been prioritized by the product owner.
• Burndown Charts - Shows the amount of work remaining in days across time. Using a trend line, it is a means of estimating when the sprint will be completed, or the complete project if that is what is being tracked.