Scrum Process - Introduction
Scrum is one of the most popular Agile frameworks. We have discussed elements of Scrum in some of our previous posts. In this post, we review the overall Scrum framework and how it works.
Scrum would approach project management by requiring the Product Owner to specifically outline the vision and tentative release dates for a product/ project. She is also required to draft an initial set of requirements and sort them by priority in what is called a project or product backlog. The team then gets together with the Product Owner and estimates the requirements broadly. The Product Owner can then re prioritize the requirements, if needed. Once this is done, the Agile iterative and incremental process starts. The team takes a guess at how much work it can do in a particular sprint. They pick the requirements that can fit into the first sprint, re-estimate them better and to a finer detail. This might involve asking Product Owner more questions. This is done usually during the first half of the Sprint Planning Meeting. Once the team and the Product Owner come to an agreement on what requirements are to be taken up during the first sprint, the team moves to second phase of Sprint Planning Meeting and breaks the requirements into actual tasks constituting what is the initial sprint backlog. The sprint clock has now started. These tasks are updated through out the sprint in what is called a sprint backlog. The team meets daily, to synchronize the efforts. At the end of the sprint, the team demonstrates potentially shippable code to the Product Owner and other stakeholders in Sprint Review. The team incorporates feedback and Product Owner reprioritizes the backlog. Both decide the date for next Sprint Planning Meeting and start another sprint afterwards. Between the next Sprint Planning Meeting and Sprint Review, the team undertakes a Sprint Retrospective. The team identifies process improvements during this meeting and over a period of time, sprint after sprint, takes an iterative and incremental approach to process improvement as well. A Scrum Master, is designated with the task of ensuring that Scrum is followed in spirit and letter.
This was more of a How-to of Scrum. We would discuss a Lean view of Scrum in our next post.
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Posted on April 1st, 2008 by admin
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