Analytical-Mind

Scrum is an Agile management process that uses an iterative and incremental approach to deliver complex software development projects.

The Scrum Cycle

The three fundamental roles of Scrum are : the Product Owner, the Scrum Master, and the Scrum Team.

The Scrum cycle is divided into five activities to be completed by the Scrum Team in order to meet their commitment to deliver on the work included as part of the sprint backlog.

Define

During the definition phase, the project team (the Scrum Master and the Scrum Team) meets with the Product Owner to determine and agree on the priority of the team for the duration of the sprint. The intent is not to agree on the details during this stage but the high level direction the team will follow. The outcome of the definition stage is to start populating a product backlog.

Plan

Planning consists of selecting the high level items from the product backlog and evaluate the value of the various items as well as the estimated efforts to complete the work. As part of a negotiation process between the Product Owner and the Scrum Team, a subset of the product backlog is selected which is then called the Sprint Backlog.

Build

Much happens during the building phase where the development team members select and execute tasks from the Sprint Backlog until all work is completed and a “product” is ready to present to the Product Owner.

Review

At the end of each sprint, the Scrum Team presents the various items that have been developed during the sprint to the Product Owner. This practice has a few clear benefits in that unless metrics can be demonstrated in the application – not on paper or in theory – and shown to provide the expected information, they are not completed.

Retrospect

The final step of the iteration is the retrospection which has a few objectives where the most important one is to allow the team to reflect on the successes and determines which areas need to be improved prior to entering the next sprint. As such, the team collectively assesses its own performance and determine the best way to adapt in order to successfully achieve its next sprint.

The Burn Down Chart

Definition

A burn-down chart is a graphical representation that shows the progress made during the development cycle.

The Burn Down Chart can be used to show outstanding work for a release or for a sprint and in both cases, the chart represents the amount of work remaining for the completion of the release or sprint versus time.

How the Burn Down Chart works?

The vertical axis (Y-axis) of the chart presents the work remaining to complete the release or sprint while the horizontal axis (X-axis) represents the time.

Scrum Burn Down Chart

The chart typically presents 2 lines going from the top left section of the chart towards the bottom right.  While the first line presents an estimate of work delivered over time, the second line shows the actual values. As such, the Burn Down Chart is useful for predicting when the work scheduled for the current release or sprint will be completed.

The Scrum Team

There are three fundamental roles in Scrum: the Product Owner, the Scrum Master, and the Scrum Team.

Definition

The Scrum Team is a self-organized group of up-to 7 individuals with no pre-defined roles who work in collaboration to deliver upon their commitments. The Scrum Team is often comprised of cross-functional individuals who work to successfully complete the activities identified as part of the sprint backlog.

What the Scrum Team does

The Scrum Team is responsible for the following activities:

• Following a negotiation with the Product Owner, selects the goal of the sprint;
• Organizes itself and its work;
• Plans and executes the tasks identified during the Sprint Planning Meeting;
• Determines the appropriate methods of delivering on their commitments;
• Presents the resulting work to the Product Owner.

The Scrum Master

There are three fundamental roles in Scrum: the Product Owner, the Scrum Master, and the Team.

Definition

As an Agile Project Manager, the Scrum Master is the person responsible to ensure the adoption and adherence to the Scrum process. With no formal authority over the Team, the Scrum Master facilitates the various activities and maintains the Burn Down Chart.

What the Scrum Master does

As a liaison between the Product Owner and the Team, the Scrum Master is responsible for the following activities:

• Helps the team maintain their productivity by removing barriers and preventing interferences;
• Supports the Product Owner in achieving the project’s goals;
• Facilitates communication between the Product Owner and the Team;
• Updates the Burn Down charts and other artifacts to make team progress visible;
• Organizes and facilitates the key meetings: definition, planning, building, demonstration, and retro-spection.

References:

• Scrum Alliance -Scrum Roles
• Learning Scrum – The ScrumMaster
• The ScrumMaster Role

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The Sprint Backlog

Definition

Similar to the Product Backlog, the Sprint Backlog is a list of tasks that the Scrum team is committing to deliver within the current Sprint. The Sprint Backlog is a simple list of the tasks that must executed by the team in order to deliver an increment of functional software at the end of the Sprint.

How the Sprint Backlog works

Based on the priorities set by the Product Owner, the Scrum team selects as many items from the Product Backlog as they believe they can complete within the current Sprint.

Sprint Backlog creation happens in the second part of the Sprint Planning meeting with the participation of every team member.  It is critical that the team selects the items and size of the Sprint Backlog since they will be the ones committing to completing the tasks.

During the Sprint the Scrum Master maintains the Sprint Backlog by updating it to reflect which tasks are completed and how long the team thinks it will take to complete those that are not yet done.

• Learning Scrum – The Sprint Backlog
• Scrum (development) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Scrum Alliance -9 Tips for Creating a Good Sprint Backlog

The Product Owner

There are three fundamental roles in Scrum: the Product Owner, the Scrum Master, and the team.

Definition

The Product Owner is the one person responsible for the project’s success. The Product Owner leads the development effort by conveying his or her vision to the team, outlining, and prioritizing it based on business value. As such, the Product Owner is responsible for representing the interests of everyone with a stake in the resulting project.

The Product Owner differs from that of the traditional Product Manager role in many ways.

What the Product Owner does

As the owner of the product vision, the Product owner shoulders all the responsibility for the project success and is ultimately responsible to the Team, stakeholders and to the company.  Here are some of the activities perform by the Product Owner:

• Creates and maintains the Product Backlog;
• Prioritizes and sequences the Product Backlog according to business value or ROI;
• Assists with the elaboration of Epics, Themes and Features into user stories that are granular enough to be achieved in a single Sprint;
• Conveys the Vision and Goals at the beginning of every Release and Sprint;
• Represents the customer, interfaces and engages the customer;
• Participates in the daily Scrums, Sprint Planning Meetings and Sprint Reviews and Retrospectives;
• Inspects the product progress at the end of every Sprint and has complete authority to accept or reject the work done;
• Can change the course of the project at the end of every Sprint;
• Communicates status externally;
• Terminates a Sprint if it is determined that a drastic change in direction is required;
• Understanding and communicating the customer needs;
• Meeting the project goal and financial targets such as return on investment (ROI);
• Collaborates with the team and aligns with the stakeholders throughout the entire release.

References:

• Learning Scrum – The Product Owner
• Top 10 Activities of the Product Owner
• Agile Product Owner and Agile Product Manager in the Enterprise: Part 1- On Product Owners AND Product Manager
• Scrum Product Owner
• InfoQ: Creating Product Owner Success