Author: Michele Sliger
By now, many project managers are familiar with agile
practices. But what about the subsets of agile, like Scrum; how can this method
effectively be applied to your projects?
There is a common misconception that agile is Scrum.
Scrum is indeed agile because it offers a way to implement
the agile philosophy, but it is one of many agile approaches to project
delivery that adheres to the Agile Manifesto and its associated principles.
Simply put, Scrum supports iterative and incremental project
delivery using frequent feedback and collaborative decision-making. It consists
of three pillars: transparency, inspection and adaptation.
Who Works in Scrum?
There are three roles involved in the application of Scrum
in projects. These roles include:
- ScrumMaster — keeps the process and advocates for and protects the team (often, a project manager assumes this role)
- Product Owner — represents the customer and has authority to make decisions
- Team — is jointly responsible for delivering the product (usually 7–10 people)
Characteristics of Scrum
Like all projects, the Scrum project begins with a clear
vision — which helps shape the scope — provided by the business and a set of
product features in order of importance. These features are parts of the
product backlog, which the product owner maintains.
A time box, or sprint, is the set amount of time that the
team has to complete the features selected. Sprints are generally from one to
four weeks in length, and that length is maintained throughout the life cycle
of the project so as to establish a cadence.
During the sprint planning meeting, which happens on the
first day of each sprint, the team selects items from the product backlog that
it believes can be completed in the sprint and creates a sprint backlog
consisting of these items.
Once the team has planned the sprint, the task work begins.
During this time in the sprint, the team is protected from interruptions and
allowed to focus on meeting the sprint goal. No changes to the sprint backlog
are allowed; however, the product backlog can be changed in preparation for the
next sprint.
Scrum at Work
stands in a circle and each member states what he or she did
yesterday, what he or she plans to do today and what is getting in his or her
way. Team members track their progress on a task board and through the use of a
burndown chart, which shows the amount of work still left to do.
At the end of the sprint, the team demonstrates the work
they’ve completed to the stakeholders, and gathers feedback that will affect
what they will work on during the next sprint. The team also holds a
retrospective meeting to learn how to improve.
The team applies its lessons learned to the next sprint and
continues this loop until the project is completed.
Scrum is an excellent method that supports the agile
philosophy. It promotes continued inspection and adaptation without dictating
specific project management methods.
When you use Scrum for product development or other
appropriate projects, you can deliver value to the customer early and often and
obtain and incorporate feedback as the project progresses.
Michele Sliger, MBA, CST, PMP, has worked in software
development for over 20 years, and has applied agile for the last 10 years. She
owns Sliger Consulting, Inc., where she helps small start-ups and Fortune 500
companies with their adoption of agile and to prepare for the changes that
agile adoption brings. Ms. Sliger co-authored the book The Software Project
Manager’s Bridge to Agility (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2008).
