Agile and scrum are familiar terms in most workplaces.  Together, they make project management and development faster, more streamlined, and more cost-effective.

But what are “agile” and “scrum”?  And is your organization using them?

Agile methodology is an umbrella term for a set of frameworks and practices based on specific values and principles.  It is a project management methodology that promotes flexibility, acceptance of change, and frequent deliverables.  Scrum provides structure and rules to implement agile processes, define roles, manage meetings, and more.

High-Value Features Within Short Cycles

Agile helps organizations build the right product in a more responsive way, delivering benefits to both the organization and the customer. Development and delivery of high-value features or priorities within short cycles decreases overhead and improves efficiency for the organization – while being more responsive to requirements of the customer.

As small incremental releases are made visible to the stakeholders throughout the development cycle, issues can be identified at an early stage, making it easier to respond to change, which in turn enables enhanced quality and risk management.

How the Scrum Works

Scrum is distinguished from other agile approaches by specific concepts and practices. Here are some basics:

A sprint is a short, time-boxed cycle (one to three weeks) when a team works to complete a set number of deliverables.

In Scrum, teams contain three main roles: Product Owner, who manages the product vision; Scrum Master, who manages the process; and Scrum Team, who completes the daily tasks required for each sprint.

Sprint events (or meetings) include: planning at the beginning of each sprint; daily touchpoints held at the same time and place every day for 15 minutes during the execution of the sprint; review after a sprint execution is completed to provide a working product demonstration to the product owner; retrospective  at the end of a sprint to evaluate the process and identify areas for improvement; and backlog refinement  prior to the next planning to prepare the backlog for the next sprint.

The goal is to have a deliverable product ready at the end of every sprint.  When a sprint is complete, the next one begins.  This real-time process enables teams to make rapid decisions based on results.

Is Scrum Right for You?

Its purpose of Scrum to make unmanageable work manageable through a set of defined processes structured to allow flexibility.  If your project has uncertain requirements or technology issues where change is likely and requires knowledge creation and collaboration, then an agile framework and Scrum is for you.  

Click here to learn more about Trindent’s approach and methodology to effective project management.