Getting to know SCRUM: from basic definition to various applications
What is SCRUM?
The Scrum methodology is a framework that is used within teams that manage complex projects. It is an agile work methodology whose aim is to deliver value in short periods of time, and it is based on three pillars: transparency, inspection, and adaptation. This allows the customer, together with their sales team, to insert the product to the market quickly and start to get sales.
Scrum focuses on teamwork, accountability, and iterative progress toward a well-defined goal. For years, it has been used in software production, however, nowadays we can see it each time in more and more companies from different sectors.
“Scrum is like your mother-in-law , it points out ALL your faults”
-Ken Schwaber
When it is useful?
The most important thing when starting a project is that every company ensures that the team involved knows its tasks and deadlines. Scrum helps to achieve this and, furthermore, allows us to accelerate the delivery of value to the customer.
Thanks to this methodology, the client can see the growth of the project and, as a result, gets engaged in it. It also allows the client to realign the software at any time with the company’s business objectives, as he can introduce functional or priority changes at the start of each new iteration without any problem. This method of work promotes innovation, motivation, and the engagement of the team, that is why professionals find a favorable environment to develop their skills.
Process
First of all, we do just enough planning to start and we build what was planned. Next, we have to test and to analyse that small feature set and get it ready to ship. When that cycle is completed, we end up with a potentially shippable product. This process usually occurs in a period of one to three weeks. This is then repeated again and again, reducing the time from planning to development, to testing, each time to the planning process, we are doing just enough planning to complete the next incremental release. You finish with several incremental releases called sprints.
A Sprint usually takes from one to three weeks and you just keep repeating these sprints until your product is feature complete. You don’t always get your product shipped in the first sprints.
