Scrum Basics

 Scrum is a very popular Agile Project Management Methodology that can be used to manage projects, programs and portfolios of any size or industry or complexity. The purpose of this article is to give you an overview of Scrum.

What is Scrum?

Scrum is an Iterative and incremental project management framework that can deliver Significant Business Value quickly and throughout the project to the Customer/Stakeholder. Scrum is fast, adaptable, flexible and also very effective.

Each Iteration is called a “Sprint” or a “Scrum Cycle”.  A Scrum Project involves a collaborative effort to create a new product or service as defined in the Project Vision Statement. As you might be aware projects are impacted by the following:

• Scope
• Time
• Cost
• Quality
• Resources
• Organizational Capabilities and
• Other Limitations

Key Participants in the Scrum Project

There are 3 Key Participants in any Scrum Project. They are:

• The Scrum Team - This is a cross-functional, self-organized and high-performing team that works on the Project Deliverables. 
• The Product Owner - The Product Owner in a Scrum Project is the liaison between the Project Team and the Business Stakeholders. He maintains a list of project features/requirements that are ordered based on priority. His key purpose is to make sure the project team understands the requirements properly and validates the finished product for its “Fitness for Use” once the cycle is complete. He or she is also responsible for articulating customer requirements and maintaining business justification for the project. The Product Owner represents the Voice of the Customer
• The Scrum Master - The Scrum Master is the equivalent of a Project Manager to a regular project. He ensures that the Scrum Team is provided with an environment conducive to complete the project successfully. The Scrum Master guides, facilitates, and teaches Scrum practices to everyone involved in the project and ensures that Scrum processes are being followed

There are other participants in a Scrum Project like – Business Stakeholders, Scrum Guidance Body etc.

Why Use Scrum

Below are some of the key reasons why you should consider Scrum for your Projects:

1. It is Adaptable – The Project can Incorporate Changes much more easily than regular projects.
2. It is Transparent – One of the founding principles of Scrum is transparency. All the information about the project is shared and easily available to all participants thereby making the whole process Transparent.
3. Delivers Quick and Continues Value to Stakeholders – Scrum Projects not only deliver value quickly (The first cycle deliverables), it continues to deliver value continuously throughout the project duration.
4. Customer Centric – With an iterative process, the customer is engaged continuously throughout the project and hence his needs and requirements are met better making scrum very customer centric
5. Collective Ownership – Each participant in a scrum project has his own set of responsibilities and are together responsible for the successful completion of the project. This cultivates collective ownership.

In the following few articles, we will learn more about Scrum… Watch out this space for more!!!

Next: History of Scrum and Why Scrum is Better