In the preparation of this article, we discussed several ideas, how to introduce Scrum to you. In search of inspirations we have found the introduction video from the Scrum alliance.
In the end, this is a pretty short 80-seconds introduction to Scrum, which we would like to show to you, instead of reinventing the wheel again.
In addition to the video we would like to share more information:
Scrum is very good when it comes to establishing agile methods into an organization. By providing a simple approach it can easily be picked up and enhanced. Also Scrum is very well known and there are lots of experienced Scrum Coaches in the outside world of Covestro.
Scrum is a framework which provides a basis of 3 roles, 4 activities and 3 artifacts, which will now be explained in detail.
Each Scrum implementation is different though. Depending on the project or the organization there will be additional roles or activities. Scrum focuses on communication and collaboration by discussing requirements and short feedback cycles, which is the most important thing to keep in mind.
In the following we want to explain the different roles, activities and artifacts. Furthermore we want to provide you a check list what you have to prepare for your first Scrum project.
User Stories
A simple method to describe requirements, by a user's perspective, with only one or a few sentences. Usually a user story consist of Who? What? And Why?
e.g.: "As a user I want to be able to back up my data in order to recover it in case of an error."
User stories are constantly refined and extended during the project. They are the basis for discussion about the features. This will help to get a clear understanding of the requirements.
Sprint
An iteration of Scrum which is usually between 1 and 4 weeks long. Or in other words: This is the timeframe, in which work is planned continuously. Once the duration is set it should not be changed during the project though.
Artifacts
Artifacts provide information about the product, the requirement and the progress. The scrum team permanently works with the artifacts. For instance, an artifact is the list of requirements which are known so far.
Activities
Activities are mostly meetings which are part of each sprint. (The sprint itself can be seen as an activity too) By discussing and/or working with the artifacts during the activities, the project progress and obstacles become transparent.
Definition of Done
A project specific agreement which defines when a user story is completed.
This was the second part of our small Series about Agile Project Management. Look out for the next part which we are going to publish soon called "Agile Project Management – Agile Project Management in real Life"
The whole Series contains 4 pieces:
Agile Project Management – Basics (Part1) Agile Project Management – What is SCRUM (Part2) Agile Project Management – Agile Project Management in real Life (Part3) Agile Project Management – Agile on the next Level – Program Management (Part4)
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