Scrum: Step by Step Through the Theory

1. Scrum Guide – The Bible of the Scrum User
2. Scrum - Where does it come from?
3. How is a Scrum team structured?
4. What phases and events are there in Scrum?
5. What artifacts are there in Scrum?
6. Conclusion

Scrum - originally invented in the 1990s by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, with roots in software development at the time, has long outgrown its original purpose as a framework for IT projects. By now, Scrum is increasingly being used and successfully implemented by various teams in a wide range of industries.

What is Scrum good for?

It is a framework for agile project management. Scrum is particularly suitable for many projects that require quick action and high adaptability. In time intervals of up to a maximum of four weeks, so-called sprints, a pre-defined set of work tasks is completed and transformed into a functioning and usable increment. A Scrum team consists of various roles. There are developers, a Product Owner and a Scrum Master. Additionally, there are several events with clearly defined to-dos that must be carried out in every Scrum project: Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective.

What all these terms mean will be explained in detail in the following article by our guest author Dennis Paulus. Furthermore, this article aims to bring you closer to the correct use of Scrum and answer the following questions:

• What is Scrum?
• Are there rules that must be followed?
• Who are the players involved?
• How does Scrum work?
• What tools such as awork are helpful?

Source: own representation

Scrum Guide – The Bible of the Scrum User

Before we jump in: the basic definitions, conditions, and requirements set by the two Scrum pioneers can all be found in the Scrum Guide, which is regularly updated and revised. The current edition is from 2020 and can be downloaded from the official Scrum Guide website. There, the original English-language edition and over 30 different translations are available.

The knowledge necessary for a basic understanding of Scrum is summarized there on 14 compact pages. The Scrum Guide is deliberately incomplete as a framework. Only the parts necessary for the implementation of the actual Scrum theory are presented. Specific tools or techniques are not presented. Here, the users can decide for themselves which mechanics, processes, or techniques they want to employ that contribute to a more productive clarification of specific facts.

Scrum - Where does it come from?

Scrum essentially is based on two areas:

• Empiricism
• Lean Thinking

Empiricism describes the fact that knowledge is gained from experience and decisions are made based on observations. Lean Thinking reduces waste and focuses on the essentials.

To better manage and predict possible risks, Scrum uses an iterative, incremental approach to optimize predictions. The framework promotes the formation of groups of people who work self-organised and have basic skills and knowledge needed to independently implement projects.

But before we delve deeper into Scrum theory, we first need to clarify the values that form the foundation of the concept and the three pillars on which the concept stands:

• Transparency: All processes, work, and activities must be transparent and comprehendible for the entire project team and its stakeholders. Aspects that are not transparent can lead to less value being delivered. Transparency enables review.

• Review: All procedures and progress made within the Scrum process model must be reviewed to identify possible deviations from the project goal or problems. Scrum has five formal events to ensure this. Review enables adjustment.

• Adjustment: If the result deviates from the desired outcome, the approach must be adjusted as quickly as possible to avoid further deviations. A Scrum team must realign itself the moment new insights are gained through review.

The success of Scrum also depends on users being encouraged to live the five Scrum Values:

1. Commitment: The Scrum team is committed to achieving the set goals and supporting each other within the team.
2. Focus: The team's entire focus is on the work on the project and on achieving the sprint goals.
3. Openness: The Scrum team faces all challenges that can arise.
4. Respect: All members of the Scrum team respect each other as full-fledged team members.
5. Courage: The Scrum team has the courage needed to make the right decisions and always do the right thing.

How is a Scrum team structured?

All Scrum teams are structured the same. Every team has a Scrum Master, a Product Owner, and several Developers. A Scrum team should not exceed ten people, so that short communication paths are possible and productivity remains guaranteed. All members have the same rights. Within the team, there are defined roles with fixed duties and areas of responsibility, but no hierarchies. Consequently, all people are on the same hierarchical level. When assembling the teams, it must be ensured that the teams are independent in their decisions, can control themselves and have the necessary skills needed to solve specific tasks.

Developer

As Scrum originates from software development, this role is still referred to as developers. Developers are those people in the Scrum team who have committed to developing usable increments in the individual sprints. They are also responsible for developing product-relevant functions and capabilities, which they develop together as a team. In this process, they work closely with the Scrum Master and the Product Owner to ensure that as a team of developers they set the right priorities and the product is successfully developed.

Developers have the following tasks:

• Development of product-relevant functions and capabilities
• Estimation of the work effort for the development of product-relevant functions and capabilities
• Participation in all Scrum events
• Communication of progress and communication of challenges to the team and its stakeholders
• Collaboration with the Scrum Master and the Product Owner to ensure that the team of developers sets the right priorities and the product is successfully developed
• Prioritizing the activities to be carried out in the sprint and selecting the tasks in the sprint backlog

Product Owner

A Product Owner is the person in the Scrum team who is responsible for maximizing the value of a product and developing it. Additionally, he or she is responsible for setting the priorities of the tasks to be processed. A Product Owner ensures that the Scrum team remains focused in order to effectively handle the most important requirements and functions of the product. A Product Owner works closely with the Scrum Master and he or she is the main contact person for the Scrum team when it comes to communicating, understanding and implementing the requirements and goals of the product.

A Product Owner has the following tasks:

• Setting the tasks and their related priorities for the product
• Collecting and managing the requirements and functions for the product in the product backlog
• Inter-team collaboration to ensure that requirements and functions are clearly and understandably defined
• Defining the time horizon within which the requirements and functions are to be implemented
• Ensuring that the team is focused on the most important requirements and functions
• Communicating the requirements and priorities to the Scrum team and its stakeholders
• Collaboration with the Scrum Master to ensure that the team sets the right priorities and the product is successfully developed

Scrum Master

The Scrum Master holds the key function in a Scrum team. This person is responsible for ensuring that the team follows Scrum practices and improves processes to promote collaboration and progress within the team. Scrum Masters are also the main contact for all questions and problems related to Scrum and they work closely with the Product Owner to ensure that the team sets the right priorities and the product is successfully developed.

Scrum Masters have the following tasks:

• Supporting the team in improving processes
• Promoting and fostering knowledge of Scrum and agile Methods within the organization and the team
• Supporting the team in solving problems and challenges
• Promoting collaboration and communication within the team
• Carrying out and monitoring various Scrum events to track the team's progress and improvement
• Collaboration with the Product Owner to ensure that the team sets the right priorities and the product is successfully developed

It is important that the Scrum Master has an understanding of agile methods and the principles of Scrum and is able to pass this knowledge onto the team. This person should also have leadership skills to support and guide the team, but he or she is not a traditional manager and has no direct authority over the team. Instead, the person is a coach and advisor who helps the team achieve its goals and improve.

What phases and events are there in Scrum?

In Scrum there are four important events that are referred to as Scrum events:

• Sprint Planning: This meeting takes place at the beginning of every sprint and serves to prepare the team for the upcoming tasks. The team and the Product Owner discuss the requirements and functions that are to be implemented in this sprint and to plan how they will accomplish these tasks. The timebox for this initial event is a maximum of eight hours for a one-month sprint.
• Daily Scrum: This developer-only meeting takes place daily and lasts a maximum of 15 minutes. Each developer reports what has been achieved since the last meeting, what problems there are, and what should be achieved in the next 24 hours. This meeting ensures that the team stays on track and problems can be quickly resolved.
• Sprint Review: At the end of the sprint, this meeting is held in which the team shows the Product Owner and the project stakeholders what it has achieved during the sprint. The team presents the finished functions and demonstrates how they work. The timebox for this event is a maximum of four hours for a one-month sprint.
• Sprint Retrospective: This meeting takes place after the review and serves to optimize the team's processes. The team identifies strengths and weaknesses and develops measures to improve in the future and especially for the next sprint. The timebox for this event is a maximum of three hours for a one-month sprint.

These four events are summarized by the Sprint as a comprehensive container. A sprint should not exceed a maximum duration of four weeks. These Scrum events are also important to ensure that the team works effectively and can continuously improve and develop - in line with the basic principles of Scrum presented at the beginning. They are also an essential part of ensuring that Scrum remains flexible and agile, which is necessary for the rapid development of products.

What artifacts are there in Scrum?

To conclude the short introduction to Scrum, let's finally take a look at the three Scrum artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment. All three artifacts are optimized to increase the transparency of the information contained in them. So that all people who review the artifacts have the same basics that are necessary for adjustments.

Product Backlog

This is a list of requirements and functions to be developed for a product. The Product Backlog is a "living" list that can always be filled, grows and changes over time as the product evolves and the possible requirements for the product goal change. The list is managed by the Product Owner and contains all ideas and requirements considered for the product.

The Product Backlog is an important part of Scrum as it helps define the priorities and goals of the product and ensures that the team stays focused on the most important requirements and functions. The Product Owner works together with the development team to define and prioritize the requirements and functions in the Product Backlog. Furthermore, the Product Owner decides which tasks are to be implemented within a given period, the sprint.

The Product Backlog is also an important communication tool as it helps ensure that all those involved (Scrum team and its stakeholders if necessary) have a common understanding of what the product is supposed to do and what requirements are derived from it.

Sprint Backlog

The Sprint Backlog is a list compiled by the team of developers derived from the Product Backlog of concrete tasks that the team of developers will work on during a sprint. A Sprint Backlog is determined specifically for the current sprint. This list contains all the requirements and functions that the team plans to implement during the sprint, as well as the estimates of the work efforts required for this.

The Sprint Backlog supports the development team in focusing on the most important tasks and ensures that progress is made during the sprint. It is also an important communication tool, just like the Product Backlog. It contributes to all project participants (Scrum team and its stakeholders if necessary) having a common understanding of what is to be achieved during the sprint and how the team's progress should be assessed. The Sprint Backlog is managed by the developers themselves and updated during the Daily Scrum to ensure it is always up-to-date.

Increment

This is a tangible step towards the targeted product goal. Each completed increment adds a new function or a new capability to the previous increment. All increments must go together and function in unison. For value to be delivered, one of the goals of Scrum, an increment must be usable.

Generally, at least one deployable increment is created per sprint. This is presented to the stakeholders in the Sprint Review and evaluated by them.

Excursion: which two tools make life (somewhat) easier in Scrum?

On OMR Reviews, under the product category Project Management, there are some tools that can be used excellently in Scrum-based projects and have already proven themselves in various projects.

First and foremost, Trello must be mentioned here. Here, complex product backlogs and sprint backlogs can be visualized quickly and easily and individual work packages can be enriched with additional information and details and shared with the team.

A tool secret tip is Notion. With the self-proclaimed "All-in-One Workspace", you can create a team-internal knowledge database where, among other things, meeting protocols, the two backlogs, central files and more can be stored and managed.

The most popular project management tools on OMR Reviews are:

Asana

Trello

Notion

monday.com

Jira

Stackfield

awork

MeisterTask

Conclusion

The topics described in this article are basic principles taken from the Scrum Guide that are necessary for the implementation of Scrum and its general understanding. However, to be able to fully apply Scrum in your own organization, an agile corporate culture is also needed, in which employees are enabled to use agile techniques such as Scrum. It is important to note that Scrum only works as a whole. As soon as a project team decides to use Scrum and come together as a Scrum team, this can only succeed if all roles, events, artifacts, etc., described in the Scrum Guide are applied and implemented as described.

Furthermore, individuals who want to introduce Scrum in their company should familiarize themselves with the agile way of thinking and working and develop an agile mindset. If this is ensured, there is nothing standing in the way of the initial first Scrum attempt after reading the Scrum Guide. Good luck!