If you’re working on a mobile or web app, chances are that you’ve heard of Scrum. Yet many have difficulty explaining why they’ve chosen Scrum over other methodologies. Waterfall, for instance, is a more linear methodology in which full requirements must be known in advance. Success in Waterfall is measured by adherence to a strict set of requirements, leaving little room for changes. So, just what is Scrum?
What is Scrum?
Scrum is a product development strategy, which includes a set of values, team roles, and practices, based on iterative and flexible work processes. An advantage of Scrum project management over other methodologies is that it allows for rapid changes in features to be introduced relatively easily while the project is underway.
The centerpiece of Scrum is the Sprint, which is a period of work, whose length is determined in advance by the team, during which the team develops features of the product. This includes related components like a daily scrum in which team members discuss and prioritize their plans for the day. Kanban, in comparison, is also a flexible methodology, but it doesn’t use Sprints.
Now that we know what Scrum is, what are some of the advantages of using it? For this article, we’ll outline five reasons to use Scrum in 2020. We’ll discuss how Scrum offers freedom of implementation and how it embraces changes on the fly. Because of this ability to accommodate feature requests mid-project, Scrum decreases risk. This means that end-users also enjoy the product earlier as well. Ultimately, Scrum leads to more productivity for the entire team. Before wrapping up, we’ll also cover three important categories of Scrum (roles, events, and artifacts).
Benefits of Using SCRUM
Let’s start, then, with five reasons to use Scrum today:
1 Freedom of implementation
Scrum streamlines development because it begins with a set of requirements and allows the team to break it up into smaller user stories and tasks. From there, these issues can be organized into larger bodies of work known as “epics.”
2 More efficient
This iterative process of productivity and recalibration leads to increases in efficiency and other optimizations. Team members work best because they organize workflows according to issues prioritized at each scrum.
3 Embrace change
Clients often change their minds about requirements. With Scrum’s flexible, on-the-fly work organization responds dynamically to changes in requirements, regardless of how often such changes occur.
4 Reduce risk
Because the development is iterative, and clients get to see multiple versions as the product progresses, the overall project risk is reduced. Just imagine the tension involved in a Waterfall project where the client sees nothing until the finished product is unveiled. A client may be completely surprised that the product doesn’t match their expectations. Scrum avoids that scenario and decreases the likelihood of client dissatisfaction.
5 Earlier use
Get your product out sooner with Scrum. Since the product can be released as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), and subsequently have less integral features added on, this means that Scrum lets end users use the product earlier. Such a scenario means more time to get crucial user feedback—and sales!
Now that we’ve covered why to use Scrum, let’s dive deeper into details about roles, events, and artifacts. First, Scrum has a variety of team roles. There’s the Scrum Master, who’s responsible for setting up the project and having the team adhere to Scrum principles and practices. A Product Owner is accountable for team’s work and is responsible for major decisions and direction. The Development Team is the muscle behind the project; they execute on the necessary issues which ultimately leads to the final product.So, what happens during a typical Scrum project? As for Scrum events, the team executes Sprint Planning before the main Sprint period, which again consists of a specified period of production. Daily Scrums take place regularly whereas the Sprint Retrospective (or a “retro”) is similar to a Sprint Review, but is more comprehensive. Scrum artifacts include the Product Backlog, which is a list of features mapped out in a set of issues included in the Sprint Backlog. The team works on these issues to produce Product Increments during each sprint. All of these items are logged and tracked in a project management tool or an Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) suite.
To wrap up, we’ve covered five important reasons to use Scrum as your methodology in 2020. Each of these points leads to increases in team flexibility and project efficiency. Likewise, project managers and executives can expect decreases in lag times due to client requests or other unforeseen changes. Whether developing a mobile app or a complex CRM system, Scrum remains the preferred approach for the dynamic and workflows of today’s fast-paced world. Have an idea or question about Scrum? Get in touch today.
Also, check out what is it better to use an app or the website to make the right choice.