What Is Scrum? Methodology Overview for Project Management

Scrum is a method that can help increase efficiency and manage resource tracking for complex projects. Instead of tackling a massive project all at once, the team breaks it down into smaller, more manageable sprints, focusing their efforts on delivering high-quality results incrementally.

A simple analogy for understanding scrum is to think of how you would train to run a mile. Rather than build long-distance stamina, it’s more effective to run short, intense sprints with the goal of completing a single lap of a track as quickly as possible. Each sprint sharpens your speed, increases endurance, and allows you to refine technique.

This is exactly how scrum works in project management, and when used effectively, it can result in faster project delivery with minimal wasted time or budget.

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What is scrum?

Scrum helps teams organize and complete complex projects more efficiently. By breaking these complicated projects into smaller, more manageable pieces, the team is able to constantly improve their work through iterative feedback.

Scrum simplifies complex projects while fostering collaboration. While scrums are frequently used in software development, this methodology can be used to carry any team through any complex project.

The term scrum originated in the game of rugby to describe when the team moves up the field as one unit, passing the ball to the correct person as dictated by the rapidly changing gameplay. After first being used in the 1980s by writers Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka as a way to visualize evolving modern business practices in the context of sport, scrum became permanently associated with this project style.

What is the scrum methodology?

The scrum methodology enables teams to work collaboratively to take on complex problems in small, manageable tasks called “sprints.” Sprints will typically last a few weeks with a review process at the end to discuss how things went and what can be improved.

This iterative process makes it easier to continuously improve the product and the workflow through the constant feedback. It’s like having regular tests throughout a semester to gauge your learning and making adjustments before taking the final exam vs going into the final exam without studying.

Instead of waiting until the end to see if the project is successful, scrum allows teams to continuously assess progress and adapt.

Scrum vs agile

Agile is a more general mindset for managing projects where the focus is being flexible, working in small steps, and always improving. Scrum is one specific way of putting the agile mindset into practice. In other words, agile is the idea, while scrum is the facilitating action.

SEE: Find recommendations for the best agile project management software.

How to get started with scrum

In order to get your team started with scrum, the first step is to assemble your scrum team. The main requirement for the members of this team is that they will be there for the full lifecycle of the scrum. This helps maintain consistency and ease of collaboration.

Scrum team roles

Scrum encourages team members to take ownership of their work, communicate thoroughly with the rest of the group, and self-organize. The structure of the team executing this methodology does matter.

Key roles include:

• Product owner: The product owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the work the development team does and acts as a liaison between the stakeholders and the scrum team.
• Scrum master: The scrum master facilitates and guides the scrum through each event to the ultimate goal. It’s important to note that this role is not necessarily a manager but a project facilitator and leadership role who works to anticipate roadblocks for the development team, ensuring smooth and continuous progress.
• Development team: The development team is responsible for executing the deliverable product at the end of each sprint. They are self-organizing for the duration of the sprint and serve different roles within the development team depending on their skillset.

Collectively, this group is referred to as the scrum team. Each role is an essential part of the methodology and feedback cycle, with the end goal being improving the product through each sprint.

The next step is to determine who is responsible for the scrum artifacts.

Scrum artifacts

Maintaining visibility of progress to the entire team is a key component of each sprint in the scrum. This is highly useful for the team to stay on track and self-organize as they move through project stages. To streamline the management of these artifacts, the team may consider using project management software.

Product backlog

Who oversees it: Product owner.

What is it: This document should hold all the ideas, items, and proposals for the entirety of the project and serves as the single source of truth for the scrum team. Most importantly, it contains the Definition of Done (DoD), which defines the scrum team’s agreed-upon definition of completion for the project or product. It should be continuously updated to reflect the current adaptations and improvements the scrum team has made.

Sprint backlog

Who oversees it: Development team.

What is it: This document holds the overall vision for a specific sprint. It defines the sprint goal, which is the scope of work the development team is responsible for delivering at the end of the sprint. It keeps them on track with the overall project via the sprint goal, which defines the sprint’s role in the overall project, and houses the task breakdown, where each task is broken down into actionable steps.

Burndown charts

Who oversees it: Scrum master.

What is it: Burndown charts are visual representations of the team’s progress. These charts pull data from the product backlog and the sprint backlog in order to show the amount of work remaining for the product vs the time remaining until completion. This tool provides the entire team visibility into the current progress made and allows the team to make course corrections if their timeline isn’t attainable.

Increment

Who oversees it: The entire team, but primarily the development team.

What is it: The increment is the actual product that is being worked on by the development team. It is the current status of the product, which is essentially an amalgamation of the current sprint along with all the previous sprints. The scrum team monitors the increment closely in order to be sure that the product meets the DoD at completion.

Scrum events

After the product backlog is created by the product owner and the scrum team is assembled, the final step for you is to attend the sprints—also known as scrum events.

The scrum events are:

• Sprint planning: This meeting kicks off the sprint. This is where the entire scrum team meets to determine the timeline of the sprint (often 2–4 weeks) and the DoD is agreed upon.
• Daily scrum: This occurs every day the sprint is being worked on, typically at the same time and duration for consistency. This short meeting attended by the development team is where the group discusses what they did yesterday, what they are going to do today, and any obstacles they may be facing.
• Sprint review: This review is held with the entire scrum team and stakeholders at the end of the sprint to review the increment. This is where the team presents the product to the stakeholders to get feedback on what needs to be updated.
• Sprint retrospective: The sprint retrospective is the final event of the sprint and includes the entire scrum team. This is where the team reflects on what went well and what can be improved for the next sprint. The focus is continuous improvement for subsequent iterations.

Your team may want to consider using a scrum project management tool in order to facilitate current sprints and maintain a history of past sprints for comparison. Project management software is also useful when coordinating between company employees and outside stakeholders.