Scrum Project Management: Essential Elements and Best Practices
Sprint Artifacts
Product Backlog
- Prioritized feature list
- Short descriptions of all desired product functionality
- Adaptable and evolves with product knowledge gained during sprints
Sprint Backlog
- Managed by the team during the sprint
- List of tasks to be completed during the sprint, identified by the Scrum team
- Team selects product backlog items, often as user stories
Increment
- Total of completed Product Backlog items from the current and all previous sprints
- Must be functional and demonstrate product evolution
Artifact Transparency
- Essential for Scrum effectiveness
- Scrum Master ensures transparency of artifacts for all stakeholders
- Scrum Master facilitates increased transparency within the team and organization
Definition of “Done”
- Ensures shared understanding of work completion and promotes transparency
- Used to assess completion of work on the product increment
Estimation
A crucial aspect of software development, impacting team confidence, stakeholder relationships, and overall development efficiency. Proper planning and estimation become increasingly important with larger teams.
Estimation Techniques
- Group vs. Individual Estimation: Group discussions tend to yield more accurate estimates.
- Relative vs. Absolute Estimation: Relative estimation, comparing items to familiar work, is more efficient and accurate.
- Story Points vs. Hour Value: Story points focus on complexity and time, comparing new work to past experiences.
- Planning Poker/Fibonacci: Uses Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, 100) to assign point values to features or user stories.
Scrum Board
- Table with at least three columns for sprint requirements and tasks
- Promotes transparency and visibility for all team members
- Sprint backlog column populated during sprint planning
- Starting with a physical board is recommended
Burndown Chart
- Tracks sprint progress for each requirement
- Compares remaining work against remaining sprint time
- Ideal burndown is a linear curve, while the trend line reflects the projected progress if no changes occur
- Regularly updated by the development team
Scrum and Agile
What is Scrum and Agile?
- Adaptive vs. Predictive
- Short iterations
- Focus on creating a working product
When to Use Agile
- Products with unclear definitions
- Projects with frequent change requests
When Agile is Suitable
- Projects requiring adaptation, feedback, and incremental development
Agile Manifesto
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
Scrum Theory
- Transparency, Inspection, Adaptation
Scrum Values
- Commitment, Courage, Focus, Openness, Respect