Scrum – In a nutshell

Proceeding with our series on understanding the different styles of Project Management, we are going to cover Scrum in this article. We have already covered Agile previously. Since Scrum is a subset of Agile, do read about it here before proceeding.

Another concept that we would touch here is Sprint. Lets look into the meaning of these words first,

Scrum

The word ‘Scrum’ literally means,

an ordered formation of players, used to restart play, in which the forwards of a team form up with arms interlocked and heads down, and push forward against a similar group from the opposing side. The ball is thrown into the scrum and the players try to gain possession of it by kicking it backwards towards their own side

An easier way to understand is that this word is derived from the rugby pitch where all the players on the field come together trying to gain control of the ball

Sprint

The word ‘Sprint’ literally means,

a short race at full speed

(For more on sprints, do refer to this article – What is a Sprint?)

Now that we have the meaning of these words clear, it will be easier to relate to their functioning. As mentioned earlier, Scrum is a subset of Agile and is basically a framework typically used to solve complex problems.

To start with, the team gathers in a scrum (meeting) and grabs a piece of work from the product backlog. It is important to note here that the product backlog is a prioritized to-do list maintained by the product owner. The team determines the scope for typically the next 30 days. This is simply what a 30-day sprint means.

For these 30 days, every 24 hours, the team meets in a daily scrum to assess its progress and any areas of weakness. The idea is that after each sprint of 30 days, a releasable product increment is created which is ready to be shipped. As soon as the sprint is over, the team gathers again to assess the product backlog and grabs the next piece of work from the backlog

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