There are several ways to conduct the development of a system, but for those who are part of a team that uses Scrum as a framework, the possibility of keeping professionals motivated and the product aligned with the scope is a differential for everyone involved.

Those who work with software, applications and systems development know that between accepting a project and delivering a product, hours of understanding, execution and details that need to be clarified so that the client and the team are satisfied are necessary.

What is Scrum

Interested in how to optimize team time using Scrum? So, let’s explain what it is, how it works and its purpose.

Scrum is a project and work management structure that works very well between teams that work with the set of Agile Methodology practices. This is a working format that IT teams use to develop, deliver, and maintain complex products.

The goal of Scrum is to deliver value to customers on an ongoing basis. This is possible because of the structure in which work is divided, organized, and carried out.

Souce: The Scrum Framework Poster

Professionals who work as software developers know that system projects, web applications, mobile applications and other demands involving bespoke programming are complex and that they change as they are being built. This happens mainly when the system involves a large volume of data and variables, systems that require a lot of integration or, in general, demand the processing of many varied elements in an optimized way. Because they have this feature, the creation of new solutions represents a significant investment for companies and when the team does not follow a schedule, delays deliveries or leaves to test only in the final phases, the time and cost can be even greater.

One of the advantages of using Scrum as a framework is precisely adjusting the product according to situations and goals that change while the project is in progress. Scrum embraces change.

How Scrum Works

Using Scrum as a framework is to divide a large and complex project into small parts and organize teams and tasks in an agile way, focusing on fractional solutions.

Scrum follows a basis of adaptation to factors that are variable and generate continuous learning. If the team does not yet know all the project’s challenges at the beginning, each member will evolve as the steps are developed, tested, and approved.

With Scrum, a product is created in a series of interactions called Sprints. Sprints are rounds of completing tasks. This way of working makes the project more adaptable to changes and priorities.

Scrum’s transparency and interaction structure also help to overcome recurring issues that people face in traditional style projects, called a waterfall model.

Artifacts

For the team to act in this framework, there are artifacts that guide the work. They are:

• Product Backlog: It is the main list of tasks that need to be performed for the system to be delivered. Who coordinates this list, which is dynamic, is the owner of the product. The fact that it is constantly revised is what guarantees the dynamism of the model.

• Sprint Backlog: This artifact brings together all the activities that need to be performed in the current sprint. It is directly fed with new activities coming from the product backlog by the owner in union with the team.

• Sprint Goal: Also known as Increment Goal, represents the product of a sprint, the result of what was achieved during a round of testing and deliverables.

What are Sprints

Sprints are project cycles and have a planned duration according to the product. Each Sprint can last fifteen days, a month, or a period sufficient for a delivery to take place.

As they provide more frequent interactions between the entire team, Sprints result in a reduction in risks and costs, adjustment with the customer, user feedback and an increase in the speed and quality of deliveries, which generates more value for the project.

Completing a Sprint gives those involved a feeling that they have achieved major project milestones, and this makes the team stay focused and motivated on what is to come.

Scrum is teamwork

Working with Scrum is developing as a team. The objective is to draw a line of action in which each participant is responsible for their task and that, within the established time for the Sprint, what is designed is executed.

The organization of backlog priorities will be drawn up by the team. Project members meet frequently in meetings to maintain clear and transparent communication regarding the progress of the Sprint.

These meetings are:

• Sprint Planning

• Daily Scrum

• Sprint Review Meeting

• Sprint Retrospective

Sprint Planning

It is the project kickoff meeting, conducted by the Scrum Master. It includes all those involved who assess the feasibility of the tasks that were presented for the next sprint. This meeting presents the project’s needs, the tasks that need to be performed and the deadline for each one of them. The result of Sprint Planning is the Sprint Backlog that will start.

Daily Scrum

The meeting takes place daily for process alignment and progress. The Daily Scrum is a quick meeting, usually held in the morning, and points out what was done the day before and if there are any impediments for the day that is starting. This is not the time to solve problems, but to make everyone aware of what is going on, which aims to keep everyone in the same vision of the project and the progress of what is being carried out.

Sprint Review Meeting

The end of a Sprint is the moment when the development team presents the features created during that period. It is the time to check if the Backlog of that Sprint has been resolved. In this step the Product Owner can reformulate the Product Backlog according to the results and challenges of the completed Sprint Backlog tasks.

Retrospective Sprint

The Sprint Retrospective Meeting is the time to assess how the team has worked, what is possible to improve, and whether everything is up to date to follow the project with a new Sprint.

Roles of Team Members

For these Sprints to happen, each member of the teams that are part of the project has a role.

There are three basic functions within the Scrum framework:

• Product Owner

• Scrum Master

• Scrum Team

Product Owner

Product Owner is the advocate for your products.

Their role is to bring the vision of the product to life and provide constant momentum on the market and the consumer. They focus on understanding the business and market requirements, then prioritize the work the development team will do.

Scrum Master

Scrum Masters are the Scrum experts within teams. They train the Product Owner, developers, and company representatives on the Scrum process. As they conduct the Sprints, they look for ways to adjust their practice to remain the “servant leader” leaders.

Scrum Team

The development team and designers are part of the Scrum Team. These are the people who work to achieve the Sprint goals and who collaborate with the Product Owners to review how much work they can complete in each Sprint.

They also think about how to improve development practices as they discover what works best at each stage of the project.

Working together, they become a team that keeps the Scrum project and practice on track.

Scrum in practice for IT teams

If you are a professional working with systems development, you must have realized that Scrum can make all the difference in the projects you are part of. How many times have you been involved in delivery steps and requests for adjustments because the customer did not prioritize the functionality of an application?

And when it seems harder to come to a consensus on the layout of a site it doesn’t seem to suit everyone together.

These and other situations are foreseen during the development of a project, but those who work with Scrum as a framework know that it is possible to resolve them faster and more objectively when everyone is aligned with the demands and with clear and effective communication.

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