sharp techniques of processes management - like the scrum – are essential for the operational success of any company, especially when it comes to an organization involved with very complex projects.
Therefore, an agile methodology that aims both to reduce the delivery time of deadlines and to provide greater adaptability to eventual changes and unforeseen events throughout its production stages becomes an elementary tool.
In this sense, we highlight the Scrum methodology as one of the main and most efficient existing alternatives.
Precisely for this reason, we have prepared this exclusive content, explaining in detail how to use this way of working, which, although it may seem complicated at first sight, turns out to be much simpler in practice, when properly applied.
Throughout the article, you will find a complete guide on the Scrum methodology: its concept, origin, main characteristics and advantages, as well as how to implement it in your company in an agile and effective way. Let's go?
What is, and how did the Scrum methodology come about?
We can define the concept of Scrum as a project management framework. Lightweight and simple to apply, this process management tool aims to help teams develop flexible and efficient solutions for complex processes, from the initial stages of organization from projects to their agile development.
It is not, therefore, a prescriptive methodology, a set of software engineering practices (contrary to what many still think) or even a product creation process.
Scrum is a non-linear methodology capable of encompassing numerous processes and techniques of different natures, which can be continually improved, according to the specificities that arise in each situation.
Considering this, it would be more correct to say that Scrum is a set of values and practices by which the company must be guided when implementing its own management and execution actions, always in compliance with the needs imposed by the specific context in which it operates. Therefore, each company adopting Scrum has its own unique methodology.
Here, the focus is on empirical process control mechanisms, that is, establishing so-called feedback loops as alternatives to traditional command-and-control management.
This strategy allows project planning and management to take place in such a way as to favor decision-making that takes place with propriety and certainty, and, in the same proportion, with flexibility and versatility – even when medium and long-term planning proves to be difficult. harder.
Interestingly, the origin of the term Scrum came from a popular sport: Rugby. The term is used to describe when teams get into strategic formation to challenge for possession of the ball.
Two Harvard University professors, Nonaka and Takeuchi, used this metaphor in 1986, when describing the methodologies of large companies, such as Canon, Honda and Fuji-Xerox, to obtain affirmative results.
As in Rugby, they highlighted the value of a united and cohesive, autonomous and self-organized team, in the same way that they established clear responsibilities among the people involved for the achievement of a common good.
What is the purpose of the Scrum methodology?
As part of the so-called agile methodologies, Scrum proposes to develop a working method innovator, being able to increase the productivity of the team and provide more quality results for companies of the most diverse sizes and fields of activity, even with a smaller disposition of people, time and resources.
This is because the methodology consists of “taking advantage of the way teams actually work, providing tools to self-organize and optimize the speed and quality of work in a short time”, according to Jeff Sutherland, author of the book Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time.
In other words, this means making room for uncertainty and creativity, boosting team learning and promoting continuous improvement through real-time monitoring of project needs and feedback, eliminating obvious waste of effort and optimizing production.
What are the main benefits of the Scrum methodology?
Adopting the Scrum methodology as a tool to increase a company's productivity can bring a number of practical benefits, including:
- the creation of a pleasant and collaborative work environment;
- valuing each team member, as well as the individual potential of each one;
- the simplification of processes that would normally be complex;
- the increase in ROI, or Return On Investment;
- strengthening the agility and effectiveness of processes;
- the effective promotion of continuous improvement;
- raising customer satisfaction levels;
- the reduction of operating costs and delivery times;
- stimulating creativity and innovation;
- the reduction of common risks and process management issues;
- achieving high levels of communication, integration and commitment among team members.
How does the Scrum methodology work?
To begin explaining the Scrum methodology, it is necessary to highlight that its operation is based on iterations, or sprints. Sprints are production and evaluation cycles established even in the initial stages of production, with the purpose of improving items.
By incorporating the concept of (Minimum Viable Product, or Minimum Viable Product), Scrum and its sprints work in a dynamic and spontaneous way, with the team organizing the project through small meetings with specific purposes, lists and graphs, as we will explain later. in the following topic.
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The Scrum methodology in practice
This is a brief explanation of how the Scrum methodology works. However, in practice, there are many key elements that make up this process of managing and organizing a company's workflows. We'll talk more about each of them below.
People
We can say that, for the correct execution of a sprint, the participation of at least three elements is necessary: the Product Owner, the Scrum Master and the Scrum Team.
- Product Owner
The Product Owner is nothing more than the official representative of the client and, therefore, it is up to him to guide the team, as well as to control the task list (also known as Product Backlog).
As the name already indicates, the Product Owner acts as the owner of the product, that is: he is the professional who, knowing the customer's needs, is already familiar with his expectations about the final result.
Therefore, the Product Owner is responsible for defining resources and steps for the final objective to be successfully achieved.
- Scrum Master
The role of this professional is the role of a facilitator within the team. Being oriented to the agile methodology, the Scrum Master is informed about all the difficulties faced and undertakes strategic actions aiming to circumvent them.
Note how different this approach is from traditional leadership, based only on charges, orders and demands at any cost – here, the leader’s role is to get to know the project and promote good practices among the team, always with flexibility, creativity and innovation.
It can be said, without batting an eyelid, that a properly qualified Scrum Master is the cornerstone for any Sprint to be produced with cohesion and efficiency – mainly (but never only) in organizations whose practices involving the so-called agile methodologies are still new.
- Scrum-Team
Finally, we come to the last of the 3 essential elements for carrying out a Sprint. The name Scrum Team refers to nothing more than the team that will be responsible for developing the project.
Once the basic values are defined, each team member has their respective autonomy to define or redefine the activities necessary to carry out the project, since this autonomy is essential to avoid or correct possible failures.
However, it is worth mentioning that, in order for there to be transparency in this process, it is essential that the Daily Scrum is updated daily, the work status of each one being rigorously recorded - worth that here, maintaining the channels of dialogue with the other team partners is essential. does much more important than simply being accountable for what is being done.
Processes and rites
We have already briefly mentioned some of the rites that go through using Scrum. However, now we will explain them all in more detail. There are seven rites for the correct implementation of Scrum, and by following them, you will have no difficulties in following the routines proposed by the methodology.
- Sprints
As we have already explained, Sprints are the Scrum iteration cycles, whose main purpose is to promote, in a faster and more efficient way, the development of complex products.
Typically, Sprints last from two weeks to a month – this is because their goal is to complete the process with the least amount of expendable effort, resources and time.
Anyway, it is worth remembering that this is just an average, and not an absolute rule, as the team can define both longer and shorter periods, according to the specific needs of the project in question.
- Sprint Planning Meeting
In this meeting, the Sprint planning is defined, in a very objective way: the team, its roles and tasks.
This meeting should not, under any circumstances, be too long, since the key to a good implementation of the Scrum methodology lies in agility and objectivity. The next step is to evaluate and adjust this plan as needed.
- Daily Scrum
Daily Scrum (Scrum Diário), or Stand Up Meeting (Encontro De Pé, in a free translation), is how we call the daily meetings that are one of the main foundations of the Scrum methodology. These meetings serve to ensure that all team members are always informed about the progress of the project – only then will it move forward with agility and efficiency.
These small meetings usually last no more than 15 minutes and usually occur with team members standing. Each of those involved must answer 3 questions in order to keep other colleagues informed:
- What tasks were done yesterday?
- What tasks should be done today?
- What are the barriers for these tasks to be carried out?
It is in the face of the answers to these questions that the team becomes able to know where the sprint progress is and what each one should do to fulfill the plan.
- Product Backlog or Sprint Backlog
Here we have the main tool for organizing tasks throughout the Sprint process. This is an interactive list, which contains all the actions planned for carrying out the cycle.
Normally, the Product Backlog is prepared by the Product Owner, but after that, any member of the team can update it, as the project progresses.
- Sprint Review Meeting
Sprint Review Meeting is a final review meeting, the purpose of which is to close each Sprint. Throughout this stage, the entire team unites in order to check whether the objective of the cycle was, in fact, achieved, and the developed product is duly presented to the client, and submitted to the client's feedback.
If the feedback is positive and the product is approved, the work is complete. If the customer requests new changes and improvements, a new Sprint will begin.
- Sprint Retrospective
After the end of the Sprint, a review meeting takes place in order to assess the team's learning throughout the process. The Sprint Retrospective is a step of great strategic importance, especially to promote continuous improvement in the company's internal processes.
- Sprint Burndown or Release Burndown
An essential tool for the operation of Scrum, the Sprint Burndown is presented as a graph, whose purpose is to guide the team's actions and make internal communication clear and as visual as possible.
The graph is basically formed by a horizontal line, which represents the timeline, and a vertical one, which illustrates the amount of work to be done.
Now that you already know everything about the Scrum methodology, we invite you to get to know another very efficient management technique that is widely used by companies around the world: Kanban. Click here to read the article we prepared about it!
