Scrum (software development): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:55, 4 June 2009

Revision as of 03:13, 5 June 2009

Line 2:

[[File:Scrum process.svg|thumb|400px|right|The Scrum process.]]

{{Software development process}}

'''Scrum''' is an iterative incremental framework for managing complex work (such as new product development) commonly used with [[agile software development]]. Despite the fact that "Scrum" is not an acronym, some companies implementing the process have been known to adhere to an all capital letter expression of the word, i.e., SCRUM. This may be due to one of [[Ken Schwaber]]'s early papers capitalizing SCRUM in the title.<ref name="schwaber">{{cite book|title=Agile Project Management with Scrum|last=Schwaber|first=Ken|authorlink=Ken Schwaber|publisher=[[Microsoft Press]]|isbn=978-0-735-61993-7|date=1 February 2004}}</ref>

Although Scrum was intended for management of software development projects, it can be used to run software maintenance teams, or as a general project/program management approach.

Line 108:

== Adaptive project management ==

The following are some general practices of Scrum:

* Customers become a part of the development team (i.e., the customer must be genuinely interested in the output.)

* Scrum has frequent intermediate deliveries with working functionality, like all other forms of agile software processes. This enables the customer to get working software earlier and enables the project to change its requirements according to changing needs.

* Frequent risk and mitigation plans are developed by the development team itself—risk mitigation, monitoring and management (risk analysis) occurs at every stage and with commitment.

* Transparency in planning and module development—let everyone know who is accountable for what and by when.

* Frequent stakeholder meetings to monitor progress—balanced dashboard updates (delivery, customer, employee, process, stakeholders)

* There should be an advance warning mechanism, i.e., visibility to potential slippage or deviation ahead of time.

* No problems are swept under the carpet. No one is penalized for recognizing or describing any unforeseen problem.

* Workplaces and working hours must be energized—"Working more hours" does not necessarily mean "producing more output."