At Saloodo! we all together strive every day to simplify logistics by digitalizing the ordering and execution of shipments while also enhancing the lives of everyone who needs transportation in order to succeed in any type of job or area.

Digitalizing an entire industry is not a task that is done in a short manner – it’s a task you can only win in the long run. Scrum helps us a lot in achieving this.

But what exactly is Scrum? This blog article series is for business owners, project managers and everyone else, who wants to learn more about the Scrum methodology and how to implement it as a management process. With this blog we open our series and give you a brief introduction.

What is Scrum?

Let us first put it in one sentence: “A framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value.” (The Scrum Guide).

It all starts with understanding the Scrum framework, which is defined in The Scrum Guide and was first introduced to the world in 1995 as a better way for teams to collaborate on complex problems. Scrum is often also refered as “agile project management”.

So what exactly is agile project management? The first – and probably the most concise – definition of agile project management comes from the The Scrum Guide itself:

• Individuals and interactions are above processes and tools
• Working software is above a comprehensive documentation
• Cooperation with the customer is above the contract negotiation
• Responding to change is about following a plan

The Scrum framework is relatively simple, consisting of a Scrum Team comprised of

• a Product Owner,
• a Scrum Master,
• and Developers, each with specific accountabilities.

The Scrum Team attends five events and creates three artefacts. In the following months we will deep dive into all these key words and terms.

But: “Why is it called Scrum?” you will wonder. It is neither an acronym or an abbreviation. Indeed it was inspired by a “scrum” in Rugby. In Rugby, the team comes together in what they call a scrum. They work together to reach their goals, to move the ball.

If you like to get deeper knowledge and can’t wait for our next article, take a view at “The Scrum Guide”, written and maintained by Scrum co-creators Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. The rather compact paper explains Scrum clearly and succinctly. The guide defines Scrum and describes the Scrum accountabilities, events, artefacts, and the guidance that binds them all together. You can read and download the Scrum Guide here.

How does Scrum work?

The focus of scrum is on people. Scrum projects are organised utilising cross-functional teams, each of which has all of the capabilities required to provide a piece of functionality from concept to delivery.

The scrum framework guides people by emphasizing value and keeping progress visible. A team develops the product from a concept to reality using the scrum framework as a guide for transparency, inspection, and adaptation, working from a dynamic list of the most useful things to perform. Scrum’s purpose is to assist teams in working collaboratively to delight your consumers.

So it comes natural that the Scrum methodology is a lightweight framework. So when in Rugby the players put their heads together and find a short-term strategy during their match, in our case the team sticks their minds around complex problems.

The Scrum Lifecycle begins with a so called backlog, but no direction is provided on how that backlog is produced or prioritized and comprises of a sequence of Sprints that provide the final result as a possibly deliverable product increment, as depicted in the figure above. In upcoming articles we will focus more on the process of Scrum itself.

Why is Scrum so awesome?

The following 6 points are some of the main advantages of Scrum and why you can benefit from the framework:

1. Superior goods: The Scrum methodology incorporates feedback and ongoing improvement into the Sprint retrospective. The process enables development teams to produce high-quality products as a consequence.
2. Improved teamwork: Teams that use Scrum are cohesive, work well together to fulfil deadlines, and communicate well. Members respect and trust one another, and they are aware of the value of their time. This could entail strictly enforcing a timed timeframe for the daily Scrum. It enables to create new thoughts, test out novel notions, and claim ownership of finished goods.
3. More flexibility: Teams using Scrum must modify their tools and procedures as necessary to account for changing conditions.
4. Reducing risk: Scrum emphasizes a predictable delivery speed and continuous feedback, which allows teams to manage risk early and often. Short sprints allow teams to fail quickly if an idea does not work, reducing the chance of failure on the long run.
5. Lowering time to market: Scrum promises to deliver products and features in predictable increments through the use of well-defined sprints. It is not necessary to complete the full product before releasing anything. Sprints are intended to introduce new features, ideas or products at each increment. Complex items are whole “products” made up of those supplied single “characteristics”.
6. Increasing return on investment (ROI): Scrum’s combined advantages result in a greater ROI. Constant feedback results in fewer costly errors later in the process and a better outcome.

Scrum is for everybody

Scrum is an agile framework for managing projects and product development. Yes, it is commonly used in software development, but can also be applied to other types of projects as well. All kind of businesses can use Scrum to help them manage their product development and stay on track with their goals and objectives.

Here are a few ways that business, may it be a tech company, start up or other, can use Scrum:

Product development

Scrum can be used to manage the product development process from ideation to launch. The framework provides a structured approach for identifying and prioritizing user stories, tracking progress, and making adjustments as needed.

Team collaboration

Scrum promotes collaboration and transparency among team members. Through daily stand-up meetings, sprint planning and sprint reviews, everyone involved in the development process can stay informed and engaged, which can lead to better decision making and problem-solving.

Continuous improvement

Scrum framework includes a retrospective meeting at the end of each sprint, where the team reflects on the previous sprint, and identify areas for improvement. This can lead to a culture of continuous improvement and learning, where the team can optimize the process and get better with each sprint.

Flexibility

Scrum is flexible framework, it can be adapted to suit the specific needs of a startup. For example, startups can choose to use Scrum for specific parts of the development process or for the entire process. Additionally, startups can also adjust the duration of their sprints to suit the stage of their development.

Conclusion

It’s important to note that the scrum framework is built around principles, not rules, and it’s up to the team and the organization to adapt the framework to best suit their specific needs and constraints. As such, business using scrum should be mindful of the framework principles, but also be flexible in its application and use.

Preview

In our next blog about Scrum we will show the roles within the Scrum Framework, and introduce our Scrum Master Abhinavh Srivastava.

This article was written with the help of thescrumguide.org and contains text and images from that page.

You like Scrum as much as we do? Apply as Saloodo!‘s Scrum Master here.