Agile encompasses several methods for developing software. Out of these, Scrum is the most famous and used one. A good starting point that helps us assess how Scrum fits with the concept of Agile is the Agile Manifesto together with the twelve principles behind it.
‘Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software’
‘Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to a shorter time scale’
The core of Scrum is the sprint, that lasts up to one month and that has as purpose the delivery of a working, usable and releasable product increment. The limited time duration enables predictability and ensures inspection and adaptation of progress towards the goal. Meanwhile, Agile itself advocates for the incremental development of the systems and for the prioritization of the functionality that gives the highest customer value. Unlike the traditional ways of building software, Agile methodologies encourage as well early feedback with the purpose of learning and improvement.
‘Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project’
In the case of traditional project methodologies, a project’s success was evaluated based on its delivery within the agreed scope, time plan and costs. However, a successful project should also generate customer satisfaction and not only fulfill a series of formal requirements. Moreover, it should be ready to be launched on the market at the right time instance and the customer should be involved in the development process from early stages. So, while the developers have the “know-how” for building a system, the business people and customers have the knowledge related to market, timing and needs. Scrum supports entirely these aspects and promotes collaboration not only within the team but also between persons with different backgrounds and knowledge.
‘The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to an within a development team is face-to-face conversation’
Scrum focuses strongly on communication. The proof is given also by the various Scrum events (daily Scrum meeting, sprint review, retrospective, backlog refinement, sprint demo) that are meant to encourage collaboration and effective communication, to promote transparency and to offer the opportunity to inspect and adapt. Hence, it is highly likely that in an organization practicing Scrum the extensive documentation will be replaced with brainstorming sessions or meetings next to a whiteboard!
‘At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly’
Scrum is a framework that sustains continuous improvement. As such, two major events are held every sprint with the purpose to inspect and adapt the product backlog (Sprint review) and to analyse how the sprint went with respect to people, relationships, processes, tools (Sprint retrospective).