FIND SCRUM & AGILE CERTIFICATION CLASSES TODAY!

While the word “Scrum” may not conjure images of tackling complex business development goals, Scrum is just that: a framework used to complete large, complex projects. And even though it was originally intended for software development, it’s roots are in physical product delivery, and can be easily applied to fit just about any scope of work. Scrum for software development was created by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, which you can read about in “Agile Project Management With Scrum.” In it’s most simplistic description, Scrum is a team-based product delivery methodology that relies on empiricism, aka, validating work through experience. Teams execute in short incremental delivery cycles no longer than a month. Pretty basic, right? The results are anything but. Scrum is touted as a revolutionary way of collaborating within a team to achieve the highest levels of communications and rapid responses to the unexpected. By giving the entire team visibility and a hands-on approach to a work, the Scrum framework uses simple tools to plan work, track progress, and implement.

The Benefits of Scrum

There are many benefits to Scrum as it applies to you and your business:

• Frequent feedback from customers helps keep the team on track.
• Cyclical delivery leads to a predictable flow of work.
• Progress is highly visible at all times.
• Team productivity is measurable in both qualitative and quantitative terms.
• Teams self-organize, self-manage, and self-regulate.
• Status meetings and time-consuming management updates are minimized
• Face-to-face interaction is encouraged.
• A framework approach allows Scrum to work with different business models.
• Changes are evaluated quickly for their impact and feasibility.
• Problems are highlighted early on in the process and therefore addressed with lower risk.
• A regular delivery schedule allows for a frequent inspect-and-adapt approach.

The Value of Scrum

Having trouble keeping your team on track? Need a way to pull everyone together and get focused? You can use Scrum to achieve that. Your team can benefit from this agile development process to come up with usable results peppered throughout the life of your project, adapting to change as it progresses. This is a refreshing approach that doesn’t allow for stagnation; instead, it encourages a priority-based system with a Scrum Master as leader to ensure the team has what they need to be successful.. The process works like this:

• A “Product Backlog” is developed: a prioritized and estimated list of desired deliverables to be completed.
• During a process called “Sprint Planning,” the team takes a number of top-priority items from the Product Backlog and develops a plan to implement them over the coming iteration, or “Sprint.” The team records their plan in a “Sprint Backlog.”
• Within a timebox of no more than a month, the team meets daily in a “Daly Scrum” for a short discussion on current progress towards the goal of this Sprint.
• Towards the end of the Sprint, the team shares what has been accomplished with stakeholders in the “Sprint Review.”
• Finally, the team conducts a “Sprint Retrospective” to reflect on continuous improvement ideas.
• The team moves into the next Sprint.

Why You Need Scrum

Getting educated on Scrum is important for your business thanks to its priority-based, focused plan of attack. The strategic implementation of teams led by Scrum Masters helps any product development business achieve its end goals. Winnow Management offers certified Scrum training led by company owner and founder Peter Borsella. Certified Scrum Trainers can assist your team in implementing a product delivery framework that works. Taking such a class furthers your knowledge of the process — something you can take with you from project to project or even company to company. Personal fulfillment as a member of a team can have long-lasting effects on your professionalism and how you approach not just work but life. Scrum certification looks good on a resume too!