There are many challenges that teams face while working through an iterative software development process, and one of the most important ones is how to manage the numerous tasks and deliverables that need to be completed in a limited amount of time. With scrum project management, you can break down each activity into smaller chunks so that your team can easily plan their work and monitor their progress. Scrum project management also helps you track progress on a daily basis, which means you will always know if there’s a risk of falling behind schedule. Scrum project management is not complicated; rather it’s an easy-to-follow framework with five simple principles that every team should follow. In this article, we will explain what exactly scrum project management is and how it can improve your performance as a team member or as an individual contributor working on various projects.
How to Utilize Scrum Project Management
What is Scrum?
The term ‘Scrum’ comes from the game of rugby. In rugby, the team that gets possession of the ball has only a limited amount of time to score a goal. If they take too long, the other team gets the ball so that both teams get an equal chance to score. Scrum is a process for managing product development, enabling teams to work with a high degree of flexibility in an unpredictable environment. It is a method for managing the work that has a set of rules instructing the team on how they undertake their work. These rules are in place so the team can have a common understanding of how they work together to accomplish their goals.
What is Scrum project management?
Scrum project management is an iterative and agile software development approach that uses a specific framework to manage multiple project deliverables simultaneously. Scrum project management has been around since the early 2000s, and it has proven to be an effective approach for software development and other types of projects where there’s a high risk of falling behind schedule. Its popularity grew over time, and nowadays, many organizations use scrum project management to manage their core business operations. Scrum project management is based on specific project management principles that hold team members accountable for completing their assignments on time. It also encourages collaboration among team members so that everyone can do their best work without burning out. Scrum project management is an ideal approach for organizations that want to improve their project performance, increase their profitability, and reduce project risks.
How Does Scrum Work?
There are three parts to Scrum:
- The Product Owner creates the product roadmap, a list of what needs to be done and in what order.
- The Scrum Team works on the product backlog, which is a list of all the tasks that need to be done to finish the product.
- The Team, including the Scrum Master, occasionally meets to discuss their progress. There is a key concept in Scrum known as “the capacity to deliver value.” In theory, the team knows how much work they can do in a specific amount of time. The Product Owner and the Scrum Team sit down to figure out how much of the product backlog should be worked on at a given time. This is called the “Sprint capacity.” The team works as fast as they can to finish the product backlog. Once the team finishes the product backlog (which is all the tasks on the product backlog), they report their progress. If the team finishes their work before the Sprint ends, they can choose to either:
- Complete the rest of the product backlog
- Take the time off to relax
When Should You Use Scrum?
Scrum can be used for any project that has a short timeline, is technically complex, or has a lot of uncertainty. Projects that are well suited for Scrum are:
- Product development
- New product development
- IT projects
- IT projects that use new technology
- Software development
- Software or hardware design
- Web development
- Medical device development
- Projects with a large amount of stakeholders
- Projects with a large amount of dependencies
Scrum isn’t the best way to manage projects with a long timeline, small teams, or simple projects. However, these projects aren’t the best fit for a traditional method of project management either.
The Scrum Process
A scrum project typically starts with an initial meeting where you, as a team, will create a backlog and come up with a plan for the next one or two sprints. The backlog is a list of everything that your team needs to complete in order to achieve their main goal. It includes all of the tasks, subtasks, and everything else that needs to be done. Once you’ve created the backlog, your scrum master will assign the items on the list to individuals on the team. The scrum master is a team member who has overall responsibility for ensuring that the team follows the scrum project management framework. The scrum master will also assign items that need to be completed in the next two sprints. This will become the scrum backlog. Once you have the backlog, you will assign items to team members, pair them up, and assign them time frames for completion.
Scrum Roles
There are three key roles in scrum project management: scrum master, product owner, and scrum team members.
- The scrum master is responsible for meeting the team members regularly, helping them collaborate effectively, and resolving inter-team issues. He or she also organizes the initial meeting where the team members create their backlog and plan for the next sprint.
- The product owner is responsible for managing the product backlog and assigning items from the backlog to the scrum team members. The product owner also helps the team members break down their tasks so that they can achieve their goals effectively.
- The scrum team members should take care of breaking down their tasks and managing their own time.
Scrum Rituals
Scrum project management includes five essential rituals, which are basically the rules that your team members must follow in order to be successful. These rituals are critical to scrum project management because they help team members focus on their goals, collaborate effectively, and stay motivated while working on challenging tasks.
- The planning meeting: This is where your team members will create their backlog, plan for the next sprint, and assign items that need to be completed to each other.
- Daily scrum meeting: The purpose of this meeting is to give each team member the opportunity to share their progress with the rest of the team. Team members will also use this meeting to ask questions and get help from their colleagues.
- The sprint review meeting: At this meeting, the team members will have the opportunity to review their progress. They will also receive feedback from the product owner, scrum master, and other team members on whether or not they achieved their goals for the past sprint.
- The scrum retrospective meeting: This meeting is held at the end of each sprint. The main goal is to identify and address the challenges the team members faced during the last sprint and to come up with strategies to overcome them in the next one.
How To Use Scrum Project Management Effectively
When you use scrum project management, it’s important that you follow a specific sequence of events to ensure that your team members are completing their work on time. The following five steps will help you stay on track.
- Define the goal: When you start working on a new project, the first thing you should do is to define the goal and create a product backlog. You can do this with your scrum master and the rest of the team members.
- Create a product backlog: Once you have a goal, the next step is to create a product backlog. This is basically a list of everything that needs to be done in order to achieve the goal.
- Assign items to team members: Once you have a product backlog, it’s time to assign items that need to be completed to each team member. This is when the product owner will come in handy.
- Create a sprint backlog: Once you have assigned items to team members, it’s time to create a sprint backlog. The sprint backlog is basically a list of everything that the team members must complete in the next sprint.
- Track progress: Once you have a sprint backlog, track progress on a daily basis, which means you will always know if there’s a risk of falling behind schedule.
Organizational Change for Scrum
In order to fully adopt Scrum, your organization will need to change. That change can be difficult, especially if your company has been doing things a certain way for a long time. Luckily, there are ways to make this transition as smooth as possible. There are a few ways to introduce Scrum into your organization, including:
- Outsourcing
- Bring Scrum in-house
- Hybrid approach
- Co-development
Whichever option you choose, the most important part is to get buy-in from the C-suite. Everyone in senior leadership needs to support Scrum, or it will never work. Once you get the support of the top brass, it’s time to educate your employees. Start small and build from there. Create workshops, host Scrum meetings, and share articles with your staff so they can learn more about Scrum.
Creating a Successful Scrum Team
If your team isn’t working together, Scrum won’t work. In order to be successful, teams need to work together as a single unit. Here are a few tips for forming a successful Scrum team:
- Select the right people for the team
- Include the stakeholders
- Include people with the right skill sets
- Create a diverse team
- Promote a safe work environment
- Create a team mission
- Hold team-building activities
- Create a team culture
- Encourage team members to learn from each other
- Give the team room for growth
Tips for Managing a Scrum Project
There are a few things you can do to make managing a Scrum project easier. Here are a few tips:
- Get support from the C-suite
- Educate yourself on Scrum
- Define your scope
- Make the transition as easy as possible
- Make sure the team is working together
- Keep the product backlog updated
- Make sure the team is working towards the product vision
- Hold team meetings
- Track the team’s progress
- Celebrate accomplishments
- Correct any issues promptly
- Know when to make changes
- Close the project
These are just a few ways to manage a Scrum project. If you’re ready to implement Scrum, make sure to keep these tips in mind to help ensure a successful project.
Conclusion
Scrum project management is an approach to managing projects that has been embraced by software development teams for many years. It’s based on specific project management principles that hold team members accountable for completing their assignments on time. Scrum project management is an ideal approach for organizations that want to improve their project performance, increase profitability, and reduce project risks. It’s an iterative and agile software development approach that uses a specific framework to manage multiple project deliverables simultaneously.
We Can Make Scrum Work For You
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Northern California, Bydrec is a nearshore software development company that provides expert, bilingual software engineers to clients for their outsourcing needs. We offer highly skilled software developers at a low cost, and we are focused on excellent customer service and delivering customizable solutions with methods like Scrum. If your organization is looking to innovate or enhance its software development projects, Bydrec is ready for you. Contact Bydrec by calling (866) 219-7733 or emailing info@bydrec.com for nearshore software outsourcing you can trust.
