Scrum's Principles

The framework and terminology are simple in concept yet difficult to implement. Successful Scrum teams embrace the values upon which Scrum is based (paraphrased from the Agile Manifesto):

We value

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Completed functionality over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, the items on the left matter more.

True success with the Scrum framework comes from teams and organizations who understand these values and the principles that form the foundation of all agile processes.

A Few Detailed Definitions

Product backlog: A product backlog is dynamic—Items may be deleted or added at any time during the project. It is prioritized—Items with the highest priority are completed first. It is progressively refined—Lower priority items are intentionally coarse-grained.

Sprint backlog: A sprint backlog is a negotiated set of items from the product backlog that a team commits to complete during the timebox of a sprint. Items in the sprint backlog are broken into detailed tasks for the team members to complete. The team works collaboratively to complete the items in the sprint backlog, meeting each day (during a daily scrum) to share struggles and progress and update the sprint backlog and burndown chart accordingly.

Potentially Shippable: Potentially shippable means that the increment/deliverable could be released to a customer.The product owner makes the decision about when to actually release any functionality or deliverable.

Scrum Terminology

We've introduced some new terms in describing the Scrum framework. Let's look at them in more detail. Scrum is made up of three roles, four ceremonies, and three artifacts. 

Three roles

• Product owner: responsible for the business value of the project
• ScrumMaster: ensures that the team is functional and productive
• Team: self-organizes to get the work done

Four ceremonies

• Sprint planning: the team meets with the product owner to choose a set of work to deliver during a sprint
• Daily scrum: the team meets each day to share struggles and progress
• Sprint reviews: the team demonstrates to the product owner what it has completed during the sprint
• Sprint retrospectives: the team looks for ways to improve the product and the process.

Three artifacts

• Product backlog: prioritized list of desired project outcomes/features
• Sprint backlog: set of work from the product backlog that the team agrees to complete in a sprint, broken into tasks
• Burndown chart: at-a-glance look at the work remaining (can have two charts: one for the sprint and one for the overall project)