Scrum, as you may know, is considered to be the numero uno framework to implement what is known to be one of the most popular software development philosophies called Agile. But, the question is what you may not know about Scrum. Well, I think it’s the six main principles of Scrum that are pivotal to the success of any software development project that uses Agile to carry out the SDLC process. That said, I won’t beat around the bush or belabour, and rather get you straight to those six pillars that make Scrum stand taller than its counterparts, like Kanban, Lean Software Development, Extreme Programming, etc.
Six Main Principles to apply the Scrum Framework
Empirical Process Control
The word Empirical means based on experience rather than on theory or pure logic. So, instead of laying down all the requirements in the contract and doing detailed upfront planning, Scrum application entails making decisions based on experience and observation every day, every sprint. Scrum practitioners frequently inspect all deliverables, what has worked, what will work for them, customer feedback, etc., in order to swiftly adapt to the changing market demands and head in the right direction.
Self-Organization
One of the very important tenets of Scrum-Agile environment is self-government which is enabled by providing higher autonomy, support and trust to team members. It’s kind of letting the team decide what to do as it knows the best what to. Since Scrum team members get the freedom to act in the servant-leadership environment, they feel self-motivated to add quality to their individual outputs, thereby maximizing quality and expediting delivery of results. This removes the need for persistent monitoring and micro-management to get the best outcomes.
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Collaboration
Open communication between the Product Owner, the Scrum Master and the Scrum Team on a daily basis is a very important aspect of Scrum-Agile implementation. Constant engagement via daily meetings helps confirm requirements, deliver results and validate them faster. Also, since everyone is aware of one another’s work, they bring more value to daily meetings by suggesting how deliverables have to be reintegrated to make the software product viable. When everyone involved in the software development process has a say, the best ideas are brought on to the table and get implemented as per the priority set for them.
Collaborating in such a manner also enables to use tools and technologies in a different way as long as it works for the team. Therefore, collaboration is one of the very important facets of applying Scrum framework in order to bring out the best results without wasting time on things that are not important at the current stage.
Value-based Prioritization
One of the core principles of Scrum is value-based prioritization. What it means is that the Scrum team doesn’t pick a task randomly, but clearly defines which tasks must be performed now and which ones need to be done later. Therefore, Scrum approach facilitates faster and continuous delivery of a product or service to customers. This in turn also helps identify what changes to be made to make the product even more viable and satisfy the needs of the customers for whom the product is meant to solve a particular problem or problems in the best possible manner.
So, in my opinion, it’s absolutely right to say that value-based prioritization greatly helps improve user experience (UX), that too much sooner than usual in the software development process.
Following are the three factors to consider while prioritizing tasks:
- Value
- Risk or uncertainty
- Dependencies
Time-Boxing
All tasks under the Scrum framework are timeboxed, which means allotting a certain amount of time to complete each process and task. A period of two weeks is usually set to complete a sprint. Releasing in short intervals helps find and fix issues early in the development cycle rather than reinventing the wheel after working on multiple modules for months and releasing them in one go, just to realize that the market demands changed by the time product development finished. Time-boxing also supports iterative development so that any changes need to be made can be done in the next sprints.
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Iterative Development
For many software projects, it’s not possible to define every requirement about what the end product may look like before even a single line of code is written. This is where Scrum goes a long way in making a product viable by allowing to incorporate changes as and when the need arises. Having an iterative model in the software development process not just greatly reduces the time to reach the endpoint, but also empowers to deliver what exactly the current breed of customers wants from your product or service. The scrum-agile environment helps break down complex tasks into different, small sprints and incorporate learning in an iterative manner in order to deliver what needs to be delivered faster.
The above six principles are the guidelines about how to go about using Scrum in order to let your software project produce the best outcome. Following those principles can help you create an environment where everybody feels involved and takes ownership to deliver a quality product in a timely manner.
For any doubt or query that you may have about using Scrum to implement Agile methodology, please feel free to mention them in the comments, and we promise to get back to you shortly on those.
Evon Technologies has hands-on experience of using the Scrum framework to implement Agile. I remember a project at Evon that involved a team of over 30 technologists who executed the SDLC process by using Scrum where the deliverables always made the client happy at the end of the day. If you are also looking for web and app developers or a software development company that has previously worked in Scrum-Agile environment, Evon is a go-to place for you. Get in touch with us, and our business analysts will soon get back to you with solutions for your project needs.