How SCRUM works
Scrum is based on the concept of iterations. There are two nested iterations
at the end of which a feasible product appears. The inner iteration
is done every day and is called a scrum. The external iteration is done
every month (30 days- which, according to the proponents of SCRUM is
the ideal - neither long nor short- for a viable software to be developed).
The Basic Structure of a SCRUM Team
The team contains not more than 6 members and has a controller whose
name has some how got mixed up with chess expertise! The Scrum Master
(in contrast to the Grand Master) has complete authority on what the
team shall work on (This list on what features are wished for in the
final project and not handled by the current sprint is called as backlog
list).
As they say, no man can have two masters, SCRUM believes that no external
agency is to be allowed to interfere in the work of the team during
the iterations and no external responsibilities be given to the team
members during this period.
Now for the modus operandi. The team decides what the functionalities
would be that they could develop in a period of 1 month.
SCRUM: The inner Iteration
Each Scrum Cycle is a daylong. At a specific time and at a specific
place every day the team convenes to be answerable by the Scrum Master.
He asks each team member the following 3 questions
- What have you done since your last scrum meeting?
- What has impeded your work?
- What do you plan on doing between now and the next scrum meeting?
Bingo, the meeting is complete, any help, idea etc. that's developed
in this meeting are discussed off-line.
SPRINT: The external Iteration
In a period of not more than 30 days the team meets the miles stones
that they had set for themselves and comes out of the sprint with a
functional product. Here is where the evaluators (clients etc.) come
in to evaluate the result and decide on the next sprint.
Conclusion
To quote Katz' Law:
"Men and nations will act rationally when all other possibilities
have been exhausted."
Thus after the experiences of trying to apply the ancient waterfall
model and similar stringent techniques to the inconsistent world of
software, SCRUM seems to be the final answer to the software world's
prayer.
In fact, the current period is one of the most exciting of all periods
in the history of software engineering with processes such as XP
merging with SCRUM to provide a hybrid XP
@ SCRUM which has Scrum Management practices with the XP engineering
practices to form an interesting arena. Many other Agile processes such
as dX, FDDS etc. are performing better than the heavy weight processes
to such an extent that when projects using heavy weight processes are
in the verge of failure, the management always adopts processes such
as SCRUM to rescue it.
Thus, SCRUM is a step in the right direction aimed at bringing sanity
to the entire process of Software development and shall bring the realization
that there are no 'silver bullet' solutions in the realm of 'solutions
of the Software kind'.
Useful Links:
1. Scrum Home Page
2. Scrum Rules
3. Scrum: Living on the
edge
4. ADM's home page
5. Nonaka, Ikujiro and Takeuchi, Hirotaka The Knowledge Creating Company:
How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1995)
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