In the previous chapter, we looked at using JIRA for normal business projects, a feature that is provided by JIRA Core and is also available in JIRA Software. In this chapter, we will focus on the two project templates that are exclusive to JIRA Software, which are called Scrum and Kanban. We will take a brief overview of each of the agile methodologies, and look at how you can use JIRA for both.
By the end of this chapter, you will have learned the following:
- JIRA Software project templates
- How to run a project using JIRA's Scrum support
- Estimating work with Scrum
- How to run a project using JIRA's Kanban support
- Identifying inefficiencies in your process with Kanban
- Customizing your Scrum and Kanban boards
Scrum and Kanban are the two agile software development methodologies that have been supported in JIRA through an add-on called JIRA Agile. Starting with JIRA 7, Atlassian has added this support into their JIRA Software offering, making agile support a first-class citizen in the product.
If you are already familiar with Scrum and Kanban, feel free to skip this section. However, if you come from a more traditional waterfall model and are new to the agile movement, then here is an overview of them both. I would strongly recommend that you pick up an additional resource to learn more about each of the methodologies. A good place to start is the Kanban Scrum minibook, https://www.infoq.com/minibooks/kanban-scrum-minibook.
Scrum is different to the waterfall model, in that it prescribes the notion of iteration. With Scrum, a project is divided into a number of iterations, called sprints, each lasting between two to four weeks, with the goal of producing a fully tested and potentially shippable product at the end.
At the beginning of each sprint, the product owner and the team come together in what is called a sprint-planning meeting. In this meeting, the scope of the next sprint is decided. This usually includes top priority items from the backlog, which contains all incomplete work.
During each sprint, the team meets on a daily basis to review progress and flag any potential problems or impediments and plans how to address them. These meetings are short, and the goal here is to make sure that everyone on the team is on the same page.
At the end of the sprint, the team will come together to review the outcome of the sprint and look at the things they did right and things that did not go well. The goal is to identify areas of improvement, which will feed into future sprints. The process continues until the project is completed.
Kanban, unlike Scrum, which runs in iterations, focuses more on the actual execution of delivery. It has a heavy emphasis on visualizing the delivery workflow from start to finish, places limits on different stages of the workflow by controlling how many work items are allowed to be in each stage, and measures the lead time.
With Kanban, the importance is to be able to visually see the work items going through the workflow, identify areas of inefficiency and bottlenecks, and correct them. It is a continuous process with work coming in from one end, and going out from the other, and making sure that things go through as efficiently as possible.