Scrum is one of the agile methodologies supported by JIRA Agile. Unlike the old days, when a project manager would use either a spreadsheet or Microsoft project to keep track of the project progress, with JIRA Agile and Scrum, team participation is encouraged, to improve collaboration between different project stakeholders. In this chapter, we will look at how we can use JIRA Agile to unlock the power of Scrum.
By the end of the chapter, you will have learned about the following topics:
- An overview of Scrum
- Setting up a Scrum board
- Managing an issue backlog
- Estimating work and team velocities
- Running the Scrum sprint
- Tracking and reviewing sprint progress
Unlike the traditional waterfall methodology where every task or project phase is sequential, Scrum prescribes the notion of iteration. At a high level, with Scrum, a project is broken up into a number of iterations called sprints. Each sprint is usually one or two weeks long; the project team completes a portion of the overall project, and the project is completed when all the sprints are finished. With this approach, the project team is able to do the following:
- Continuously deliver with each sprint, so feedback can be gathered early
- Accommodate changes during the project life cycle
- Identify issues early on rather than at the very end, which is costly
- Continuously improve the process with retrospective meetings at the end of each sprint
In any Scrum team, there are three primary roles. Although each role has its own specific functions and responsibilities, you need all three to work together as a cohesive team in order to be successful at Scrum.
The product owner is usually the product or project manager, who is responsible for owning the overall vision and the direction of the product that the team is working on. As the product owner, they are in charge of the features that will be added to the backlog list, the priority of each feature, and planning the delivery of these features through sprints. Essentially, the product owner is the person who makes sure that the team is delivering the most value for the stakeholders in each sprint.
The Scrum master's job is to make sure that the team is running and using Scrum effectively and efficiently; so, they should be very knowledgeable and experienced with using Scrum. The Scrum master has the following two primary responsibilities:
- To coach and help everyone on the team to understand Scrum; this includes the product owner, delivery team, as well as external people that the project team interacts with. In the role of a coach, the Scrum master may help the product owner to understand and better manage the backlog and plan for sprints as well as explain the process with the delivery team.
- To improve the team's Scrum process by removing any obstacles in the way. Obstacles, also known as impediments, are anything that may block or negatively affect the team's adoption of Scrum. These can include things such as poorly-organized product backlog or the lack of support from other teams/management. It is the responsibility of the Scrum master to either directly remove these impediments or work with the team to find a solution.
Overall, the Scrum master is the advocate for Scrum, responsible for educating, facilitating, and helping people adopt and realize the advantages of using it.
The delivery team is primarily responsible for executing and delivering the final product. However, the team is also responsible for providing estimates on tasks and assisting the product owner to better plan sprints and delivery.
Ideally, the team should consist of cross-functional members required for the project, such as developers, testers, and business analysts. Since each sprint can be viewed as a mini project by itself, it is critical to have all the necessary resources available at all times, as tasks are being worked on and passed along the workflow.
Last but not least, the team is also responsible for retrospectively reviewing their performance at the end of each sprint, along with the product owner and Scrum master. This helps the team review what they have done and reveals how they can improve for the upcoming sprints.
Now, we will give you a brief introduction to Scrum and an overview of the various roles that Scrum prescribes. Let's take a look at how a typical project is run with Scrum and some of the key activities.
First, we have the backlog, which is a one-dimensional list of the features and requirements that need to be implemented by the team. The item's backlogs are listed from top to bottom by priority. While the product owner is the person in charge of the backlog, defining the priority based on his vision, everyone in the team can contribute by adding new items to the backlog, discussing priorities, and estimating efforts required for implementation.
The team will then start planning their next immediate sprint. During this sprint planning meeting, the team will decide on the scope of the sprint. Usually, top priority items from the backlog will be included. The key here is that by the end of the sprint, the team should have produced a fully tested, potentially shippable product containing all the committed features.
During the sprint, the team will have daily Scrum meetings, usually at the start of each day, where every member of the team will give a quick overview of what they have done, plan to do, and any impediments. The goal is to make sure that everyone is on the same page, so meetings should be short and sweet.
At the end of the sprint, the team will have a sprint review meeting, where the team will present what they have produced to the stakeholder. During this meeting, new changes will often emerge as the product starts to take shape, and these changes will be added to the backlog, which the team will reprioritize before the next sprint commences.
Another meeting called the sprint retrospective meeting will also take place at the end of the sprint, where the team will come together to discuss what they have done right, what they have done wrong, and how they can improve.
Throughout this process, the Scrum master will act as the referee, where they will make sure all these activities are done correctly. For example, the Scrum master will guide the product owner and the team during the backlog and sprint planning meetings to make sure the items they have are scoped and described correctly. The Scrum master will also ensure that the meetings stay focused, productive, do not run overtime, and that the team members remain respectful without trying to talk over each other.
So, now you have seen some of the advantages of using Scrum, the different roles, as well as a simple Scrum process; let's see how we can use JIRA Agile to run projects with Scrum.