Scrum: What is Agile?

If you ask 10 people to define Agile development and you will receive 11 definitions emphasizing different aspects of the process. I got to hear a talk (Presented by Anthony Boobier (Nomad8)) to clear up the confusion of this buzzwords and shed light onto the fundamentals of Agile software development.

We looked into what problems Agile is trying to solve and dive deep into the reasons why it works. We undertook a brief journey into the history of software development, explore the principles and values behind Agile and then later focused on how to manage our work in an Agile fashion using its most prevalent flavour, Scrum.

Scrum is a development framework in which cross-functional teams develop products or projects in an iterative, incremental manner. It structures development in cycles of work called Sprints. These iterations are no more than four weeks each (the most common is two weeks), and take place one after the other without pause. The Sprints are timeboxed – they end on a specific date whether the work has been completed or not, and are never extended. Usually Scrum Teams choose one Sprint length and use it for all their Sprints until they improve and can use a shorter cycle. At the beginning of each Sprint, a cross-functional Team (of about seven people) selects items (customer requirements) from a prioritized list. The Team agrees on a collective target of what they believe they can deliver by the end of the Sprint, something that is tangible and will be truly “done”. During the Sprint, no new items may be added; Scrum embraces change for the next Sprint, but the current short Sprint is meant to focus on a small, clear, relatively stable goal. Every day the Team gathers briefly to inspect its progress, and adjust the next steps needed to complete the work remaining. At the end of the Sprint, the Team reviews the Sprint with stakeholders, and demonstrates what it has built. People obtain feedback that can be incorporated in the next Sprint. Scrum emphasizes working product at the end of the Sprint that is really “done”; in the case of software, this means a system that is integrated, fully tested, end-user documented, and potentially shippable. Key roles, artifacts, and events are summarized..in the link below: A Lightweight Guide to the Theory and Practice of Scrum