Agile can be quite simplistic, at the same time quite a complex concept to grasp. There are a ton of different approaches, methods, principles and terms which together form the concept of Agile. However, Scrum Agile is far simpler and can help you manage your development software in a far more methodical approach.
If you are interest in learning more about Scrum and how you can implement it at your own workplace, the good news is, it is not compulsory for you to implement it only after learning about all the different underlying principles of Scrum. In a few easy steps, you can implement Scrum, and this is how:
Step 1: Create your scrum team
This is not just the first step, but also one of the most important steps to implementing scrum. Ideally, your scrum team should consist of 5 to 9 members, each member having their own set of skills, talents, and competencies. This team should consist of testers, supporters, developers, business analysts, etc. With each member of the team working together in harmony, the team will be able to successfully ship their products at the end of each sprint.
Step 2: Estimate your product backlog
Estimating your product backlogs will help you prioritize your items. However, you will need to understand the backlog first. This should be first done in units, and not in a measure of time. This will help estimate the relative size of a feature to its product owner. You can also use a points system for doing this. The backlog will describe a feature, and each backlog item is like a report, describing various features. Finally, you will also need to estimate your backlog as a team. Once this is done, the product owner will have a fair idea about his priorities; moving the items on the backlog as per their priority to complete the important ones first.
Step 3: Who is going to be the scrum master?
The next biggest step is to appoint a scrum master for your team. This scrum master is the main catalyst of your scrum team, ensuring that everything is in its correct order. The Scrum master resolves any issues in the team, ensures that everything is going according to schedule and will also help assist the team for any upcoming sprints.
Step 4: Planning your sprint
In order to plan your sprint methodically, you will need to ensure that every single member of the team is present during the sprint meeting. This ensures that every member of the team is up to date about the planning. The first step of planning your sprint is to decide upon the sprint duration. The ideal sprint duration depends on many factors, although typically, it should last 30 days. Planning, testing, deployment and review are part of the smooth cycle of sprint planning. Once the sprint duration is decided, set a goal for the duration.
Step 5: Make a product backlog
The product backlog should consist of a wish list of the stories which are to be completed in the project. The backlog is ranked according to priority of stories so that the most important ones are completed first. These stories are broken down into smaller parts so that the team can tackle each story in a methodical and strategic manner.
Step 6: Plan the first sprint
Now that the product backlog is created, the team is able to view the top priority tasks in an easier manner. Due to the simple process of creating a backlog, it has become easier for team members to pick out the items of top priority and complete them first, slowly completing the entire task at hand. Once the entire team has agreed on this, they can start working on the stories one by one.
Step 7: Decide about the next sprint
It is possible that some items might be remaining from the previous sprint. Ideally, all the backlog should be complete, but in case it is not, it can be taken over to the next sprint, or even be put in the backlog again.
Decide this plan of action with the entire team about what should be done for the next sprint, and any ways in which this can be improved for the next sprint.
If sprints are set on a deadline of a budget or time, then there are limits imposed. However, if there are no deadlines, you can have limitless sprints.
After all of this is completed, the sprint is reviewed each time, which should feature a live demonstration. A retrospective meeting occurs after this sprint review, and this meeting is crucial, where all members of the team have to attend.
This meeting goes over all the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of the previous sprint, and what can be done to improve it the next time. Scrum is a good solution for almost any kind of project in an organization. This is the reason why CSM certification is getting so popular these days. With these simple steps, you too can implement scrum immediately!
