SCRUM: what it is and how to apply the agile methodology

Competitiveness and market demands take any company out of its comfort zone. It is necessary to be aware of innovative solutions and apply them quickly. And for that, the SCRUM is essential. 

THE SCRUM It is an agile methodology that, when applied correctly, can optimize your company’s results. It’s the perfect strategy to bring agility and quality to your workflow. 

What is the SCRUM ? 

SCRUM is a framework agile in nature. It was developed in 1993 by Jeff Sutherland, considered the father of SCRUM, and its team of developers. 

Initially, scrum was born as a way to facilitate IT processes. Despite this, nowadays it can be applied in any area that requires efficient project management and time control. 

The fundamental principle of SCRUM It’s agility. Rapid cycles are carried out that allow you to predict and adapt to unforeseen events, changes and obstacles. 

This agile flexibility allows the product to be delivered with high quality and within the customer’s expectations. 

The cycles are called sprints. In each of these interactions, the product is evaluated according to the customer’s requirements. Thus, the team plans an improvement, so that, in the next sprint, the result is closer to what was requested.  

The more complex a demand, the shorter the time interval between sprints should be. This way, the project can be quickly broken down. 

Implement the SCRUM It’s not complicated at all. All that is needed is knowledge of the processes on the part of the Scrum Master and the team’s commitment to ensuring that the methodology is applied. 

How to implement the SCRUM on your team? 

Although it is not difficult, the SCRUM It requires mastery of its steps and functions so that it can be executed efficiently. 

All team members must agree with the way the processes are being carried out and their role within the project. 

But what are the steps to perform Scrum correctly? 

Choose one Product Owner

THE product owner will be responsible for establishing a bridge between the client and the team. He is the one who will define what activities must be carried out for the product to be developed. 

Therefore, it is your responsibility to define priorities and ensure that the product meets what was requested. 

Once chosen, the product owner you can start now 

Select one Scrum Master and a development team

With the product owner defined, it is necessary to choose who will be the Scrum Master and the product development team. 

THE Scrum master is responsible for leading the development team. Its role is to ensure that all members are carrying out the practices of the SCRUM correctly. 

Therefore, it is essential to Scrum Master trained, so that the methodology can be applied in order to increase the team’s productivity, without losing the quality of deliveries. 

The development team is the team that will receive and execute the tasks. Responsible for the operation and development of the project, the chosen team members must have the necessary skills for the tasks to be accomplished.

With the roles established, it’s time to start executing the project. 

Create and order a backlog of the product

THE backlog it is the list of tasks to be carried out to achieve the final result. In principle, it must be created by the product owner, who will define what the tasks will be and list the priorities. 

This list can be changed later by any team member. With the backlog defined, the time has come to start the sprints. 

Plan the Sprint

The team needs to analyze the backlog and define what tasks will be carried out in the first sprint. With this, it is also possible to define the sprint time, that is, how long it takes for that task cycle to be completed. 

You sprints They are usually carried out between 1 and 6 weeks. Remember: the more complex the backlog, more interactions will be necessary, so that the project can be executed with more patience and planning. 

Use a project and task management tool 

One way to keep the SCRUM visual and organized is to use a project management tool. 

With Gipo, the entire workflow scrum It is stored in one place, making processes much more visual. 

In a workspace, you can create steps in column shapes and add new tasks in each of the steps. 

For example, a step can be created to visually store the tasks in backlog. When a task is started, it moves to the next step in the flow, which can be called “development”. When completed, the task moves on to the next stage, completion.

In this example, a simple flow was created. However, the workspace It can be customized in any way that best suits your company’s processes. 

This way, processes are well organized and everyone on the team can see the project’s progress.

Hold daily meetings

Bring the team together to hold daily meetings. These meetings allow each member to explain what was done the previous day and what will be done today and the challenges to be overcome. 

Do a Sprint Retrospective

At the end of sprint, the time has come to analyze what has been done. It is important to highlight the positive and negative points of the process so that strategies can be developed and applied in the next sprint. 

In each cycle, obstacles are overcome quickly. Thus, the project is unraveled and developed within the client’s expectations. 

When applied correctly, the SCRUM optimizes your team’s productivity and allows projects to be delivered within the established deadline and, most importantly, with the quality requested by the client.