Scrum in SDLC
Scrum is an agile development approach, the major aspect of which is sprint planning. A sprint is a limited time period, the duration of which is defined before the start of the sprint. The team is supposed to complete the tasks planned for this period and release at least one increment at the end of the sprint.
An increment is a particular step on the path to achieving the product objective. The increment must have value and complement the previous increments. As a rule, a sprint ends with the release of completed increments. However, not all Scrum teams use the 'increment' concept. An increment may represent any completed sprint result that meets the acceptance criteria (for example, a completed epic or feature).
The next sprint begins right after the completion of the previous one. The sprint backlog (the list of tasks included in the sprint) is compiled from the overall task backlog by the product owner or other people making decisions on the project.
The Scrum approach involves three major roles:
- Product owner – the person who adds tasks to the backlog, selects the priority for the tasks and defines the product objectives.
- Scrum master – the person overseeing the development process to ensure that it complies with the Scrum approach techniques.
- Developers – team members that complete backlog tasks.
A Scrum team should not be too large, otherwise its communication and overall performance might be affected. As a rule, a team consists of around ten team members that closely interact with one another to achieve a shared objective.
The Scrum approach involves realistic assessment of own abilities by all team members, transparency, mutual respect, and cooperation. Apart from that, all team members should follow the Scrum techniques, such as sprint planning and daily stand-ups. Deviation from said techniques makes the approach inefficient.
You can select Scrum as a development approach when you create a project. You need to define the sprint duration when you create the project. That value can later be changed on the project form.
Sprints
Read the article to learn how to create a sprint, configure the list of tasks, and start a sprint.
Story points
The tasks in Scrum may be evaluated in story points – standard units of task complexity, amount of work, and involved risks. The team members can estimate the task on its form in the Story points field if a Scrum project is selected in the Project field.
Apart from that, the Capacity, SP field is available on the form of each Scrum project team member. The capacity is the number of story points that can be completed by a team member in a sprint.
The capacity of team members is used in the calculation of team capacity. The Team capacity field is located on the project form in the Additional tab. You can use that information when you plan sprints.
The use of story points is not obligatory. If your team does not use this unit for the estimation of completed work, you can use time entries related to the task or the amount of time that the task dwelled in each state.
Scrum board features
The Scrum project boards have certain features that differentiate them from the Kanban boards:
- The list of available elements: columns, badges, color markers, additional attributes.
- Only the tasks included in the active sprint are displayed on the board.
- The active sprint title, start date, and end date are displayed on the board. If the sprint is expired, a corresponding warning is displayed.
- You can use the Sprint planning widget to manage sprints and sprint tasks.
- You can complete sprints.
Read more on Scrum boards in the Project Boards article.