What is Scrum?

Scrum: definition and core idea

Scrum was developed by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland and is described in the official Scrum Guide. It assumes that not everything can be planned in advance in complex projects. Instead of a rigid overall plan, work is planned, implemented, reviewed, and adjusted in short loops.

Three principles support the framework: transparency about progress and problems, regular inspection of results, and adaptation when something isn't going as intended. In addition, the Scrum Guide describes five values for collaboration: commitment, focus, openness, respect, and courage.

How Scrum works

Scrum defines three accountabilities, five events, and three artifacts. A sprint lasts no more than one month—in practice, usually one to four weeks.

In the Daily Scrum, the team coordinates every day in 15 minutes or less. In the Sprint Review, the result is discussed with clients and users; in the Retrospective, the team improves its own way of working.

• Product Owner: accountable for product value and prioritizes the Product Backlog
• Scrum Master: supports the team and helps remove impediments
• Developers: carry out the sprint's work
• Events: Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective
• Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment

Benefits and limitations of Scrum

Scrum makes progress visible: every few weeks, clients see working software instead of just status reports. Priorities can be adjusted between sprints, and wrong turns are spotted early.

However, Scrum requires active participation on the client side, above all from a Product Owner with decision-making authority. A fixed overall scope by a fixed deadline only partly fits the idea behind the framework. If Scrum is only adopted on paper, the result is lots of meetings with no real benefit.

• Usable interim results at regular intervals
• Flexible when requirements change
• High transparency for clients
• Requires time and decision-making authority on the client side

Real-world example: Scrum in a client project

A company commissions a platform for order management. Instead of one big delivery date, both sides agree on two-week sprints. After the first sprint, order creation is in place; after the second, assignment to employees. The review reveals that a mobile view is more important than planned—so it moves up in the backlog. The client sees progress continuously and can change course in good time.

Depending on the project, Nano Concepts works in an agile way with Scrum or with a clearly defined fixed scope, and discusses in the initial consultation which approach suits your project.