What is Scrum and Why Use It?

Scrum is an iterative and incremental agile project management framework that simplifies the management of complex projects. Although it is widely used in software development projects, it can also be applied in many different fields such as marketing, product development, research and development. The main purpose of Scrum is to enable teams to work faster, more efficiently and more harmoniously.

Scrum is ideal for projects where uncertainty is high and requirements change frequently. Unlike traditional project management methods, Scrum performs planning and execution in short cycles (sprints). In this way, teams can continuously receive feedback, quickly adapt to changing requirements, and most importantly, continuously deliver value to the customer.

Why Use Scrum?

Flexibility: Quickly adapts to changing requirements.
Transparency: Project status and progress are visible to everyone.
Collaboration: Close collaboration and communication between team members is encouraged.
Value Orientation: Focuses on delivering the highest value to the customer.
Continuous Improvement: Supports continuous feedback and improvement processes.

Scrum's Basic Principles:

Transparency: Project processes and progress should be clearly visible.
Inspection: Processes and products should be inspected regularly.
Adaptation: Processes and products should be adapted according to the inspection results.

Real-Life Example: An e-commerce company decides to use Scrum to revamp its website. Projects carried out with traditional methods have experienced constant delays and customer dissatisfaction has increased. After switching to Scrum, teams start working in short sprints, delivering a working piece of product at the end of each sprint. In this way, the customer constantly provides feedback and changes are made according to the requirements. As a result, the project is completed on time and within budget, and customer satisfaction increases significantly.

What are the Basic Components of Scrum?

Scrum is based on three core roles, five events (activities), and three artifacts (outputs). These components work together to ensure the successful execution of the project.

Roles:

Product Owner: Responsible for maximizing the value of the product. Defines product requirements, manages and prioritizes the Product Backlog.
Scrum Master: Implements the Scrum process and ensures the team works according to Scrum principles. Is a servant leader for the team, removes obstacles, and supports the team.
Development Team: Responsible for developing the product. Consists of people with different skills such as programmers, testers, and designers.

Events:

Sprint: The basic time-box of Scrum. It usually lasts 1-4 weeks. During the Sprint, the team works to achieve a specific goal.
Sprint Planning: Done at the beginning of the Sprint. The Product Owner and the Development Team work together to determine the Sprint goal and create the Sprint Backlog.
Daily Scrum: A short meeting held every day at the same time and place (usually 15 minutes). Team members share what they have done since the previous day, what they will do today, and whether they have encountered any obstacles.
Sprint Review: Done at the end of the Sprint. The Development Team shows the completed product parts to the Product Owner and other stakeholders. Feedback is received and the Product Backlog is updated.
Sprint Retrospective: Done at the end of the Sprint. The team discusses what went well, what went badly, and how things can be improved during the Sprint.

Artifacts:

Product Backlog: A prioritized list containing all the requirements of the product. Managed by the Product Owner.
Sprint Backlog: A list containing the tasks to be completed during the Sprint. Created by the Development Team.
Increment: The working product part completed at the end of each Sprint.

Visual Explanation: (Explanation with text) The Scrum process is usually shown with a circular diagram. In this diagram, the Sprint Backlog is created from the Product Backlog with the Sprint Planning meeting. The Development Team works throughout the Sprint and tracks progress with Daily Scrum meetings. At the end of the Sprint, the Increment is delivered, and Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective meetings are held. Feedback is reflected in the Product Backlog and the cycle starts again.

What are the Responsibilities of Scrum Roles?

In Scrum, each role has its own unique responsibilities. These responsibilities are critical for the successful execution of the project.

Product Owner:

Defining the Product Vision: Determines what the product should be and what value it should offer.
Managing the Product Backlog: Defines, prioritizes, and keeps the product requirements up to date.
Communicating with Stakeholders: Collects feedback from customers, users, and other stakeholders and reflects it in the Product Backlog.
Defining the Sprint Goal: Sets a meaningful and measurable goal for each Sprint.
Maximizing Return on Investment (ROI): Works to maximize the value of the product.

Scrum Master:

Teaching and Implementing Scrum: Teaches and implements Scrum principles and practices to the team.
Removing Impediments: Solves problems that prevent the team from progressing.
Protecting the Team: Protects the team from external factors and ensures their focus.
Facilitating Meetings: Facilitates Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective meetings.
Promoting Continuous Improvement: Encourages the team to continuously improve their processes.

Development Team:

Developing the Product: Completes tasks in the Product Backlog and delivers working product increments.
Self-Organizing: Decides how to complete tasks and who will do what.
Being Cross-Functional: Consists of people with different skills and can perform different tasks.
Writing Quality Code: Writes clean, readable, and testable code.
Making Estimates: Estimates how long tasks will take.

Table: Scrum Roles and Responsibilities

Role	Responsibilities
Product Owner	Defining the product vision, managing the Product Backlog, communicating with stakeholders, defining the Sprint goal, maximizing ROI.
Scrum Master	Teaching and implementing Scrum, removing impediments, protecting the team, facilitating meetings, promoting continuous improvement.
Development Team	Developing the product, self-organizing, being cross-functional, writing quality code, making estimates.

How to do Sprint Planning?

Sprint Planning is a meeting held at the beginning of a Sprint to determine the Sprint goal and create the Sprint Backlog. The Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Development Team participate in this meeting.

Step-by-Step Sprint Planning Process:

Determine the Sprint Goal: The Product Owner presents a meaningful and measurable goal for the Sprint. This goal should align with the highest priority items in the Product Backlog.
Review the Product Backlog: The Product Owner explains the highest priority items in the Product Backlog to the Development Team.
Determine Capacity: The Development Team estimates how much work they can do during the Sprint. This estimate is based on past Sprint performance, team member availability, and other factors.
Create the Sprint Backlog: The Development Team decides which items from the Product Backlog they can complete during the Sprint. These items are added to the Sprint Backlog.
Break Down Tasks: The Development Team breaks down each item in the Sprint Backlog into smaller, manageable tasks.
Make Estimates: The Development Team estimates how long each task will take.
Complete the Sprint Backlog: The Sprint Backlog includes all the tasks to be completed during the Sprint and their estimates.

Important Points:

The Sprint goal should be a goal that the entire team agrees on and focuses on throughout the Sprint.
The Sprint Backlog should be realistic and achievable.
The Development Team should consider its own capacity when creating the Sprint Backlog.
Tasks should be as small and manageable as possible.
Estimates should be realistic and experience-based.

How to Conduct a Daily Scrum Meeting?

The Daily Scrum is a short meeting (usually 15 minutes) held at the same time and place every day. The Development Team participates in this meeting. The purpose is to track the team's progress, identify obstacles, and ensure coordination.

Daily Scrum Meeting Format:

Each Team Member Answers the Following Three Questions:
- What did I do yesterday to help the Sprint Goal?
- What will I do today to help the Sprint Goal?
- Do I see any impediment that prevents me or the Development Team from meeting the Sprint Goal?

Important Points:

The Daily Scrum is not a status report. The purpose is to track the team's progress and identify obstacles.
The meeting should be kept short (typically 15 minutes).
The meeting should focus on ensuring coordination among Development Team members.
When obstacles are identified, the Scrum Master should take action to resolve them.

Malpractices:

Turning the Daily Scrum into a meeting where only the Scrum Master speaks.
Making the meeting too long.
Going into technical details in the meeting.
Ignoring obstacles.

What is the Difference Between Sprint Review and Retrospective Meetings?

Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective meetings are two separate meetings held at the end of each Sprint that serve different purposes.

Sprint Review:

Purpose: To show the completed product increments to stakeholders and get feedback.
Participants: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team, and stakeholders (customers, users, managers, etc.).
Focus: Product, market, potential use.
Output: New features or changes to be added to the Product Backlog.

Sprint Retrospective:

Purpose: To evaluate how the team worked during the Sprint and identify areas for improvement.
Participants: Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Development Team.
Focus: Processes, tools, relationships.
Output: Action items for improvement and changes to be implemented in subsequent Sprints.

Table: Sprint Review and Retrospective Comparison

Feature	Sprint Review	Sprint Retrospective
Purpose	To show the product to stakeholders and get feedback	To evaluate and improve the team's way of working
Participants	Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team, stakeholders	Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team
Focus	Product, market	Processes, tools, relationships
Output	Product Backlog updates	Improvement action items

Real-Life Example: A software company, during a Sprint Review meeting, demonstrates a new feature they have developed to their clients. The clients are satisfied with the functionality of the feature but state that the user interface is complex. This feedback is added to the Product Backlog as an item: "Simplify the user interface." In the Sprint Retrospective meeting, the team realizes that they experienced some communication issues during the Sprint. To resolve this issue, they decide to communicate more frequently and set clearer goals in the next Sprint.

What are the Key Metrics Used in Scrum?

The metrics used in Scrum are used to measure the team's performance, track progress, and identify areas for improvement. These metrics increase the team's transparency and support decision-making processes.

Key Metrics:

Velocity: Indicates the amount of work the team can complete in a Sprint. Velocity is usually measured in story points or man/days. Velocity is used to understand the team's capacity and make predictions for future Sprints.
Burndown Chart: Shows the amount of work remaining in the Sprint Backlog over time. The burndown chart visually shows how close the team is to the Sprint goal and whether there are any problems.
Story Points Added: Shows the new story points added to the Product Backlog during the Sprint. This metric shows how much the Sprint scope has changed and the team's ability to adapt.
Control Chart: Shows the team's performance over time. The control chart shows the variation and stability in the team's velocity.
Defect Density: Ratios the number of defects found in the product to a measure such as lines of code or number of features. Defect density is used to measure product quality.
Lead Time: Indicates the time elapsed from when a request is made until it is completed and delivered. Lead time is used to measure the team's agility and responsiveness.
Cycle Time: Indicates the time elapsed from when a task is started until it is completed. Cycle time is used to measure the team's efficiency.

Code Example (Calculation):


# Python example: Velocity calculation

def calculate_velocity(completed_story_points, sprint_duration):
  """
  Calculates velocity by taking completed story points and sprint duration.

  Args:
    completed_story_points: The total of story points completed in the sprint.
    sprint_duration: The duration of the sprint (in days).

  Returns:
    Velocity (story points/day).
  """
  velocity = completed_story_points / sprint_duration
  return velocity

# Example usage
completed_points = 80
sprint_days = 10
velocity = calculate_velocity(completed_points, sprint_days)
print(f"Velocity: {velocity} story points/day")

Important Notes: