Agile Methodology

Agile methodology is a practice that helps continuous iteration of development and testing in the SDLC process. Agile breaks the product into smaller builds.
In this methodology, development and testing activities are concurrent, unlike other software development methodologies. It also encourages teamwork and face-to-face communication. Business, stakeholders, and developers and clients must work together to develop a product.

SCRUM

Scrum is an agile project management methodology or framework used primarily for software development projects with the goal of delivering new software capability every 2-4 weeks.

The Scrum Team

Scrum teams are typically composed of 7 +/- 2 members and have no team leader to delegate tasks or decide how a problem is solved. The team as a unit decides how to address issues and solve problems. Each member of the Scrum team is an integral part of the solution and is expected to carry a product from inception to completion.

There are three key roles in a Scrum team:

The Product Owner

The Product Owner is the project’s key stakeholder – usually an internal or external customer, or a spokesperson for the customer. There is only one Product Owner who conveys the overall mission and vision of the product which the team is building. The Product Owner is ultimately accountable for managing the product backlog and accepting completed increments of work.

The Scrum Master

The Scrum Master is the servant leader to the Product Owner, Development Team and Organization. With no hierarchical authority over the team but rather more of a facilitator, the Scrum Master ensures that the team adheres to Scrum theory, practices, and rules. The Scrum Master protects the team by doing anything possible to help the team perform at the highest level. This may include removing impediments, facilitating meetings, and helping the Product Owner groom the backlog.

The Development Team

The Development Team is a self-organizing, cross-functional group armed with all of the skills to deliver shippable increments at the completion of each sprint. Scrum broadens the definition of the term “developer” beyond programmers to include anyone who participates in the creation of the delivered increment. There are no titles in the Development Team and no one, including the Scrum Master, tells the Development Team how to turn product backlog items into potentially shippable increments

Scrum Events

The Sprint

A sprint is a time-boxed period during which specific work is completed and made ready for review. Sprints are usually 2-4 weeks long but can be as short as one week.

Sprint Planning

Sprint Planning team meetings are time-boxed events that determine which product backlog items will be delivered and how the work will be achieved.

The Daily Stand-up

The Daily Stand-up is a short communication meeting (no more than 15 minutes) in which each team member quickly and transparently covers progress since the last stand-up, planned work before the next meeting, and any impediments that may be blocking his or her progress.

The Sprint Review

The Sprint Review is the “show-and-tell” or demonstration event for the team to present the work completed during the sprint. The Product Owner checks the work against pre-defined acceptance criteria and either accepts or rejects the work. The stakeholders or clients give feedback to ensure that the delivered increment met the business need.

The Retrospective

The Retrospective, or Retro, is the final team meeting in the Sprint to determine what went well, what didn’t go well, and how the team can improve in the next Sprint. Attended by the team and the Scrum Master, the Retrospective is an important opportunity for the team to focus on its overall performance and identify strategies for continuous improvement on its processes

Scrum Artefacts

Product Backlog

The product backlog is the single most important document that outlines every requirement for a system, project or product. The product backlog can be thought of as a to-do list consisting of work items, each of which produces a deliverable with business value. Backlog items are ordered in terms of business value by the Product Owner.

Sprint Backlog

A sprint backlog is the specific list of items taken from the product backlog which are to be completed in a sprint.

Velocity

Velocity is a measure of the amount of work a Team can tackle during a single Sprint.

Effort /Story Point

The work the team needs to do to get a Product Backlog item done.

A Story Point is a metric used in agile project management and development to determine (or estimate) the difficulty of implementing a given story