Scrum breaks a product into small pieces (backlog items) and works on them in short iterations (sprints). Here’s how it works in practice:
1. Prepare the product backlog. List the features and requirements. Involve stakeholders to prioritise. The product owner is responsible for the vision and goals.
2. Estimate the backlog. As a team, give a rough estimate for each item. Planning poker or t-shirt sizes work well here.
3. Plan the sprint. A sprint is a fixed period – usually one or two weeks. In the sprint planning meeting, decide the duration, goal, which backlog items to tackle, the tasks for each item, and the hours per task. The result is the sprint backlog.
4. Set up a workspace. Shared space, physical or digital. Needs the product backlog, sprint backlog, daily burndown chart, and sprint burndown chart.
5. Execute the sprint. Work on the committed tasks. Sprint duration is fixed. If you finish early, pull in more items. If you fall behind, defer some. Complete one item at a time, fully tested.
6. Daily stand-ups. Short meeting every day. Each person answers three questions: what did you do since last time, what are you doing next, and what’s blocking you? The scrum master keeps it brief and removes impediments.
7. Track progress with burndown charts. Update daily with the estimated time remaining for each task. Shows how much work is left and whether you’re on track.
8. Review and improve. Two meetings at the end of each sprint. The sprint review demonstrates the work to stakeholders. The sprint retrospective is for the team to reflect on how they worked together and identify improvements for next time.