Module 1 – Introduction to Agile & Scrum
This Module will look at the basics of what Agile and Scrum are, including the Agile principles and values, and the Scrum principles and Values. This module is supported by videos and a PDF, and is followed by a quiz to help support your understanding.
- Agile
- The Agile Manifesto
- Scrum
- The Scrum Guide
Hey everybody, in this video we're going to talk about one of the most popular, Agile frameworks. Scrum.
Scrum is a process framework that has been used to manage work on complex products using various processes and techniques. The important word here was framework, and not process. Scrum isn't a process, it's a framework that facilitates processes amongst other things. The framework is made up of a Scrum team, individual roles, events, artifacts, and rules. We'll take a deep dive into each one of these in other videos. But for now it's important that you understand the core pillars and values of Scrum. These are really the essence of Scrum, and flow through every part of the framework.
First up, Scrum is founded on empirical process control theory, or empiricism, which can be broken down into three different pillars which hold up Scrum and allow it to be effective.
Transparency. All parts of the process should be transparent, open, and honest for everyone to see. For example, any requirements your team are using should be written so that everyone can understand them.
Inspection. If you're using Scrum, you need to frequently check on the work you're creating. The Scrum artifacts and progress towards a sprint goal. It's really important that everything that is worked on during a sprint can be inspected by the team to make sure that it is achieving what it needs to.
Adaptation. If a member of the Scrum team or a stakeholder notices that things aren't going according to plan, the team will need to change up what they're doing to fix this as quickly as possible.
Okay, we've established the three pillars of Scrum. But how do they help us? Well to make sure that we're using the pillars of Scrum properly, we need to embrace the Scrum values. When the values are lived by the Scrum team, the pillars can really come to life and help build trust in the framework. Let's go through the five values quickly. They are: Courage, to do the right thing and work on tough problems. Focus, on the sprint and its goal. Commitment, to the team and sprint goal. Respect, for each other by helping people to learn the things that you're good at, and not judging the things that others aren't good at. And openness. Be open and honest and let people know what you're struggling with challenges and problems that are stopping you from achieving success.
That's it for this video guys. By taking on and living by the values of Scrum, we can use the empirical pillars to make sure that we're always working in an agile way. Now that you know about the pillars and values of Scrum, take a moment to think about your own organisation and team. Do any of the pillars or values sound like they wouldn't fit how you work? If not, why not?
Paul Williams is a Senior Learning Consultant for QA, based in Manchester, UK. He is a member of the Agile, Lean & DevOps Trainer Team.