Sprint – Scrum Process

Quick reference

• 00:03 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
• 00:04 I've been talking in the abstract about the Agile Scrum Process.
• 00:08 It's now time to get more specific and describe the process.
• 00:14 Whenever I am discussing project management,
• 00:16 it seems that the first question is about schedule.
• 00:18 So let me explain how an Agile/Scrum project is organized from
• 00:21 a schedule perspective.
• 00:23 An Agile/Scrum project uses a series of time boxed sprints.
• 00:28 The Sprints are usually two to four weeks in duration, and
• 00:31 each has a set of deliverables associated with it.
• 00:34 If you're not familiar with the term time box,
• 00:37 it is a scheduling approach that sets a finite amount of time for an activity.
• 00:40 When the time is up, the activity stops at whatever state it is.
• 00:45 The scope of that portion of the project is not fixed.
• 00:48 Rather, it expands or contracts to fit within the time box.
• 00:52 So the project is charted with an overall time box.
• 00:56 The project end date is fixed before the scope and resources are clarified.
• 01:01 Often, the project will be divided into a set of releases.
• 01:04 Each release has a minimally viable product definition,
• 01:08 that is what the team will strive for.
• 01:10 That means that the early releases will not have all the bells and whistles or
• 01:14 finishing touches, but it will be something that works.
• 01:17 Theoretically, it could be released or
• 01:19 commercialized to get feedback from the customers and users.
• 01:23 Many times, the early releases are provided to a small subset of users
• 01:27 with the understanding that the project is not finished but
• 01:30 in order to get feedback on the performance of what is being created.
• 01:34 On a small project there may only be one release.
• 01:38 Releases are often organized into a series of Sprints.
• 01:41 A Sprint is a primary planning and
• 01:43 execution block of work in an Agile/Scrum project.
• 01:46 It is time boxed, usually for two to four weeks.
• 01:50 Most releases will have several Sprints.
• 01:54 The Sprints are managed through the daily scrum meetings and activities.
• 01:57 Each day at the scrum meeting, the work that has been completed is summarized and
• 02:00 acknowledged.
• 02:01 So that is how the overall schedule looks, let's get into the steps of the process.
• 02:06 The numbers for
• 02:06 the steps I'm using is consistent with that used by the Scrum Alliance.
• 02:11 However, I believe, we need this first step which I call step zero.
• 02:15 This is the vision of the future state of the product or
• 02:18 process, that the team will work with.
• 02:21 It provides an alignment direction for their activities.
• 02:24 Its not detailed requirements document, it's more like a statement of
• 02:27 business impact.
• 02:29 Step one is to create the product backlog.
• 02:31 I will spend a lot more time talking about the product backlog, but for
• 02:35 now, consider it to be a list of the wants and
• 02:37 needs that are expressed in a prioritized list of deliverables.
• 02:41 Step two, is to assign a Scrum team.
• 02:44 if you are doing multiple Sprints, the team often stays in place from Sprint to
• 02:48 Sprint, but sometimes an individual will be swapped out or added to the team.
• 02:53 This team is dedicated to only work on the Sprint during the time of the Sprint, so
• 02:58 they need to be identified in enough time that their schedules can be cleared.
• 03:03 Step three is Sprint planning.
• 03:05 I'll spend several sessions discussing techniques for organizing and
• 03:08 estimating the work in the Sprint.
• 03:11 We won't be using the standard project planning tools, so
• 03:13 we have a number of new tools to introduce.
• 03:16 Step four is to execute the Sprint.
• 03:19 Again, we will spend several sessions talking about how this is handled and
• 03:23 how we assess our progress during the Sprint.
• 03:27 Step 5 is the Sprint Demo.
• 03:29 This is the time when the Scrum Team demonstrates the deliverables that
• 03:32 have been created.
• 03:33 It can often take hours and involves many people.
• 03:36 It is the only major external review of the Sprint activities.
• 03:41 Step six is the Sprint Refinement.
• 03:43 Each Sprint only does a subset of the overall project deliverables.
• 03:47 But after the completion of the Sprint and the Sprint Demo,
• 03:50 there are often changes to the product backlog based upon both customer and
• 03:54 stakeholder feedback and experience gained during the Sprint.
• 03:58 The definition of some items in the backlog and
• 04:00 the prioritization of those items are revised and updated.
• 04:05 The final step, step 7 is the Sprint Retrospective.
• 04:08 This is a meeting by the Scrum Team to determine what went well and
• 04:12 what needs to be improved.
• 04:13 Essentially, the lessons learned or after action report for the Sprint.
• 04:20 The organization of a project into releases and Sprints and the steps for
• 04:24 conducting a Sprint provide the framework for
• 04:27 how to plan and control an Agile/Scrum project.

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