Scrum : Mastery - The Essential Guide to Scrum and Agile Project Management: Lean Guides with Scrum, Sprint, Kanban, DSDM, XP & Crystal Book, #5

By Greg Caldwell

Scrum is adaptive, efficient, agile, and simple. So why are you struggling?

Not all organizations that adopt the Scrum framework will have a smooth transition. Some may find themselves grappling with new concepts and new ways of doing things.

 

The work process under Scrum is wildly different from the Waterfall method so even if Scrum is simple to understand, it can be difficult to master. The reasons vary as to why there is resistance to change, but the real reason is the lack of solid understanding of why a change has to be made.

The tech industry moves at unprecedented speed in terms of releasing new products to the market. Because the traditional project management methods are slow to respond to the demand, firms are switching gears and integrating Scrum in their process. As a result, people are thrust into a new system that they do not have a clear grasp of.

 

In this book, you'll be able to understand the Scrum framework and how the concepts work in the real world. You'll discover:

• What made traditional methods obsolete
• How Scrum became the new standard for managing projects
• How Scrum enables a leaderless system
• Why Scrum works even with a diverse group of people
• How Scrum brings together people with different skills and expertise
• How Scrum enables teams to deliver high-quality products
• How big companies use Scrum to achieve their goals

The book is structured in a way that answers the Why, What, Who, and How of Scrum to give a holistic view of the framework. It explains elements of the Scrum process, including team roles, workflow, tools, and team dynamics. This will help both novice and experienced practitioners to integrate Scrum into their daily lives.

With a better understanding of Scrum, it's easy to embrace the framework because of the positive things it does to team dynamics—whether in tech companies or firms operating in different industries.

 

Mastery of Scrum can only happen if you have a solid understanding of its concepts, ideas, principles, and real-world applications. This book is a great take-off point and something that you can take with you as you head on to your Scrum journey.

Whether you're a project manager trying to fit in the new leaderless system, a coder getting used to new responsibilities, or a software engineer grappling with newfound accountability, this book will guide you as you navigate the exciting world of Scrum.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Greg Caldwell
• Release date: Jul 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393210313

Book preview

Scrum Mastery

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The Essential Guide to Scrum and Agile Project Management

© Copyright 2019 by Greg Caldwell– All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Problems with Traditional Methods

Problem 1: Rigid Methods

Problem 2: Organizational Demands of Leadership & Silo Mentality

Problem 3: Change Management

Problem 4: Autocratic Decisions

Key Takeaways

Chapter 2 But First, Agile Management

Agile Manifesto

Self-Organization

Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principles

Platinum Principles

Key Takeaways

Chapter 3 Scrummage

Why Scrum?

Scrum Values

The Framework

The Scrum Team and Governance

Stakeholders

Benefits of Scrum

Key Takeaways

Chapter 4 The Big Three

The Product Owner

The Scrum Master

The Development Team

Key Takeaways

Chapter 5 Scrum Artifacts

1. Product Backlog

2. Sprint Backlog

3. Product Increment

Key Takeaways

Chapter 6 Scrum Events

1. Scrum Grooming (Product Backlog Refinement)

2. Sprint Planning

3. Sprint

4. Daily Scrum

5. Sprint Review

6. Sprint Retrospective

Key Takeaways

Chapter 7 Scrum in Action

Typical Scrum Scenario

Scrum in the Real World

Key Takeaways

Conclusion

Thank you

Resources Page

Introduction

Scrum was created over two decades ago in 1995 as a more reliable and faster way to develop software in the tech industry. At that time, there was a clamor for an alternative to the Waterfall method, where software is created in stages following rigid rules. Project managers call the shots and make the big decisions. The autocratic leadership eliminates the opportunity to get valuable input from the people who are actually building the software.

Projects moved painfully slow because the team cannot move on to the next stage until the current stage is not completed. No one moved until every item in the checklist was ticked. As a result, delays in release became a normal occurrence. Instead of just being an anomaly, it became the norm.

With an inflexible method like the Waterfall, project management became a conundrum to project managers and organizations. How can a method with step-by-step plans and Gantt charts be so problematic? One would think that with all the tools and resources made available to the team, the projects would be completed on time and on budget. Unfortunately, most software development firms fail to deliver on time. Projects were notoriously over budget as well.

Why the sudden fall from grace for the Waterfall method? The sequential one-direction process had worked rather well on simple straightforward projects. But the business landscape has changed over the years. Software development and IT projects have evolved and became more complex. Customers demand more features that developers cannot deliver. It’s not for the lack of talent or skill, but because there are massive impediments brought on by an archaic method. There was no flexibility and wiggle room for developers to work their magic.

Aside from the actual coding and programming, software developers were pretty much just waiting for instructions from project managers. If they are not coding and testing, they are waiting for other team members to finish their part of the work. It’s not slacking or being lazy, it’s just how things worked then.

Scrum was invented by Sutherland to address the faults and limitations of the Waterfall method. It was a radical change because Scrum was everything Waterfall was not.  It was adaptive and has self-correcting mechanisms that address the issues of wrong product delivery.

Early adopters of the new method experienced a spike in productivity. Products or iterations of the products are