The Definitive Guide To Scrum Methodology For Project Management | Xicom
Time To Add Some Rocket Fuel To Your Project
If you have spent time in digital project management, you must have probably heard about scrum methodology.
Indeed, according to the Project Management Institute Report, nearly 50% of the project managers working on an agile framework used Scrum process at least once in the time. A PMI survey shows that a combined total of 55% of firms “Always”, “Often” or “Sometime” use scrum in their management to make their process streamlined.
Now, is the time to get through stats and theory and step on it.
Have you ever wondered how Microsoft is able to release brand new versions of every project in merely three weeks of time period? Or how Google can easily update their desktop and mobile apps while many IT firms and software development companies in Dubai take years?
Stories like these are the significant reason as to why Agile project development cult has so many debut followers.
Instead of opting for conventional development approaches like the Waterfall method, where you spend several months or might be years on a project without showing it to the user. Whereas Agile is all about launching often, meeting the prerequisite of clients and moving dynamically for the project development.
In simple words, agile development takes the lights from you and puts it on your clients. It’s a subtle change, but surely can have a significant result.
Also, according to research from the Project Management Institute, agile firms complete their projects, on-time 65% of the time, in comparison to 40% for non-agile companies. Besides, they completed 75% of their objectives, versus 56% of non-agile organizations and even upped their revenue by 37% quicker.
Quicker development. More launches. More revenue.
Why don’t you just want to integrate Agile project development in your own team?
Simply, like any other tool or method, Agile comes with its own quirks. And, while it’s everysoftware companies in the UAE using it, you need to have a deep understanding of what’s beneath the surface before diving in headfirst.
This guide will sheath everything from the debut of Agile, encompassing through its core values and objectives to know if Agile is the right fit for your organization, and then give you a rough sketch to implement Agile methodologies in your own team.
So, let’s begin with defining the term Agile for a clear picture.
A 360 Degree View Of Agile
At its crux, Agile isn’t much of a methodology as a philosophy. It’s a sheath term for an approach to project management that compile total, feedback-driven transformations into software development.
So, to have a deep understanding of why Agile is the right fit, we need to revise a bit of history lesson.
Until the past few years, the Waterfall approach was a prominent way software was created. This clearly means spending a mammoth amount of time and effort upfront clutching resources and scrutinizing with a lot of vital decisions based purely on assumptions.
But soon, it was clear this wasn’t working. Especially for modernistic software developers in Dubai, the conventional waterfall method felt constricting, confined, and too slow-moving.
However, when the hacker generation path itself in the workforce in the late ’90s, this concern got manifolded. The waterfall method relied on pattern and predictability. Still, the modern developers require a more flexible project management method that makes room for bugs, errors, setbacks and feedback from real users.
Thus, in 2001, 17 passionate individuals came together to develop a substitute to documentation driven, heavy-weight software development processes. They emerged with a document briefing their beliefs on how software projects should run. They named it Agile Manifesto.
In their manifesto, they defined 4 unskippable values that all agile project should follow:
- Interactions and individuals are preferred over processes and tools.
- Replying to change rather than following a plan
- Client collaboration over contract negotiation
- Working software preferred over exhaustive negotiation
Ofcourse, they didn’t mean you should keep your time-honed tools, documentation, and plans aside. But, instead those things are more valuable than any development effort, your core focus should be people, prototype, collaboration and iteration.
So, if you are planning to go for software development now, the Agile development approach can be seen as a response to sky-high user expectations.
But, the next challenge is how to find if Agile Development is an ideal fit for your team?
Here’s The Answer To Know If Agile Is Right For Your Team
This all sounds exciting on the surface, but not every project benefits from Agile project management. So, before you dive deep into the specifications of agile working, let’s take a piece of a deeper dive.
Agile may appear as a big thing from how your company or your team are used to working. But, it means moving fast, which means not everything will be planned beforehand. So, it’s crucial to know whether or not your surroundings can manage footsteps with this kind of change.
So, to have the answer, there are 5 questions you need to answer honestly:
#Question 1: Are you ready to start a project without knowing where you will head?
Possibly you have heard about the famous cliche “Fail Fast”, it refers to Agile management. With this approach, you are moving quickly and continually testing with users which sometimes is stressful for control freaks.
So, before you adopt with leading software development company in Dubai and adopt agile, ask yourself how comfortable you are with putting out less-than-finished versions of your project to test?
Are you comfortable about releasing an MVP or do you believe in bracing your project completely before it can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
#Question 2: Are you a risk taker?
As you already know, Agile is all about continuously deploying and learning from your errors. It means you are potentially taking on a higher level of risk than you would ever if you went with a more traditional project management style.
Is your startup address a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants where risk is your middle name? Or you are still surrounded with a shadow of doubt on the precipice of failure and need to ensure everything falls at the right place?
If you are going the agile way, it’s recommended to be armoured to take any new issues that come up along the way.
#Question 3: Is your team flexible enough to adopt Agile approach?
Following Agile, you work with your customer to make the best product. But this doesn’t always jell with designers, developers, and professionals with an ego clash.
Better tohire software developers in Dubaiwhich can put their ego aside and adjust their efforts and ideas based on customer needs.
#Question 4: How strict is your company hierarchy?
The crucial principle of Agile is not only to work with your users but that developers will have access to key stakeholders regularly. For some firms, this might be a stretch, but for some, this makes a part of the development process.
#Question 5: What is your metric of measuring success?
Did You Know!
Shiny new syndrome and Agile doesn’t go hand in hand. Agile project development is all about working to refine your process and transform your product for better continuously. So, if you are more likely just to leave the last one to flounder, you are not just going to get the best results that agile has for you.
So, before you jump and decide for software development in Dubaiand across, take a minute and look at how it will define your cultural progress and success. Will you be able to see small, steady steps getting you closer to your end goals?
Finally, the high time is here to start! But, are you perplexed on where to start?
Where To Start Scrumming?
If yes. Don’t worry; we got you covered.
Start with clearly defined roles.
Product owner is the main person behind the wheels, keeping everyone going in the right direction. The owner is solely responsible for outlining what will be the right product with product features and prioritizing them.
Following this approach will help in deciding the order for items to be worked in the development cycle. The owner continuously re-prioritize and refines the product items. They actively interact with the team, offer priorities and review the result.
The development team from software companies in Dubai is a cross-functional group of self-organized individuals who work on creating the actual product.
The team pitches their fresh ideas on making the best product possible by interacting with the product owner. They start working on product priorities, the team decides what to commit to, and the best way out to reach the goals.
You must be wondering who a scrum master is?
The scrum master keeps everyone in the loop. He is somewhat of a bridge between the product owner and the development team.
Unlike the conventional manager, the Scrum Master facilitates the complete process by serving the team as it organizes and manages itself. The master supports the scrum team, guiding and coaching through the process, and removing any impediments blocking their progress.
This person offers the team with everything they need to get the task done seamlessly, simultaneously making sure that everyone understands and follows the practice of scrum.
Let’s now find which Scrum Ceremonies Are Ideal For Your Organization?
Scrum Ceremonies
Initially there are four main kinds of scrum meetings or ceremonies:
- Daily Scrum
- Sprint Planning Meetings
- Sprint Review Meetings
- Sprint Retrospective Meetings
Some specific types of scrum meetings take place during particular times in the development process. These are also addressed as scrum ceremonies. To offer you an insight, I have described them in brief below:
Every day, a scrum meeting takes place where team members discuss the progress they have made and the challenges they overcame.
Scrum meetings take place every day during a sprint. So, keep in mind, to not make it more than fifteen minutes and should be for the sole purpose of describing any challenges that the development team faced the previous day.
Also, arranging such meetings every day prevents problems from piling up in the background. Any questions or concerns faced should be raised in the daily scrum meeting.
During a sprint planning meeting, the entire team decides upon a series of products backlog items they will complete in the upcoming sprint meeting.
For every week of a sprint, an hour is set aside for sprint planning. The sprint planning meeting takes place before the scheduled time, so if the upcoming sprint is for four weeks, the team will set aside for four hours for the session specifically.
While the essential part of a sprint planning meeting is the preparation, so it must be done much before the meeting starts.
Pay special attention to how many items from the product backlog will be completed depending on the team’s commitment and velocity. So, suppose you are planning to partner with a new software development company in Dubai for the team. In that case, it’s advisable not to calculate based on expected velocity unless you have made a few sprints with the team.
If you are not familiar, let me tell you a sprint review meeting happens at the end of the sprint with the expressed purpose of looking and evaluating the progress made. During a sprint review, the scrum master and product owner match the result with the expectation set at the sprint planning meeting.
Here, product owner validates the increment of work meets the definition of done.
A sprint retrospective meeting allows your development team to have a quick peek of the past events and scenarios to make better decisions.
According to the Scrum Guide, the sprint retrospective is an opportunity for the scrum team to analyze itself and build a rough sketch for improvements to be enacted when the next scrum takes place. And, this makes sense, especially since the focus of agile development is continuous advancements. And, to get better, you have to know where to use swords and knives differently.
The trusted and experienced software development companies in Dubai consider retrospective a safer approach to sharing their honest reviews and feedback on what’s going well, what could be improved, and produce a discussion around things that should change the next time around with documented items.
In The End… Your Project Deserve The Best!
I know you are a rock-star project manager with a splendid team of experts. So, don’t let your conventional and clunky project management software rip you down.
Partner with the best software developers in Dubai, India and the USA to get everyone on board and start sailing.
Lastly, remember no approach is an ideal fit; it all funnels down to the combination of projects and teams. And, to get your perfect method, get your Free Project Discussion.
Originally published at https://www.xicom.ae on December 3, 2020.
