The Principle of Prioritization

The Scrum framework is driven by the goal of delivering maximum business value in a minimum time span. One of the most effective tools for delivering the greatest value in the shortest amount of time is prioritization.
Prioritization can be defined as “Determination of the order and separation of what must be done now, from what needs to be done later”. The concept of prioritization is not new to project management. The traditional Waterfall model of project management proposes using multiple task prioritization tools. From the Project Manager’s point of view, prioritization is integral because certain tasks must be accomplished first to expedite the development process and achieve the project goals.



Some of the traditional techniques of task prioritization include setting deadlines for delegated tasks and using prioritization matrices. Scrum uses Value-based Prioritization as one of the core principles that drives the structure and functionality of the entire Scrum framework—it helps projects benefit through adaptability and iterative development of the product or service.
More significantly, Scrum aims at delivering a valuable product or service to the customer on an early and continuous basis. Prioritization is done by the Product Owner when he or she prioritizes User Stories in the Prioritized Product Backlog. The Prioritized Product Backlog contains a list of all the requirements needed to bring the project to fruition.
Once the Product Owner has received the business requirements from the customer and written these down in the form of workable User Stories, he or she works with the customer and sponsor to understand which business requirements provide maximum business value.
The Product Owner must understand what the customer wants and values in order to arrange the Prioritized Product Backlog Items (User Stories) by relative importance.
Prioritization results in deliverables that satisfies the requirements of the customer with the objective of delivering the maximum business value in the least amount of time.

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When Conflict Emerges, SCRUMstudy Helps You Manage

You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
-John Lydgate

In professional sports, whether you’re a benchwarmer or a superstar, when you become a “cancer” it is more likely than not that your days on that team (or in that sport) are numbered. “Cancer” is a label reserved for someone whose behavioral issues metastasize to other areas of the locker room, often triggering team-wide dissension. In these cases, teams routinely trade or release volatile players (as gifted as they may be) for restored harmony in the locker room.
The corporate world is not immune to the workplace “cancer” or occasional discord among colleagues. But organizations applying the Scrum framework encourage an open environment and dialogue. Conflicts among Scrum Team members are generally resolved independently, with little or no involvement from management or others outside of the Scrum Team. In other words, a “cancer” often goes into remission.
Conflict can be healthy when it promotes team discussions and encourages debates because this usually results in benefits for the project and respective team members. It is therefore important that the resolution of conflicts be encouraged, promoting an open environment where team members feel welcome to express their opinions and concerns with each other and about the project, and ultimately agree on what is to be delivered and how the work in each Sprint will be performed.
Conflict management techniques are used by team members to manage any conflicts that arise during a Scrum project. Sources of conflict evolve primarily due to schedules, priorities, resources, reporting hierarchy, technical issues, procedures, personality and costs. Usually there are four approaches to managing conflict in an organization applying Scrum processes: Win-Win, Lose-Win, Lose-Lose and Win-Lose. Let’s take a closer look at each with these discussions from A Guide to the Scrum Body of Knowledge (SBOK^™).
Win-Win: It’s usually best for team members to face problems directly with a cooperative attitude and an open dialogue to work through any disagreements to reach consensus. Organizations implementing Scrum should promote an environment where employees feel comfortable to openly discuss and confront problems or issues and work through them to reach Win-Win outcomes. SCRUMstudy endorses this approach as the optimal way to manage conflict, and suggests teams regularly resolve to achieve this outcome.
Lose-Win: Some team members may at times feel their contributions are not being recognized or valued by others or that they are not being treated equally. This may lead them to withdraw from contributing effectively to the project and agree to whatever they are being told to do, even if they are in disagreement. This situation may happen if there are members in the team (including managers) who use an authoritative or directive style of issuing orders or do not treat all team members equally. This approach is not a desired conflict management technique for Scrum projects, since active contribution of every member of the team is mandatory for successful completion of each Sprint. The Scrum Master should encourage the involvement of any team members who appear to be withdrawing from conflict situations.
Lose-Lose: In conflict situations, team members may attempt to bargain or search for solutions that bring only a partial degree or temporary measure of satisfaction to the parties in a dispute. This situation could happen in Scrum Teams where team members try to negotiate for suboptimal solutions to a problem. This approach typically involves some “give and take” to satisfy every team member—instead of trying to solve the actual problem. The Scrum Team should be careful to ensure that team members do not adopt a Lose-Lose mentality.
Win-Lose: At times, a Scrum Master or another influential team member may believe he is a de facto leader or manager and try to exert his viewpoint at the expense of the viewpoints of others. This approach is not recommended when working on Scrum projects because Scrum Teams are by nature self-organized and empowered, with no one person having true authority over another team member. Although the Scrum Team may include persons with different levels of experience and expertise, every member is treated equally and no person has the authority to be the primary decision maker.
With any team, conflict is bound to occur once in a while. You can’t please everyone every moment of your life. What is important is the manner in which conflict is managed. Of the four typical approaches to managing conflict, only one involves a win-win scenario. In order for such a scenario to be achieved, organizations implementing Scrum should promote an environment where employees feel comfortable to openly discuss and confront problems or issues and work through them with cooperative attitudes. Oftentimes, such treatment even leads to a cure for “cancers.”

Find more interesting articles about Scrum and Agile at http://www.scrumstudy.com/blog/when-conflict-emerges-scrumstudy-helps-you-manage/

Importance of Scrum Certification

We will attempt to do a quick overview of some of the Scrum certifications that are currently being offered.
Then, we will talk about figuring out the right trainer. It is beneficial to find a Scrum trainer with the background as yours however it is not an absolute requirement. The methodology and the style of the Scrum training can vary from trainer to trainer, so you should try to figure out which one suits your learning style.
The biggest positive of a formal Scrum training is that you learn everything in a controlled environment. You meet people who are also there to learn about Scrum and in case you have common background, it helps to understand the process and difficulties of implementation from outsider’s point of view. A formal training also helps you understand about the mistake which you may make due to the traditional project management concepts rooted in you.
The main purpose of any certification is to impart a common baseline of the knowledge. These Scrum certifications, compared to any other project management certifications have a very easy test. You should remember that getting a Scrum certificate is way easier than the implementing actual Scrum methodology.
Scrum/Agile methodology in general gives you a lot of freedom in how you implement it. However you should avoid changing the essence of the whole process. These project managers are commonly referred as Scrumbut. The common suggestion is that you start to implement Scrum as-is until you understand it properly and then decide for yourself what you might want to change. After a while you may find that you don’t need to change anything at all.
You need to understand that nothing is more valuable than experience. Scrum or Agile Certification may only add some credibility and marketability to the individual.

The content is borrowed from www.scrumstudy.com (Original URL: http://www.scrumstudy.com/blog/importance-of-scrum-certification/ )

What are the differences between Scrum and Traditional Project Management Method?

Although there are similarities in Scrum and traditional project management methods with regard to definition of ‘quality’ (i.e., the ability of the product to meet the agreed Acceptance Criteria and achieve the business value expected by the customer), differences exist in terms of how the approaches address the implementation and achievement of the required quality levels.

In traditional project management methods, the users clarify their expectations; the Project Manager defines those expectations in measurable terms and gains agreement from the users. After detailed planning, the project team develops the product over an agreed period of time. If any of the agreed criteria are to be changed, changes can happen only through a formal change management system where impact of changes is estimated and the Project Manager gets approval from all relevant stakeholders.
In Scrum, however, the Product Owner collaborates with the Scrum Team and defines the Acceptance Criteria for the User Stories related to the product to be delivered. The Scrum Team then develops the product in a series of short iterations called Sprints. The Product Owner can make changes to the requirements to keep pace with the user needs and these changes can be addressed by the Scrum Team either by terminating the current Sprint or including the adjusted requirements in the next Sprint as each Sprint is of very short duration (i.e., one to six weeks).
One of the major advantages of Scrum is the emphasis on creating potentially shippable deliverables at the end of each Sprint cycle, instead of at the end of the entire project. So, the Product Owner and customers constantly inspect, approve and accept deliverables after each Sprint. Also, even if a Scrum project is terminated early, there is some value created prior to termination through the deliverables created in individual Sprints.

Acknowledgement: The content borrowed from www.scrumstudy.com (Original url: http://www.scrumstudy.com/blog/what-are-the-differences-between-scrum-and-traditional-project-management-method/) 

SCRUMstudy Scrum video explains the Scrum Body of Knowledge

The Scrum Body of Knowledge (SBOK™) provides guidelines for the successful implementation of Scrum—the most popular Agile project management and product development methodology. It provides a comprehensive framework that includes the principles, aspects, and processes of Scrum.
Scrum, as defined in the SBOK™, is applicable to the following:
• Portfolios, programs, and/or projects in any industry
• Products, services, or any other results to be delivered to stakeholders
• Projects of any size or complexity.

The term “product” in this Body of Knowledge may refer to a product, service, or other deliverable. Scrum can be applied effectively to any project in any industry—from small projects or teams with as few as six team members to large, complex projects with up to several hundred team members.

  This first chapter describes the purpose and framework of the SBOK™ and provides an introduction to the key concepts of Scrum. It contains a summary of Scrum principles, Scrum aspects and Scrum processes. Chapter 2 expands on the six Scrum principles which are the foundation on which the Scrum framework is based. Chapters 3 through 7 elaborate on the five Scrum aspects that must be addressed throughout any project: organization, business justification, quality, change, and risk. Chapters 8 through 12 cover the 19 Scrum processes involved in carrying out a Scrum project. These processes are part of the 5 Scrum phases: Initiate; Plan and Estimate; Implement, Review and Retrospect; and Release. These phases describe in detail the associated inputs and outputs of each process, as well as the various tools that may be used in each. Some inputs, tools, and outputs are mandatory and are indicated as such; others are optional depending on the specific project, organizational requirements, and/or guidelines set forth by the organization’s Scrum Guidance Body (SGB). Finally, Appendix A contains an overview of The Agile Manifesto (Fowler and Highsmith, 2001) and a discussion of various Agile methods for those who want more information about Agile.

Acknowledgement: The content is borrowed from www.scrumstudy.com (original blog url:http://www.scrumstudy.com/blog/advantages-of-using-scrum-listed-down-by-scrumstudy-2/ )