Scrum
principles are the foundation on which the Scrum
framework is based. The principles of Scrum can be applied to any type of
project or organization, and they must be adhered to in order to ensure
appropriate application of Scrum.
Here
is a video on Scrum principles:
The
Principles of Scrum are:
Empirical Process Control:
This is the first principle of Scrum and the three important ideas of
transparency, inspection and adaptation. In Scrum, decisions are made based on
observation and experimentation rather than on detailed upfront planning.
Empirical process control relies on the three main ideas of transparency,
inspection, and adaptation.
Self-organization:
This principle of Scrum highlights the staff members who can offer higher
productivity in services when they are properly organized by means of team
spirit and self-ownership of a project. Scrum believes that employees are
self-motivated and seek to accept greater responsibility. So, they deliver much
greater value when self-organized. The preferred leadership style in Scrum is
“servant leadership”, which emphasizes achieving results by focusing on the
needs of the Scrum Team.
Self-organization as an essential principle in Scrum leads to
the following:
·
Team buy-in and shared ownership
·
Motivation, which leads to an enhanced performance level of the
team
·
Innovative and creative environment conducive to growth
Collaboration
Collaboration in Scrum
refers to the Scrum Core Team working together and interfacing with the
stakeholders to create and validate the deliverables of the project to meet the
goals outlined in the Project Vision. It is important to note the difference
between cooperation and collaboration here. Cooperation occurs when the work
product consists of the sum of the work efforts of various people on a team.
Collaboration occurs when a team works together to play off each other’s inputs
to produce something greater.
The core dimensions of collaborative work are as follows:
·
Awareness—Individuals working together need to
be aware of each other’s work.
·
Articulation—Collaborating
individuals must partition work into units, divide the units among team
members, and then after the work is done, reintegrate it.
·
Appropriation—Adapting
technology to one’s own situation; the technology may be used in a manner
completely different than expected by the designers.
Value-based Prioritization:
This principle mainly concentrates on the framework of SCRUM in order to
provide the optimum business value in the least possible time. 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. 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.
Time-Boxing:
Scrum treats time as one of the most important constraints in managing a
project. To address the constraint of time, Scrum introduces a concept called
‘Time-boxing’ which proposes fixing a certain amount of time for each process
and activity in a Scrum project. This ensures that Scrum Team members do not
take up too much or too little work for a particular period of time and do not
expend their time and energy on work for which they have little clarity.
Some
of the advantages of Time-boxing are as follows:
·
Efficient development process
·
Less overheads
·
High velocity for teams
Iterative Development:
The Scrum framework is driven by the goal of delivering maximum business value
in a minimum time span. To achieve this practically, Scrum believes in
Iterative Development of Deliverables.
In
most complex projects, the customer may not be able to define very concrete
requirements or is not confident of what the end product may look like. The
iterative model is more flexible in ensuring that any change requested by the
customer can be included as part of the project. User Stories may have to be
written constantly throughout the duration of the project. In the initial
stages of writing, most User Stories are high-level functionalities.
