SCRUM in nutshell: how startups nowadays establish product 👔
Tags: agile, startup
Published: 2021-10-26 15:57:39

SCRUM is being talked a lot. This solves a raised question like how to help startups or companies establish their product in order to be more organized and efficient.

In this article, I will divide it into 3 big chapter to make an understandable definition about SCRUM itself.

* Foundation (Definition, Framework, and Upheld Value)
* Team (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team)
* Activities (Sprint Planning, Retro, Daily Stand up, etc)

## 🏠 Foundation
> *SCRUM (n): A framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of highest possible value*

SCRUM exists because of the current challenging field condition and changes in product development.

To make a comparison, there was Waterfall method. How it works *(from top to bottom, from boss assign to team)* was less able to help company to build big product with high quality.

> Digital Product is the entire context I'm talking about 🔊.

## 🏛️ The 3 Support Pillars
**1. Work Transparency**
Everything that isn't clear related to task or backlog scopes and expectations needs to be clear because it will affect to final result.

For instance, let's talk about DOD (Definition of Done), something that should always be in the backlog. It's all about how a condition in a task can be appointed as done. It makes a goal standard for team.

**2. Periodically Check-Up**
All the teams involved in SCRUM will do periodically check-up to monitoring progress those has been done, and also to figure all impediment out as early as possible.

In SCRUM activities, there is *"Daily Stand up"*, where every development team member shares their progress up. More detail about this, will be written on SCRUM Activities.

**3. Adaptation to Conditions and Situations**
If there was an aspect that makes activities not maximal,  there must be readjustment. What I want to say, SCRUM is not stiff. SCRUM is being focus, but also suitable with team's atmosphere.

## 📈 SCRUM's Upheld Value
Commitment, focus, courage, express opinion, and respect each team member.

## 👥 SCRUM Team
SCRUM Team consist of Product Owner, SCRUM Master, and Development (several roles).

**1. Product Owner (PO)**
A person who has responsibility regarding product's vision, and manage product backlog.

Usually, PO only consist of one person who determines the direction of product development.

**2. Development Team**
Development consist of several roles. In general, it's consists of developer, designer, and tester. Some companies had copywriter, and UX writer.

There are a few need to be upheld characters in development team:
- They work in self-organizing, no one (PO or SCRUM Master) had authority to do technical dictate.
- All roles merged into one team named "Development Team". Need high accountability to reach goal in sprint.


**3. SCRUM Master (SM)**
A person who has the responsibility of keeping SCRUM values fully operational.

Responsibilities of SCRUM Master to Product Owner
- Help PO to convey product's vision and goal.
- Set up backlog priority.

Responsibilities of SCRUM Master to Development Team
- Coaching periodically.
- Access management.

Responsibilities of SCRUM Master to Entire Team
- Facilitate all event in SCRUM, especially when Sprint Planning and Retrospective.
- Be a middle man between PO and Development.

## 🔄 SCRUM Activites
It's a soul of running SCRUM itself. Let's break them down.

**1. Sprint Planning**
What kind of work in one sprint ahead determined by this session. In this session, PO will determine what backlog products need to be done.

There also has user stories that explain what the goal of task, and what's the underlying. Every user stories has story point that symbolizes how hard the task is so PO can make a boundary line in order to increase team's productivity.

**2. Sprint Phase**
After sprint planning, all team take their based on role task. There are 3 board for every task should be put on. **To-Do**, **In Progress**, **Done**. All team do the task independently and expected to move it to based on certain task's status board. In general, the sprint phase is defined as 2 weeks running.

**3. Daily Stand Up**
This is a daily activity to monitor the backlog progress which carried out by all team member. All roles is expected to had a quick meeting by standing, and explain what each does.

In this session everyone expected to elaborate their update and all impediments can be known as early as possible.

One of common templates that always being used in daily stand up is these 3 question:
- What's you did yesterday? And how's the progress?
- What's your focus today?
- Is there an impediments?

**4. Sprint Review**
This is what the team did after going through the sprint phase. Sprint Review started by demonstrating everything the team did in last sprint.

While demonstrating, team will explain if there are some considerations why they did that so they got that result.

In this session, PO had the authority whether backlog or the work done is good enough to said or not.

**5. Sprint Retrospectives**
Retro session is a chance for team to look back the sprint. What is went well and not. Then it gives a chance for the team to convey how to fix it.

I would say Retrospective is an important session. Because if there are some mistakes or not suit enough in the company, we can stop it and figure the solution out.

So far, it's actually enough to know SCRUM in short. Last but not least, here some references for you guys who want to deeply swim into this topic.

- [SCRUM Official Guide ScrumGuide.org](https://scrumguides.org/)
- [The SCRUM Guide SCRUM.org](https://www.scrum.org/resources/scrum-guide)
- [SCRUM Resources](https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/agile/scrum/resources)