SCRUM is an effective project management method. Certification course Certified Agile Professional Scrum courses

Agile-Scrum Foundation 1

Scrum (Agile) is a popular methodology for managing software development projects. How to organize the interaction of the development team so that the development project is completed successfully. What and how to document, how, with whom and how often to discuss project details, how to set tasks for people and how to control the result. All this is Scrum (Agile).

Unlike overarching project management approaches such as the Project Management Institute (PMI)® PMBOK® Guide, Scrum was originally designed for software development in an environment of frequently changing requirements. At the same time, Scrum (Agile) is more focused on the development process itself than on the management process. This technology well complements any of the classical management processes and can be integrated with it when developing even very large IT projects. AT this moment Agile practices have become part of the PMBOK® Guide.

On course "Agile - Scrum Foundation 1. Agile Project Management". You will learn how to organize the software development process and get the finished product in a rigidly fixed, and most importantly, short time frame in a frequently changing environment. During the course, you will develop a new “product” using Scrum (Agile). You, as a Scrum team, will gain live experience and experience the benefits of working in Scrum (Agile). Under the guidance of our trainer, you will go through various situations close to reality, for which you will need to apply new, innovative Scrum (Agile) approaches.

Course Audience:

Software developers - members of development teams, team leads (senior development teams).
Professionals who want to master the role Product Owner or Scrum Master in Scrum teams.
Scrum team management who wants to get to know the specifics of working within the team.

The course "Agile-Scrum Foundation 1. Project Management using Agile Approaches" gives you to prepare for and PDU to renew your existing certifications:

	Technical	leadership	Strategic	Total
PMI_RMP®	-		-
PMI_SP®	-		-
PMP(r)®			-
PgMP(r)®			-
PMI_ACP®			-
PfMP®	-		-
PMI_PBASM	-		-

PMI is a registered trademark of the Project Management Institute.
PMBoK is a registered trademark of the Project Management Institute.

24 PDUs are credited for completing the course.

Description of the educational program

Project management as a field of knowledge is firmly established in the practice of many commercial and state companies and organizations. However, during the implementation of a number of projects, primarily in the highly intellectual sphere, it turned out that the "classical" approaches project management either work only partially, or not work at all.
If projects are related to solving a large amount of analytical tasks, if the situation in the project changes daily or even hourly, if a compact team of professionals of 5/9 people is involved in the project, if the content and functionality of the future system often changes in the project, and work is necessary just in time and with the required level of quality, then it may be necessary to use flexible (Agile) approaches in project management. The Scrum method, which has been successfully used in various industries economy: information technology, finance, education, scientific research etc.
The Scrum Agile Project Management course is designed to give the project team the tools to more effectively plan, execute and control high-tech projects using the most advanced agile methods.
After completing the course the student will:
Know:

the main processes and events of flexible project management (AP) in the implementation of Scrum;
ways to search for basic information on flexible methods in UE;
differences between classical approaches in PM and those offered by Scrum;
features of the organization of project management according to the Scrum method;
Scrum project life cycle.

Be able to:

identify project stakeholders;
define the goals and expectations of stakeholders from the final result;
form requirements and define user stories;
plan tasks for the Sprint;
control the course of the Sprint;
manage changes in the course of projects;
identify, analyze and respond to risks during the Scrum project;
manage risks.

Own:

skills in compiling a Product Backlog;
skills in compiling the Sprint Backlog;
meeting skills in Scrum projects;
demonstration skills.

Successful completion of this course will allow professionals to:
Manage the overall progress of the Scrum project.

Purpose of the course

Formation and improvement professional competencies in the field of project implementation according to the Scrum method

The target audience

Specialists whose activities are related to development and/or implementation projects information systems(IP):

managers and analysts
project team members

Required preparation

Experience in participation in projects for the development and / or implementation of IS.
It is desirable to have knowledge and skills in the scope of the course UP130 "Fundamentals of project management" or take this course

Introduction to flexible (Agile) project management.
Fundamentals of project management according to the Scrum method.
General description of the Scrum method.
The life cycle of a Scrum project.
Sprint definition.
The main artifacts of the Scrum project.
Organization of the project according to the Scrum method
Roles external to the project. Stakeholders. Project customer (Customer), Sponsor (Sponsor), Consumers of the final product (Users)
Roles project team(Scrum team, Scrum Team). Product Owner. Scrum Master. Development Team.
The life cycle of a Scrum project
Initiation. Creation of a prioritized Product Backlog.
Planning and evaluation. Development and evaluation of User Stories. Formation and evaluation of Tasks (Tasks). Sprint planning. planning poker.
Execution. Create project deliverables. Sprint Structure, Focus Factor. Conducting Daily Scrum Meetings - Teams (Daily Scrum Meeting).
Control. Sprint Review. Sprint Retrospective. Cancel Sprint.
Completion. Acceptance of project results. Project Retrospective.
Additional aspects of project management according to the Scrum method
Change management. Making changes to Scrum - projects. Changes during the Sprint.
Quality control. Grooming (Product Backlog Care). Spike (Enabler - history).
Management of risks. Risk management during the project according to the Scrum method.
Documents in project activities

Workshops

Elements life cycle Scrum - project.
Compiling a Product Backlog. Decomposition and prioritization of User Stories.
Planning the stage of work (Sprint), compiling the Sprint Backlog. Evaluation of User Stories and Tasks.
Execution of the stage of work. Daily Team Meetings (Daily Scrum Meeting).
Demonstration of the obtained results to the Customer (Sprint Review Meeting).
Meeting on the results of the stage of work (Sprint Retrospective Meeting).
Scrum management - project and work stages. Working with visualization tools: Tasks Board and Burndown Chart. Performance evaluation.
Risk management in Scrum - project.

Received Document

Certificate of advanced training and International Certificate.

The Scrum Master trains the team in the correct use of Scrum, and the mentor interview will not tolerate uncertainty on the part of the candidate.

Congratulations! You have been invited for an interview. Whether this is your first Scrum job or you're an experienced professional, it's always good to know how to prepare. Leading Agile and Scrum companies include Apple, Google, Valve, and Philips, which speaks volumes about the level of knowledge required.

We have compiled a list of 20 questions and answers to help you prepare for your interview.

1. Explain Agile in 30 seconds.

Agile is the foundation of approaches and behaviors that encourage just-in-time production, which allows customers to get quality products faster. software.

2. What are the differences between Agile and traditional project management (Waterfall)?

Agile supports iterative development and the use of time boxes. This is the fastest way to get the initial product for testing, while traditional approach to projects is quite slow and expensive. Changes are also discouraged in Waterfall, and feedback is ignored until the end of the project.

3. Are you a Certified Scrum Master?

Don't be surprised if you don't have certification and they ask you this question. Certification may or may not be required, just as the interviewer may or may not be confident that the certificate confirms the candidate's professionalism. If you do not yet have an Agile Scrum Master certification, please let us know if you plan to invest in certification in the near future. Make sure you mention the experience you already have in the chosen field.

4. What are the roles in Scrum?

Scrum prescribes only three roles: the Product Owner, the Scrum Master, and the Development Team. Ideally, these roles should be cross-functional and not shared with other projects. Many Scrum Masters have not had the opportunity to work with a cross-functional or specialized team for a variety of reasons. This question might prompt the interviewer to ask how you plan to work with a team that didn't have a designer or tester, or how you'll train a team that isn't yet privy to the nuances of the job.

5. What is a "daily stand-up"?

One of the Agile interview questions will most likely be about the daily Stand-Up. Answer? Every day, preferably in the morning, the team organizes short meetings (about 15 minutes) to answer three questions:

What were you doing yesterday?
What are you planning to do today?
Are there any obstacles that prevent you from doing your job?

This is necessary in order to activate the team and force it to focus on the work plan.

6. Describe what happens at the Sprint Planning Meeting.

In Sprint Planning, the Product Owner introduces the goal and discusses high priority products. The team determines the scope of work to complete the planned during the next sprint.

7. What does a Scrum Master do?

This person works with the team and shields team members from any distractions that might get in the way of reaching the sprint goal. He removes obstacles, teaches the team to become self-organized, and teaches the values and principles of Agile and Scrum.

8. Is there a difference between Agile and Scrum?

Yes! Agile is the methodology to which Scrum belongs. Agile has four core values and twelve principles. Scrum has its own set of values and principles and provides a lightweight "framework" to help teams learn Agile.

9. Name other agile development methodologies.

These are Kanban, Test Driven Development and Feature Driven Development. Mention methodologies that you know.

10. When should you use Waterfall instead of Scrum?

The Scrum Master can turn to Waterfall tools if the requirements are simple, predictable, fully defined, understandable, and will not change.

Yes. Scrum encourages the use of automated performance or regression tests so that software can be delivered as quickly as possible. List examples of any automated testing tools your team could use.

12. How long are sprints?

The ideal length for a single sprint is between 1 and 4 weeks, with the 2-week sprint being the most widely used.

13. What is "team speed" (velocity)?

Velocity is the average score over the last 3-4 sprints. Team speed is used to help predict when backlog items will be delivered.

14. Is it ok if someone wants to change the requirement?

Yes, the Scrum Master provides for this. Agile methodology encourages feedback so that the product can be improved. We must be able to accept change.

15. What types of indicators or reports will you use?

Standard reports are created during the sprint process. Most client companies also want to know how many activities were completed per sprint and how many defects were identified after release to production.

16. What is a Burndown Chart?

The burndown chart displays the amount of work the team has completed (e.g. sprint hours). Discuss how you have used them in the past.

17. What is a retrospective?

This is a meeting to test and adapt the process. Be prepared to explain one or two ways to conduct a retrospective.

18. How many Scrum teams did you manage at the same time?

The Scrum Master needs to be able to manage multiple teams, and perhaps this is exactly what a company with an open vacancy needs. Note the use of the word "manage". The Scrum Master leads the team, not manages it, so be sure to include this word in your response.

19. What requirements do you use for your teams?

Requirements in Scrum are recorded as user stories using the standard "Like ___, I want ___ so I can ___". As a Scrum Master, you are not required to write user stories, but you must help the Product Owner to get the stories written, sprint ready, and prioritized.

20. Describe a time when members of your group didn't get along. How did you deal with it?

There are conflicts, but the interviewer wants to see your ability to lead effectively. Think back to a time when you had multiple team members who couldn't work together. How did you encourage these participants to achieve their successful cooperation? Are you convinced that they have a common goal? Indicate the problem you encountered, explain how you solved it and what the result was.

Think about how giant companies like Cognizant, Phillips, and Apple use the Agile Scrum methodology in their daily practice, and adjust the answers above to suit the hiring company.

The issue of certification of Scrum Masters is the most common subject of all Scrum certifications and trainings. Almost every second visitor to my trainings or long-term Scrum training plans to be certified as a Scrum Master in the future.

If we divide all Scrum certifications by time scale, then they are of several types - short-term (2-3-day courses) or long-term, in which you need to confirm your experience in Scrum, but it is not necessary to undergo long-term training.

I myself have been trained and received certificates from the most famous Scrum schools. Now I want to talk about the most famous certifications for Scrum Masters, including my opinion on them.

We will omit my attitude to short-term certifications in this article, and although I consider long-term training for several weeks or months with homework and further analysis of issues from my work, the most effective way Scrum training, however, the number of fans of short-term certification is huge.
The demand for long-term Scrum certifications is much less, but such certifications are present in all known Scrum certifying schools and do not have the words "Scrum Master" in their name.
Trainings and certifications that have the words Scrum Master in their name are mainly short-term certifications. That is, in order to get a Scrum Master certificate, you need to either attend a 2-day course or pass an online test without going through training.
But not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance. You can't do without preparation.

In this article, I will look at the certifications of two schools - Scrum Alliance and Scrum.org. Why only these two? I consider these organizations to be the most valuable, as they were either founded by the co-founders of Scrum, or they are the most famous in the market, or they provide the most reliable confirmation of Scrum knowledge. At the same time, these schools, unlike most online certifications, in terms of their tests do not contradict the official view of Scrum, described in the Scrum Guide - the most important guide to Scrum.

So, let's go through the certifications in order.

1. Certifications from ScrumAlliance

ScrumAlliance is the largest Scrum school and the most widespread school in the world, which is the most famous and recognizable Scrum certification organization.
Of course, this is not a school, but the largest association of Scrum fans, near-Agile managers, Scrum trainers, Scrum coaches and Scrum training organizations.
Among the founders of ScrumAlliance in 2001 were Scrum founders Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, who later founded their own certification companies, also involved in Scrum certification, which I will discuss below.

The Scrum Master certificate of this school cannot be obtained without first attending an offline training. Scrumalliance trainings are usually quite expensive (rarely seen for less than $700 per ticket)

ScrumAlliance certifications come in 3 entry-level certifications: Certified Scrum Master, Certified Scrum Product Owner, and Certified Scrum Developer, and an advanced certification that requires experience in Scrum, the Certified Scrum Professional.
For the Scrum Master crust, the first certification is needed.

CSM (Certified Scrum Master)

Despite the fact that there are relatively few active Scrum Masters in our market, this is the most sought-after certification from ScrumAlliance. Many consider it necessary to start their journey with Scrum with this certification. Because of this, course materials often resemble general education Scrum training (see course coverage requirements for trainers). But that doesn't mean the training is bad. In order to be eligible to read ScrumAlliance training followed by certification, one has to go through a rather difficult interview process, which is probably why I haven't heard of bad ScrumAlliance training yet.

CSM trainings take 2 days.
In order to get a CSM certificate, you need to attend a 2-day training from an official ScrumAlliance trainer and pass the official online test that the trainer sends to the participants, usually immediately after the training. The certification test is quite simple and I have never seen anyone fail it. The test is designed for basic knowledge of Scrum and has several questions related to the role of the Scrum Master.
At the same time, ScrumAlliance argues the simplicity of the test by the fact that they check their trainers very well, and they are confident that knowledge will be conveyed in a quality manner.

After the course, a profile is created for you on the ScrumAlliance website.
Here is an example of a profile that you will have
Those who have taken the course are given (or renewed) membership in the community (and at the same time, access to the profile)

Membership must be renewed every two years for $50. There is no need to take the test.

What you need for CSM certification

Read the Scrum Guide this is a 23 page basic guide to Scrum, updated in 2016. Without understanding the basics of Scrum from the Scrum Handbook, it is impossible to pass even the simplest Scrum exam, as there is a lot of conflicting information in various Scrum sources. The Scrum Guide is the very first place to learn about Scrum as a process framework.
read blog posts from the Scrum Alliance in their community.
ScrumAlliance has the biggest community groups where you can chat about Scrum.
Therefore, when preparing for certification, I recommend looking into their community and gaining knowledge from there.
There is quite a lot of information here from beginner Scrum trainers. Therefore, if you learn to separate the wheat from the chaff in this source, I can say that you have more than enough knowledge of Scrum for certification.
read a book from the founder of Scrum in Russian. This book provides an understanding of the philosophy behind the Scrum process framework described in the Scrum Handbook and will provide an understanding of not only "what to do" but also "why". More effort may not be applied if the goal is simply to get a certificate.

Exam:

After you receive the profile registered by the coach via your email, you will have a test attached, which you can start taking according to the instructions sent to you by the coach. The test has 35 multiple choice questions. To pass, you need to answer 24 correctly.
If you fail the test, you will be shown the wrong questions, but not shown the correct answers to those questions. ScrumAlliance thus gives you the opportunity to find the right answers yourself. After that, the test can be taken again for free. The test is given 1 hour. The test can be interrupted and continued at any time. During the handover, questions can be skipped by bookmarking them to return to them later.

Results:

Issue price - at least $ 700
Is it worth giving up? Yes, if you are willing to shell out money for the course itself famous company Scrum certifier.

2. Certifications from Scrum.org

It is a Scrum school founded by Scrum co-founder Ken Schwaber in 2009. It is not yet as widespread worldwide as the Scrum Alliance, but is constantly gaining momentum, and has already become more popular in some countries due to its approach to certification.
Ken Schwaber founded this school to improve Scrum training, which, in his opinion, at the time of the opening of Scrum.org was based more on earning than on quality training. You can read about the reasons for founding Scrum.org in.
You don't have to go to training to get Scrum.org certification (although it's recommended). And all you need to do is pay $150 for the online certification code.
Comfortable? Yes. But not everything is so simple.

There are 3 types of certifications from Scrum.org for Scrum Masters: Professional Scrum Master I, Professional Scrum Master II and III.
These are different degrees of certification that require different levels of knowledge.
All base certifications from Scrum.org are shown in the picture

Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I)

The very first Scrum Master certification from Scrum.org. And, perhaps, the most difficult of the known certifications, when compared with other schools.
I know few people who passed this exam the first time. Even with preparation. Therefore, as an option, you can attend the official Scrum.org training before certification. But attending a training does not guarantee you a certificate either. Certification will have to be taken on an equal footing with those who have not been trained. You will take the same test. The pre-training gives you a good solid knowledge of Scrum, but is not required to introduce you to the tricks of passing the exam itself.

Moreover, even official coaches are prohibited from publishing answers to questions from the exam. Questions from the exam that appear online are ruthlessly deleted in short time.
The exam itself is pretty balanced. It contains questions of both a basic level and questions that can be quickly answered only with experience in Scrum or experience in setting up processes in the role of a Scrum Master. The exam also contains "tricky" questions, the answers to which you can know by memorizing Scrum terminology well, by practically memorizing the Scrum Guide. The exam, by the way, is taken in English, so it is best to read English-language literature. The ideal option, of course, is to have 3-5 years of experience in Scrum. This will help to better understand the essence of some issues, but not the fact that it will be sufficient for delivery. On Sctum.org you will see a lot of posts where people with more than 5 years of experience fail the exam and complain ;)

Preparing for the PSM I

It is good to read the Scrum Guide in English. Read it again, and again, it's very good to read it 10-15 times. If your English is not perfect, then I recommend studying the basic wording, as the exam contains tricky questions.
Read the book Gunther Verheyen "Scrum - A Pocket guide".
Most of the questions for the exam were written or reviewed by Gunther, so his books are the best way to reveal Scrum.org's view of questions in certification.
Here is a short list of Gunther's sources that I also recommend reading in preparation:
Read posts in . This blog does not have direct answers to the questions in the exam, but there are very similar ones. Here you can get some good explanations from Scrum.org officials about Scrum questions that are covered in the certification test. I enjoy reading this blog as there are a lot of savvy trainers on the Scrum.org forum.
Read from Scrum.org
In fact, with enough experience, point 1 may be enough, but, upon surrender, some questions may scare you.
Take a free test from Scrum.org
If you pass, don't be too happy - this test does not guarantee passing the certification. The exam will have questions that are much more difficult than the open test.
I would consider this test as a litmus test for unpreparedness. If you scored less than 100%, then most likely you will not be able to pass the certification exam. But in this test, unlike the exam for a certificate, wrong answers to questions are sorted out.

How is the certification itself

Summary:

PSMI is the hardest certification for Scrum Masters out there. Requires thorough preparation. But the result is worth it. I can call everyone who passed the PSM I test experts who understand Scrum and are confident in the Scrum base. Certification does not require training. The issue price is $150. Is it worth renting? Of course it's worth it! It will be an unforgettable experience that you will not regret.

PSM II and PSM III

These are even more advanced certifications from Scrum.org. They are included in the mandatory training program for trainers from Scrum.org, so the level of trainers in this organization is quite high. Ordinary Scrum Masters can take these certificates, rather, for their own satisfaction, since they are not required anywhere. PSM II also consists of questions with single and multiple choice, and when passing PSM III you need to write short essays when answering questions that are checked by hand. Given the high cost and difficulty of these exams, I have yet to meet anyone who has taken these exams for themselves without participating in a coaching program.

Conclusions:

There are many certifications for Scrum. All schools have their pros and cons. With conditionally the same level of significance of the considered schools, when choosing a certifying organization, I would recommend looking at such main points

	ScrumAlliance	Scrum.org
Certification price:	0USD only during training	150 USD with training free of charge
The need for training	yes, definitely	not necessary
Training price	from 700 USD	from 650 USD
Membership cost	50 USD	0USD
Membership duration	2 years	no concept of membership
Exam Difficulty	Easy to medium questions, 60 minutes, 35 questions, 27 answers to surrender	Easy, medium, difficult and confusing questions, 60 minutes, 80 questions, 68 answers to turn in
The amount of effort in preparing for the exam	Take the training and read the Scrum Guide	It takes time and effort to prepare
Number of surrender attempts	2	1

If certification is not so significant for you, then in my Scrum trainings I give knowledge that will be useful to you in the experience of implementing Scrum in practice in your company.
Stay with us. Scrum must go on!

During the sprint, all the work that is needed to get a working version of the product must be completed. The scope of the sprint should be fixed. Thanks to this, the team can take responsibility for its implementation. Based on this, the sprint log cannot be changed by anyone except the team.

You can learn more about all this in the book "Scrum - a revolutionary project management method" by Jeff Sutherland, and we will continue the conversation on the topic of practices. After getting acquainted with them, you will be able to understand how a Scrum project is implemented.

Daily Scrum Meetings

Daily meetings are held in the morning before work starts. They are necessary so that each team member knows who and exactly what is doing in the current project. Optimal duration such meetings is 15 minutes. No problems are solved in the process, because Members are simply sharing information. If there are issues that need to be resolved, they are taken out of the meeting.

Conducts daily Scrum Master meetings. In turn, he asks each participant the following questions:

What did you do yesterday?
What will you do today?
What problems did you face?

The Scrum Master lists all open questions in the Action Points list. The format “What? Who? When?". Here is a simple example of such a list:

Discuss background design details
Tolya and Kolya
Right after dinner

Anyone can participate in daily meetings interested party, however, all decisions are made only by members of the development team. The reason for this is the commitment of the participants to achieve the sprint goal. If someone else contributes to the decision-making, then he will remove responsibility from the team members.

Sprint review meetings

At the end of each sprint, it is customary to hold a demo meeting where the sprint is reviewed. The optimal duration of these meetings is no more than 4 hours.

At the beginning of the meeting, the development team shows the product owner its working version (demonstrates the results of the work done). The meeting takes place under the control of the owner himself, and he has the right to invite all interested people and their representatives to it.

During the meeting, the product owner evaluates which requirements from the sprint log have been met, as well as discusses the results with the team and the customer, and together with them plans tasks to complete in the new sprint.

In the second half of the meeting, the Scrum Master, together with the rest of the participants, analyzes the past sprint. The development team defines, analyzes them, draws conclusions and makes decisions that will improve further work.

At the end of the meeting, the results are summarized and the next sprint is planned (this happens according to the usual sprint planning algorithm we have already considered). After finishing the second sprint, a new demonstration meeting is held, and so on in a circle until the complete completion of the Scrum project.

Sprint emergency stop

The sprint emergency stop is only necessary for special cases. The team may stop the sprint before the deadline (the deadline for completing the sprint) if it realizes that it is not possible to achieve the results set in this sprint. Also, the sprint can be stopped by the product owner in the case when the need to achieve the sprint goal is no longer necessary.

If the sprint is stopped, all project participants gather at a general meeting, discuss the reasons for the stop and further actions. After that, the go-ahead is given to the beginning of a new sprint and its planning, for which all the same algorithms are used.

It is easy to see that Scrum practices are quite simple. But in addition to roles and practices in Scrum project management, there are also important documents called artifacts. We have already mentioned them briefly, but it would be better if we delve a little into this topic.

Artifacts in Scrum

There are three main artifacts (documents) in any Scrum project:

Product Backlog
Sprint Backlog
Sprint Chart

Each of the artifacts has its own characteristics.

Product log

The product log is prepared at the very beginning of the project. It is a list of requirements sorted by importance. It is compiled by the product owner, and the development team completes it, including estimates of the cost of implementing each requirement.

The product backlog should include the technical and functional requirements needed to develop the product. These requirements need to be prioritized, and the highest priorities need to be spelled out in detail so that the team gets the opportunity to evaluate and test them.

Detailing projects in a timely and prepared manner, as well as delivering them in full and at the right time, are the tasks of the product owner.

Sprint log

The sprint backlog reflects the functionality that the product owner has chosen from the product backlog they've compiled earlier. Each of the functions is divided into tasks. The breakdown is done so that one task does not take more than two days to complete.

Due to the qualitative breakdown of functions into tasks, the sprint can be planned in such a way that by the end of it there is nothing left unfinished, which means that the goal of the iteration is achieved.

Once the drilldown is complete, the sprint log is evaluated and this estimate is compared to the original product log estimate. When significant discrepancies are identified, the development team, together with the product owner, establishes the amount of work that needs to be completed during a particular sprint, as well as the amount that can be carried over to the next iteration.

Minor tasks that do not have a significant impact on the iteration goal are excluded from the sprint backlog.

Sprint Schedule

The sprint schedule is needed to show the daily change in the total amount of work that remains until the end of the sprint. With it, the team can analyze the current situation and respond to changes in time.

In addition, with the help of the sprint schedule, the product owner can track the progress of the iteration. Therefore, it is very easy for him to establish: if the amount of work does not decrease every day, it means that there are some deviations in the process and the team’s actions urgently need to be corrected.

These are common features Scrum methodology. If you have a desire to understand this method in more detail, then Jeff Sutherland will help you with this - get acquainted with the already mentioned book "Scrum - a revolutionary method of project management". And we just have to sum it up. overview Scrum.

Conclusions about Scrum

So, referring to the Agile system of flexible management methods, Scrum can be safely called a real find for people whose activities are related to projects. Among its advantages, first of all, orientation and adaptability stand out. The method allows you to change the requirements for the project at any time (even though it does not guarantee that these changes will be implemented). And this opportunity is very attractive to customers.

Secondly, Scrum is very easy to learn. In addition, the method does not take a huge amount of time. And due to the fact that the work system is built on an iterative principle (and each iteration has its own goal), using the Scrum method, you can get working versions of the product at the end of each sprint.

Thirdly, the emphasis in the method is on a multifunctional and self-organizing team that is able to solve most problems with a minimum of coordination. It is for this reason that Scrum projects are suitable for startups and small companies, eliminating the need to train a specialized staff of managers or hire outside professionals.

But do not think that the Scrum methodology is the solution to all problems and a guarantee of success. She also has a few downsides. For example, its minimalism and simplicity determine, albeit few, but still strict rules, in particular, the rules of interaction within the team, which in some cases can cause certain inconveniences to the customer.

Another drawback is the lack of a plan, because all the actions of the project participants are carried out in real time. And finally, the emphasis on the team is also not always useful. Although team coordination is not particularly necessary (and therefore not costly), recruitment, training, and motivation costs can increase. If, for example, there are not enough suitable specialists in the labor market, you will either have to hire expensive pros or not hire anyone at all.

However, the advantages of the Scrum methodology do not go to any comparison with its shortcomings, and with a certain amount of perseverance, it will not be difficult to master it. The use of Scrum helps companies implement the most different projects and become more competitive. The method is focused on change and continuous development, and its flexibility is achieved through the continuous interaction of project participants with each other.

But still, we recall that this review is purely exploratory in nature, therefore, in order to obtain additional information in any case, you will have to turn to third-party sources. And already from them you can learn about other intricacies of Scrum project management and the features of its application. You can start with this small video, and we wish you good luck and successful implementation of all your projects!