Supportsoft Glossary

Scrum Framework for Agile Team Collaboration

Scrum is an Agile Framework developed to allow for the management of complex projects through the division of work into shorter and more manageable sections. Scrum encourages collaborative teamwork, flexibility in response to changing conditions, and ongoing enhancement in product quality (continuous improvement). The team consists of individuals with cross-functional skills necessary for delivering increments of value to the customer. Work is completed within the structure of a time-boxed series of cycles (sprints). A typical sprint lasts for either a two-week or four-week period, during which time the Scrum team agrees to complete a specific number of the most important items in the product backlog.

Scrum identifies specific roles to create accountability and structure around how a Scrum team operates. The Product Owner is responsible for managing the contents of the backlog. The Scrum Master provides support to help the Scrum team be successful by helping remove obstacles to productivity. Developers perform the actual work necessary to create a product increment, including designing, building and testing the product increment. There are also several regular (ceremony) events, including daily stand-up meetings, sprint planning sessions, sprint review meetings and sprint retrospective meetings. These ceremonies are important because they allow the Scrum team to maintain alignment throughout the Sprint work process and to collaboratively identify issues or potential obstacles to successful delivery of the increment of value.