Scrum in 20 Minutes - A Short Introductory Presentation
Bill Hoberecht - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Scrum is more than a buzzword. It isn't quite a methodology or collection of processes. Rather, it is a Framework that outlines a specific method for addressing complex problems that have significant unknowns. This 20 minute presentation walks through the key aspects for each accountability, artifact and event described in the November 2020 update to the office Scrum Guide.
A Presentation Walking Through the Elements of Scrum
- The recorded presentation: This 18 minute presentation introduces the Scrum Team, the accountabilities on the Scrum Team, along with the artifacts and events of a Sprint.
- The slides: Here are the slides from the presentation.
Please do alert me of any inaccuracies in this presentation, and let me know of any helpful comments and feedback you might have.
Scrum is Defined in the Scrum Guide
You can easily find thousands of web sites with information Scrum. This particular page is one of these sites. Keep in mind that Scrum is defined in only one place: The Scrum Guide. The guide is periodically revised, with the latest revision published in November 2020. Please do read through it. At 13 pages in length, it is a relatively quick read.
Why Create This Presentation on Scrum?
I've found that some individuals and teams find their understanding enhanced by learning about Scrum using a variety of methods. Reading, viewing a presentation, going through exercises - these and other methods can help introduce and reinforce an understanding of Scrum.
This presentation is intended to be an accurate representation of information directly from The Scrum Guide. I've tried to limit the introduction of any supplemental information. There is an error on my part - I've probably slipped up a few times during the presentation and refer to the older terminology of "roles." The the 2020 Version of the Scrum guide does not include the concept of "roles." Rather, these are "accountabilities." The correct concept is that Developers, the Product Owner and the Scrum Master are accountabilities.
Is This all You Should Know About Scrum?
This recorded presentation really should be the second or third encounter you have with Scrum, not the first. Most Scrum materials seem to skip over the far more important topics that form the basis for Scrum. I generally cover these topics in workshops, as it is difficult to convey their significance and importance in a written document or recorded presentation. Here's the sequence I'd recommend:
- Become familiar with the four values of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. They take about 10 seconds to read, but I'd encourage you to sit with some professional colleagues for an hour or two and share your understanding of those few words. Then do the same with the 10 principles, identifying those with which you agree 100% and those that maybe you question - again, discuss these with professional colleagues.
- Become familiar with Scrum Theory and what Transparency, Inspection and Adaptation are all about. Then explore the Scrum Values of Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage.
- Now that you have been introduced to some very important foundational concepts, learn about the Scrum Framework, which is the topic of this recorded presentation). As a group exercise, develop an understanding of the direct linkage between the values of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development and the Scrum Framework. Perform this same exercise with Scrum Theory (related to the framework) and the five Scrum Values (related to the framework).
Learning about Scrum is far more than events, artifacts and accountabilities. The foundational concepts are much more important to understand deeply - with this understanding, you can fill in the many gaps (of the Scrum Framework) in your implementation of Scrum.