Many have heard the name “Scrum” and believe that it is a software program with some assuming that a “Scrum Master” is a role from the Dungeons & Dragons game. But, Scrum is actually a product-development strategy. It’s limitless in its application, having been used by teams from different fields. The FBI switched to Agile and Scrum for developing mission-critical technology and marketing agencies have incorporated Scrum into their projects, which allowed them to take on more clients and provide better services.

Defining Scrum

“Scrum” is derived from a rugby play where the team moves as a single unit down the field. In 1986, Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka introduced the term in a paper on product development innovations. The term resurfaced late in the mid-90s and has now become a popular process framework.

Scrum is, more precisely, a subset of the Agile methodology for project management, implementing an iterative approach.  The project’s team works together to reach a common goal, developing through fixed-length iterations or sprints. The team is able to ship software on a regular cadence and collaborate with stakeholders at the end of each sprint to plan out their next steps. True to its name, teams are agiler in their tasks and, as a result, supposedly more productive in developing software compared to other project management methodologies.

The Roles in Scrum

Scrum requires three vital roles for its effective execution:

• The Product Owner. This person—usually a key stakeholder—lays out their vision of the project to the Scrum team and is responsible to ensure that the other stakeholders recognize the project’s value. The Product Owner is in charge of organizing the team’s backlog, which is where the project’s tasks are prioritized based on business or customer value.
• The Scrum Master. This person ensures the Scrum team stays focused by eliminating obstacles or disturbances and makes sure that the Scrum procedure is followed.
• The Scrum Team. This consists of a cross-functional assembly of individuals who are self-organizing and perform analysis, implementation, design, and other tasks for the project’s successful completion. In Scrum, everyone contributes to the successful completion of the work in a sprint by working in their discipline.

Get the Right Software for Your Project

When you need to manage IT, industrial or academic projects that require an iterative approach, Acute360 is the only methodology available to managing these projects the right way. Acute360 is more agile and simpler in managing small to medium R&D/software teams and projects. Acute360 iterative process emphasizes responsible project management and quality over an Agile/Scum approach of team management and strict timely delivery over quality.

It is an intelligent and interactive web (cloud)-based project management platform that manages projects and tasks based on the Scientific Method. The platform is based on metrics: quantifying, measuring, recording, and making sure that people track their progress towards goals by using a rigorous method for identifying and reporting results. To achieve this, Acute360 uses a very rigorous method for getting people to identify and report their results.

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