Table of Contents
Purpose of the
Scrum Guide.................................................................................................. 3
Definition of Scrum................................................................................................................ 3
Scrum Theory........................................................................................................................ 3
The Scrum Team.................................................................................................................... 4
The Product Owner........................................................................................................... 5
The Development Team.................................................................................................... 5
The Scrum Master............................................................................................................. 6
Scrum Events........................................................................................................................ 7
The Sprint.......................................................................................................................... 7
Sprint Planning.................................................................................................................. 8
Daily Scrum...................................................................................................................... 10
Sprint Review.................................................................................................................. 11
Sprint Retrospective........................................................................................................ 12
Scrum Artifacts.................................................................................................................... 12
Product Backlog............................................................................................................... 12
Sprint Backlog.................................................................................................................. 14
Increment....................................................................................................................... 15
Artifact
Transparency........................................................................................................... 15
Definition of “Done”........................................................................................................ 15
End Note............................................................................................................................. 16
Acknowledgements............................................................................................................. 16
People............................................................................................................................. 16
History............................................................................................................................. 16
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Scrum is a framework for developing and
sustaining complex products. This Guide contains the definition of Scrum. This
definition consists of Scrum’s roles, events, artifacts, and the rules that
bind them together. Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland developed Scrum; the Scrum
Guide is written and provided by them. Together, they stand behind the Scrum
Guide.
Definition of Scrum
Scrum (n): A framework within which people can
address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering
products of the highest possible value.
Scrum is:
·
Lightweight
·
Simple to
understand
·
Difficult
to master
Scrum is a process framework that has been used
to manage complex product development since the early 1990s. Scrum is not a
process or a technique for building products; rather, it is a framework within
which you can employ various processes and techniques. Scrum makes clear the
relative efficacy of your product management and development practices so that
you can improve.
The Scrum framework consists of Scrum Teams and
their associated roles, events, artifacts, and rules. Each component within the
framework serves a specific purpose and is essential to
Scrum’s success and usage.
The rules of Scrum bind together the events,
roles, and artifacts, governing the relationships and interaction between them.
The rules of Scrum are described throughout the body of this document.
Specific tactics for using the Scrum framework
vary and are described elsewhere.
Scrum Theory
Scrum is founded on
empirical process control theory, or empiricism. Empiricism asserts that
knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is
known. Scrum employs an iterative, incremental approach to optimize
predictability and control risk.
Three pillars uphold every implementation of
empirical process control: transparency, inspection, and adaptation.
. Page | 3
Significant aspects of the process must be
visible to those responsible for the outcome. Transparency requires those
aspects be defined by a common standard so observers share a common
understanding of what is being seen.
For example:
·
A common
language referring to the process must be shared by all participants; and,
·
Those
performing the work and those accepting the work product must share a common
definition of “Done”.
Inspection
Scrum users must frequently inspect Scrum
artifacts and progress toward a Sprint Goal to detect undesirable variances.
Their inspection should not be so frequent that inspection gets in the way of
the work. Inspections are most beneficial when diligently performed by skilled
inspectors at the point of work.
Adaptation
If an inspector determines that one or more
aspects of a process deviate outside acceptable limits, and that the resulting
product will be unacceptable, the process or the material being processed must
be adjusted. An adjustment must be made as soon as possible to minimize further
deviation.
Scrum prescribes four formal events for
inspection and adaptation, as described in the Scrum Events section
of this document:
· Sprint
Planning
· Daily
Scrum
· Sprint
Review
· Sprint
Retrospective
The Scrum Team
The Scrum Team consists of a Product Owner, the
Development Team, and a Scrum Master. Scrum Teams are self-organizing and
cross-functional. Self-organizing teams choose how best to accomplish their
work, rather than being directed by others outside the team. Cross-functional
teams have all competencies needed to accomplish the work without depending on
others not part of the team. The team model in Scrum is designed to optimize
flexibility, creativity, and productivity.
Scrum Teams deliver
products iteratively and incrementally, maximizing opportunities for feedback.
Incremental deliveries of “Done” product ensure a potentially useful version of
working product is always available.
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The Product Owner
is responsible for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Development
Team. How this is done may vary widely across organizations, Scrum Teams, and
individuals.
The Product Owner is the sole person responsible
for managing the Product Backlog. Product Backlog management includes:
·
Clearly
expressing Product Backlog items;
·
Ordering
the items in the Product Backlog to best achieve goals and missions;
·
Optimizing
the value of the work the Development Team performs;
·
Ensuring
that the Product Backlog is visible, transparent, and clear to all, and shows
what the Scrum Team will work on next; and,
·
Ensuring
the Development Team understands items in the Product Backlog to the level
needed.
The Product Owner may do the above work, or have
the Development Team do it. However, the Product Owner remains accountable.
The Product Owner is one person, not a committee.
The Product Owner may represent the desires of a committee in the Product
Backlog, but those wanting to change a Product Backlog item’s priority must
address the Product Owner.
For the Product Owner to succeed, the entire
organization must respect his or her decisions. The
Product Owner’s decisions are visible in the
content and ordering of the Product Backlog. No one is allowed to tell the
Development Team to work from a different set of requirements, and the
Development Team isn’t allowed to act on what anyone else says.
The Development Team
The Development Team consists of professionals
who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable Increment of “Done”
product at the end of each Sprint. Only members of the Development Team create
the Increment.
Development Teams
are structured and empowered by the organization to organize and manage their
own work. The resulting synergy optimizes the Development Team’s overall
efficiency and effectiveness.
Development Teams have the following
characteristics:
·
They are
self-organizing. No one (not even the Scrum Master) tells the Development Team
how to turn Product Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable
functionality;
·
Development
Teams are cross-functional, with all of the skills as a team necessary to
create a product Increment;
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·
Scrum recognizes no titles for Development Team
members other than Developer, regardless of the work being performed by the
person; there are no exceptions to this rule;
·
Scrum
recognizes no sub-teams in the Development Team, regardless of particular domains
that need to be addressed like testing or business analysis; there are no
exceptions to this rule; and,
·
Individual
Development Team members may have specialized skills and areas of focus, but
accountability belongs to the Development Team as a whole.
Development Team Size
Optimal Development Team size is small enough to
remain nimble and large enough to complete significant work within a Sprint.
Fewer than three Development Team members decrease interaction and results in
smaller productivity gains. Smaller Development Teams may encounter skill
constraints during the Sprint, causing the Development Team to be unable to
deliver a potentially releasable Increment. Having more than nine members
requires too much coordination. Large Development Teams generate too much
complexity for an empirical process to manage. The Product Owner and Scrum
Master roles are not included in this count unless they are also executing the
work of the Sprint Backlog.
The Scrum Master
The Scrum Master is
responsible for ensuring Scrum is understood and enacted. Scrum Masters do this
by ensuring that the Scrum Team adheres to Scrum theory, practices, and rules.
The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the
Scrum Team. The Scrum Master helps those outside the Scrum Team understand
which of their interactions with the Scrum Team are helpful and which aren’t.
The Scrum Master helps everyone change these interactions to maximize the value
created by the Scrum Team.
Scrum Master Service to the
Product Owner
The Scrum Master serves the Product Owner in
several ways, including:
·
Finding
techniques for effective Product Backlog management;
·
Helping the
Scrum Team understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items;
·
Understanding
product planning in an empirical environment;
·
Ensuring
the Product Owner knows how to arrange the Product Backlog to maximize value;
·
Understanding
and practicing agility; and,
·
Facilitating
Scrum events as requested or needed.
Scrum Master Service to the
Development Team
The Scrum Master serves the Development Team in
several ways, including:
· Coaching the Development Team in
self-organization and cross-functionality; · Helping the Development Team to create
high-value products;
· Removing
impediments to the Development Team’s progress;
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·
Coaching
the Development Team in organizational environments in which Scrum is not yet
fully adopted and understood.
Scrum Master Service to the
Organization
The Scrum Master serves the organization in
several ways, including:
·
Leading and
coaching the organization in its Scrum adoption;
·
Planning
Scrum implementations within the organization;
·
Helping
employees and stakeholders understand and enact Scrum and empirical product
development;
·
Causing
change that increases the productivity of the Scrum Team; and,
·
Working
with other Scrum Masters to increase the effectiveness of the application of
Scrum in the organization.
Scrum Events
Prescribed events are used in Scrum to create
regularity and to minimize the need for meetings not defined in Scrum. All
events are time-boxed events, such that every event has a maximum duration.
Once a Sprint begins, its duration is fixed and cannot be shortened or
lengthened. The remaining events may end whenever the purpose of the event is
achieved, ensuring an appropriate amount of time is spent without allowing
waste in the process.
Other than the Sprint itself, which is a
container for all other events, each event in Scrum is a formal opportunity to
inspect and adapt something. These events are specifically designed to enable
critical transparency and inspection. Failure to include any of these events
results in reduced transparency and is a lost opportunity to inspect and adapt.
The Sprint
The heart of Scrum is a Sprint, a time-box of one
month or less during which a “Done”, useable, and potentially releasable
product Increment is created. Sprints best have consistent durations throughout
a development effort. A new Sprint starts immediately after the conclusion of
the previous Sprint.
Sprints contain and consist of the Sprint
Planning, Daily Scrums, the development work, the Sprint Review, and the Sprint
Retrospective.
During the Sprint:
·
No changes
are made that would endanger the Sprint Goal;
·
Quality
goals do not decrease; and,
·
Scope may
be clarified and re-negotiated between the Product Owner and Development Team
as more is learned.
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Each Sprint may be
considered a project with no more than a one-month horizon. Like projects,
Sprints are used to accomplish something. Each Sprint has a definition of what
is to be built, a design and flexible plan that will guide building it, the
work, and the resultant product.
Sprints are limited to one calendar month. When a
Sprint’s horizon is too long the definition of what is being built may change,
complexity may rise, and risk may increase. Sprints enable predictability by
ensuring inspection and adaptation of progress toward a Sprint Goal at least
every calendar month. Sprints also limit risk to one calendar month of cost.
Cancelling a Sprint
A Sprint can be cancelled before the Sprint
time-box is over. Only the Product Owner has the authority to cancel the
Sprint, although he or she may do so under influence from the stakeholders, the
Development Team, or the Scrum Master.
A Sprint would be cancelled if the Sprint Goal
becomes obsolete. This might occur if the company changes direction or if
market or technology conditions change. In general, a Sprint should be
cancelled if it no longer makes sense given the circumstances. But, due to the
short duration of Sprints, cancellation rarely makes sense.
When a Sprint is cancelled, any completed and
“Done” Product Backlog items are reviewed. If part of the work is potentially
releasable, the Product Owner typically accepts it. All incomplete Product
Backlog Items are re-estimated and put back on the Product Backlog. The work
done on them depreciates quickly and must be frequently re-estimated.
Sprint cancellations consume resources, since
everyone has to regroup in another Sprint Planning to start another Sprint.
Sprint cancellations are often traumatic to the Scrum Team, and are very
uncommon.
Sprint Planning
The work to be performed in the Sprint is planned
at the Sprint Planning. This plan is created by the collaborative work of the
entire Scrum Team.
Sprint Planning is
time-boxed to a maximum of eight hours for a one-month Sprint. For shorter
Sprints, the event is usually shorter. The Scrum Master ensures that the event
takes place and that attendants understand its purpose. The Scrum Master
teaches the Scrum Team to keep it within the time-box.
Sprint Planning answers the following:
·
What can be
delivered in the Increment resulting from the upcoming Sprint?
·
How will
the work needed to deliver the Increment be achieved?
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The Development Team works to forecast the
functionality that will be developed during the Sprint. The Product Owner
discusses the objective that the Sprint should achieve and the Product Backlog
items that, if completed in the Sprint, would achieve the Sprint Goal. The
entire Scrum Team collaborates on understanding the work of the Sprint.
The input to this meeting is the Product Backlog,
the latest product Increment, projected capacity of the Development Team during
the Sprint, and past performance of the Development Team. The number of items
selected from the Product Backlog for the Sprint is solely up to the
Development Team. Only the Development Team can assess what it can accomplish
over the upcoming Sprint.
After the Development Team forecasts the Product
Backlog items it will deliver in the Sprint, the Scrum Team crafts a Sprint
Goal. The Sprint Goal is an objective that will be met within the Sprint
through the implementation of the Product Backlog, and it provides guidance to
the Development Team on why it is building the Increment.
Topic Two: How will the
chosen work get done?
Having set the Sprint Goal and selected the
Product Backlog items for the Sprint, the Development Team decides how it will
build this functionality into a “Done” product Increment during the Sprint. The
Product Backlog items selected for this Sprint plus the plan for delivering
them is called the Sprint Backlog.
The Development Team usually starts by designing
the system and the work needed to convert the Product Backlog into a working
product Increment. Work may be of varying size, or estimated effort. However,
enough work is planned during Sprint Planning for the Development Team to
forecast what it believes it can do in the upcoming Sprint. Work planned for
the first days of the Sprint by the Development Team is decomposed by the end
of this meeting, often to units of one day or less. The Development Team
self-organizes to undertake the work in the Sprint Backlog, both during Sprint
Planning and as needed throughout the Sprint.
The Product Owner can help to clarify the selected
Product Backlog items and make trade-offs. If the Development Team determines
it has too much or too little work, it may renegotiate the selected Product
Backlog items with the Product Owner. The Development Team may also invite
other people to attend in order to provide technical or domain advice.
By the end of the Sprint Planning, the
Development Team should be able to explain to the Product Owner and Scrum
Master how it intends to work as a self-organizing team to accomplish the
Sprint Goal and create the anticipated Increment.
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The Sprint Goal is an objective set for the
Sprint that can be met through the implementation of Product Backlog. It
provides guidance to the Development Team on why it is building the Increment.
It is created during the Sprint Planning meeting. The Sprint Goal gives the
Development Team some flexibility regarding the functionality implemented
within the Sprint. The selected Product Backlog items deliver one coherent
function, which can be the Sprint Goal. The Sprint Goal can be any other coherence
that causes the Development Team to work together rather than on separate
initiatives.
As the Development Team works, it keeps the
Sprint Goal in mind. In order to satisfy the Sprint Goal, it implements the
functionality and technology. If the work turns out to be different than the
Development Team expected, they collaborate with the Product Owner to negotiate
the scope of Sprint Backlog within the Sprint.
Daily Scrum
The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute time-boxed event
for the Development Team to synchronize activities and create a plan for the
next 24 hours. This is done by inspecting the work since the last Daily Scrum
and forecasting the work that could be done before the next one. The Daily
Scrum is held at the same time and place each day to reduce complexity. During
the meeting, the Development Team members explain:
·
What did I
do yesterday that helped the Development Team meet the Sprint Goal?
·
What will I
do today to help the Development Team meet the Sprint Goal?
·
Do I see
any impediment that prevents me or the Development Team from meeting the Sprint
Goal?
The Development
Team uses the Daily Scrum to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and to
inspect how progress is trending toward completing the work in the Sprint
Backlog. The Daily Scrum optimizes the probability that the Development Team
will meet the Sprint Goal. Every day, the Development Team should understand
how it intends to work together as a self-organizing team to accomplish the
Sprint Goal and create the anticipated Increment by the end of the Sprint. The
Development Team or team members often meet immediately after the Daily
Scrum for detailed discussions, or to adapt, or
replan, the rest of the Sprint’s work.
The Scrum Master ensures that the Development
Team has the meeting, but the Development Team is responsible for conducting
the Daily Scrum. The Scrum Master teaches the Development Team to keep the
Daily Scrum within the 15-minute time-box.
The Scrum Master enforces the rule that only Development
Team members participate in the Daily Scrum.
Page | 10
Daily Scrums
improve communications, eliminate other meetings, identify impediments to
development for removal, highlight and promote quick decision-making, and
improve the
Development Team’s level of knowledge. This is a
key inspect and adapt meeting.
Sprint
Review
A Sprint Review is held at the end of the Sprint
to inspect the Increment and adapt the Product Backlog if needed. During the
Sprint Review, the Scrum Team and stakeholders collaborate about what was done
in the Sprint. Based on that and any changes to the Product Backlog during the
Sprint, attendees collaborate on the next things that could be done to optimize
value. This is an informal meeting, not a status meeting, and the presentation
of the Increment is intended to elicit feedback and foster collaboration.
This is a four-hour time-boxed meeting for
one-month Sprints. For shorter Sprints, the event is usually shorter. The Scrum
Master ensures that the event takes place and that attendants understand its
purpose. The Scrum Master teaches all to keep it within the time-box.
The Sprint Review includes the following
elements:
·
Attendees
include the Scrum Team and key stakeholders invited by the Product Owner;
·
The Product
Owner explains what Product Backlog items have been “Done” and what has not
been “Done”;
·
The
Development Team discusses what went well during the Sprint, what problems it
ran into, and how those problems were solved;
·
The
Development Team demonstrates the work that it has “Done” and answers questions
about the Increment;
·
The Product
Owner discusses the Product Backlog as it stands. He or she projects likely
completion dates based on progress to date (if needed);
·
The entire
group collaborates on what to do next, so that the Sprint Review provides
valuable input to subsequent Sprint Planning;
·
Review of
how the marketplace or potential use of the product might have changed what is
the most valuable thing to do next; and,
·
Review of
the timeline, budget, potential capabilities, and marketplace for the next
anticipated release of the product.
The result of the Sprint Review is a revised
Product Backlog that defines the probable Product Backlog items for the next Sprint.
The Product Backlog may also be adjusted overall to meet new opportunities.
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The Sprint Retrospective is an opportunity for
the Scrum Team to inspect itself and create a plan for improvements to be
enacted during the next Sprint.
The Sprint Retrospective occurs after the Sprint
Review and prior to the next Sprint Planning. This is a three-hour time-boxed
meeting for one-month Sprints. For shorter Sprints, the event is usually
shorter. The Scrum Master ensures that the event takes place and that
attendants understand its purpose. The Scrum Master teaches all to keep it
within the time-box. The Scrum Master participates as a peer team member in the
meeting from the accountability over the Scrum process.
The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective is to:
·
Inspect how
the last Sprint went with regards to people, relationships, process, and tools;
·
Identify
and order the major items that went well and potential improvements; and,
·
Create a
plan for implementing improvements to the way the Scrum Team does its work.
The Scrum Master encourages the Scrum Team to
improve, within the Scrum process framework, its development process and
practices to make it more effective and enjoyable for the next Sprint. During
each Sprint Retrospective, the Scrum Team plans ways to increase product
quality by adapting the definition of “Done” as appropriate.
By the end of the Sprint Retrospective, the Scrum
Team should have identified improvements that it will implement in the next
Sprint. Implementing these improvements in the next Sprint is the adaptation to
the inspection of the Scrum Team itself. Although improvements may be
implemented at any time, the Sprint Retrospective provides a formal opportunity
to focus on inspection and adaptation.
Scrum Artifacts
Scrum’s artifacts represent work or value to
provide transparency and opportunities for inspection and adaptation. Artifacts
defined by Scrum are specifically designed to maximize transparency of key
information so that everybody has the same understanding of the artifact.
Product Backlog
The Product Backlog is an ordered list of
everything that might be needed in the product and is the single source of
requirements for any changes to be made to the product. The Product Owner is
responsible for the Product Backlog, including its content, availability, and
ordering.
Page | 12
A Product Backlog is never complete. The earliest
development of it only lays out the initially known and best-understood
requirements. The Product Backlog evolves as the product and the environment in
which it will be used evolves. The Product Backlog is dynamic; it constantly
changes to identify what the product needs to be appropriate, competitive, and
useful. As long as a product exists, its Product Backlog also exists.
The Product Backlog lists all features,
functions, requirements, enhancements, and fixes that constitute the changes to
be made to the product in future releases. Product Backlog items have the
attributes of a description, order, estimate and value.
As a product is used and gains value, and the
marketplace provides feedback, the Product Backlog becomes a larger and more
exhaustive list. Requirements never stop changing, so a Product Backlog is a
living artifact. Changes in business requirements, market conditions, or
technology may cause changes in the Product Backlog.
Multiple Scrum
Teams often work together on the same product. One Product Backlog is used to
describe the upcoming work on the product. A Product Backlog attribute that
groups items may then be employed.
Product Backlog refinement is the act of adding
detail, estimates, and order to items in the Product Backlog. This is an
ongoing process in which the Product Owner and the Development Team collaborate
on the details of Product Backlog items. During Product Backlog refinement,
items are reviewed and revised. The Scrum Team decides how and when refinement
is done. Refinement usually consumes no more than 10% of the capacity of the
Development Team. However, Product Backlog items can be updated at any time by
the Product Owner or at the
Product Owner’s discretion.
Higher ordered
Product Backlog items are usually clearer and more detailed than lower ordered
ones. More precise estimates are made based on the greater clarity and
increased detail; the lower the order, the less detail. Product Backlog items
that will occupy the Development Team for the upcoming Sprint are refined so
that any one item can reasonably be “Done” within the
Sprint time-box. Product Backlog items that can
be “Done” by the Development Team within one Sprint are deemed “Ready” for
selection in a Sprint Planning. Product Backlog items usually acquire this
degree of transparency through the above described refining activities.
The Development Team is responsible for all
estimates. The Product Owner may influence the Development Team by helping it
understand and select trade-offs, but the people who will perform the work make
the final estimate.
Page | 13
At any point in time, the total work remaining to
reach a goal can be summed. The Product Owner tracks this total work remaining
at least every Sprint Review. The Product Owner compares this amount with work
remaining at previous Sprint Reviews to assess progress toward completing
projected work by the desired time for the goal. This information is made
transparent to all stakeholders.
Various projective practices upon trending have
been used to forecast progress, like burn-downs, burn-ups, or cumulative flows.
These have proven useful. However, these do not replace the importance of
empiricism. In complex environments, what will happen is unknown. Only what has
happened may be used for forward-looking decision-making.
Sprint
Backlog
The Sprint Backlog is the set of Product Backlog
items selected for the Sprint, plus a plan for delivering the product Increment
and realizing the Sprint Goal. The Sprint Backlog is a forecast by the
Development Team about what functionality will be in the next Increment and the
work needed to deliver that functionality into a “Done” Increment.
The Sprint Backlog makes visible all of the work
that the Development Team identifies as necessary to meet the Sprint Goal.
The Sprint Backlog
is a plan with enough detail that changes in progress can be understood in the
Daily Scrum. The Development Team modifies the Sprint Backlog throughout the
Sprint, and the Sprint Backlog emerges during the Sprint. This emergence occurs
as the Development Team works through the plan and learns more about the work
needed to achieve the Sprint Goal.
As new work is required, the Development Team
adds it to the Sprint Backlog. As work is performed or completed, the estimated
remaining work is updated. When elements of the plan are deemed unnecessary,
they are removed. Only the Development Team can change its Sprint Backlog
during a Sprint. The Sprint Backlog is a highly visible, real-time picture of
the work that the Development Team plans to accomplish during the Sprint, and
it belongs solely to the Development Team.
Monitoring Sprint Progress
At any point in time in a Sprint, the total work
remaining in the Sprint Backlog can be summed. The Development Team tracks this
total work remaining at least for every Daily Scrum to project the likelihood
of achieving the Sprint Goal. By tracking the remaining work throughout the
Sprint, the Development Team can manage its progress.
Page | 14
The Increment is the sum of all the Product
Backlog items completed during a Sprint and the value of the increments of all
previous Sprints. At the end of a Sprint, the new Increment must be “Done,”
which means it must be in useable condition and meet the Scrum Team’s
definition of “Done.” It must be in useable condition regardless of whether the
Product Owner decides to actually release it.
Artifact Transparency
Scrum relies on transparency. Decisions to
optimize value and control risk are made based on the perceived state of the
artifacts. To the extent that transparency is complete, these decisions have a
sound basis. To the extent that the artifacts are incompletely transparent,
these decisions can be flawed, value may diminish and risk may increase.
The Scrum Master must work with the Product
Owner, Development Team, and other involved parties to understand if the
artifacts are completely transparent. There are practices for coping with
incomplete transparency; the Scrum Master must help everyone apply the most
appropriate practices in the absence of complete transparency. A Scrum Master
can detect incomplete transparency by inspecting the artifacts, sensing
patterns, listening closely to what is being said, and detecting differences
between expected and real results.
The Scrum Master’s
job is to work with the Scrum Team and the organization to increase the
transparency of the artifacts. This work usually involves learning, convincing,
and change.
Transparency doesn’t occur overnight, but is a
path.
Definition of “Done”
When a Product Backlog item or an Increment is
described as “Done”, everyone must understand what “Done” means.
Although this varies significantly per Scrum Team, members must have a shared
understanding of what it means for work to be complete, to ensure transparency.
This is the definition of “Done” for the Scrum Team and is used to assess when
work is complete on the product Increment.
The same definition guides the Development Team
in knowing how many Product Backlog items it can select during a Sprint
Planning. The purpose of each Sprint is to deliver Increments of potentially
releasable functionality that adhere to the Scrum Team’s current definition of
“Done.” Development Teams deliver an Increment of
product functionality every Sprint. This Increment is useable, so a Product
Owner may choose to immediately release it. If the
definition of "done" for an
increment is part of the conventions, standards or guidelines of the
development organization,
Page | 15
all Scrum Teams must follow it as a
minimum. If "done" for an increment is not a convention of the
development organization, the Development Team of the Scrum Team must define a
definition of “done” appropriate for the product. If there are multiple Scrum
Teams working on the system or product release, the development teams on all of
the Scrum Teams must mutually define the definition of “Done.”
Each Increment is additive to all prior Increments
and thoroughly tested, ensuring that all Increments work together.
As Scrum Teams mature, it is expected that their
definitions of “Done” will expand to include more stringent criteria for higher
quality. Any one product or system should have a definition of
“Done” that is a standard for any work done on
it.
End
Note
Scrum is free and offered in this Guide. Scrum’s
roles, artifacts, events, and rules are immutable and although implementing
only parts of Scrum is possible, the result is not Scrum. Scrum exists only in
its entirety and functions well as a container for other techniques,
methodologies, and practices.
Acknowledgements
People
Of the thousands of people who have contributed
to Scrum, we should single out those who were instrumental in its first ten
years. First there was Jeff Sutherland working with Jeff McKenna, and Ken
Schwaber working with Mike Smith and Chris Martin. Many others contributed in
the ensuing years and without their help Scrum would not be refined as it is today.
History
Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland first
co-presented Scrum at the OOPSLA conference in 1995. This presentation
essentially documented the learning that Ken and Jeff gained over the previous
few years applying Scrum.
The history of Scrum is already considered long.
To honor the first places where it was tried and refined, we recognize
Individual, Inc., Fidelity Investments, and IDX (now GE Medical).
The Scrum Guide documents Scrum as developed and
sustained for 20-plus years by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber. Other sources
provide you with patterns, processes, and insights that complement the Scrum
framework. These optimize productivity, value, creativity, and pride.
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