What is a Scrum Framework?

Many a times you might have heard, “scrum is a framework rather than a full methodology or process”! Why scrum is said to be a framework and not a process? 

This article explains the scrum framework in detail and answer the above mentioned question to the best of my understanding.

Scrum Overview

- Scrum is an iterative as well as incremental process and has its foundation laid up on the principles of the agile software development. 

- The agile foundation of the scrum helps it to focus up on keeping the code as simple as possible, testing the code quite often and delivering the working releases of the software system or application as soon as possible when they are ready. 

- The goal of the scrum lies in the philosophy of building a small client approved release as the team continues to develop the project rather than delivering one whole large completed software system or application with many undesired aspects at the end of the development process. 

What is a Scrum Framework?

- The scrum frame work is developed with the help of 3 core roles out of which first one is the “development team”. 

- When the scrum process is implemented for the development of a project, the development team is supposed to answer the following three questions:

1. What they had accomplished since the last scrum?
2. What they will do before the beginning of the next scrum?
3. Did they encounter any stumbling blocks or hindrances?

- After the answers to these three questions are obtained, the sprint burn down chart is updated. 

- Next comes the role of the “product owner”, the person who holds the vision for the software project. 

- He/ she hold the responsibility for defining the software product and preparing a product backlog based up on the user requirements. 

- This product backlog is constituted of the user requirements listed in the order of their priority of the business values. 

- The product owner has the authority to accept or reject the work that has been done and change the priority of the features that are to be implemented in a sprint. 

- The scrum master has to supervise all these processes and remove impediments if any. 

Benefits of Scrum Framework

- The scrum framework works well with a team that has abilities like that of self organizing and cross functionality. 

- The frame work allows the development team to do everything to achieve the sprint goals but staying within the boundaries of the scrum principles. 

- For the frame work to be properly implemented it is necessary that the sprint burn down chart should be high with the updates on a regular basis i.e., daily after the sprint review meeting. 

- The scrum frame work demands commitment to the sprint goals and the results are demonstrated to the product owner at the end of every sprint.

There are certain artifacts associated with the scrum framework which have been defined as follows:

1. Product backlog: Ordered log the user requirements based on the priority level of the business values. Created by product owner.
2. Sprint backlog: Created by the development team. Log of the tasks that are to be accomplished during the sprints. Obtained from the user stories.
3. Increment: Sum of all backlog items completed in the current sprint + backlog items completed in the previous sprints.
4. Sprint burn down chart: This chart provides the project stats.

From all the above discussion it won’t be wrong to conclude that scrum forms a type of “inspect and adapt” frame work.  Scrum is a quite easy to understand consisting off just 4 ceremonies, 3 core roles and 4 artifacts.