Saturday, February 29, 2020

An overview of scrum methodology

An overview of scrum methodology Software development organizations have become more interested in agile methodologies, whose focus is client collaboration, individual value, and adaptation to change. Scrum is a framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value. 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. What is the scrum? Scrum is a framework for managing work with an emphasis on software development. It is designed for teams of three to nine developers who break their work into actions that can be completed within time-boxed iterations, called sprints (typically two-weeks) and track progress and re-plan in 15-minute stand-up meetings called daily scrums. Approaches to coordinating the work of multiple scrum teams in larger organizations include Large-Scale Scrum, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and Scrum of Scrums, among others. Scrum values:- Scrum is a feedback-driven empirical approach which is, like all empirical process control, underpinned by the three pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation. All work within the Scrum framework should be visible to those responsible for the outcome: the process, the workflow, progress, etc. In order to make these things visible, scrum teams need to frequently inspect the product being developed and how well the team is working. With frequent inspection, the team can spot when their work deviates outside of acceptable limits and adapt their process or the product under development.[18] These three pillars require trust and openness in the team, which the following five values of Scrum enable:[14] Commitment: Team members individually commit to achieving their team goals, each and every sprint. Courage: Team members know they have the courage to work through conflict and challenges together so that they can do the right thing. Focus: Team members focus exclusively on their team goals and the sprint backlog; there should be no work done other than through their backlog. Openness: Team members and their stakeholders agree to be transparent about their work and any challenges they face. Respect: Team members respect each other to be technically capable and to work with good intent. Scrum roles:- The three roles defined in scrum are the ScrumMaster,the product owner, and the Team (which consists of Team members). The people who fulfill these roles work together closely, on a daily basis, to ensure the smooth flow of information and the quick resolution of issues. ScrumMaster The ScrumMaster (sometimes written â€Å"Scrum Master,† although the official term has no space after â€Å"Scrum†) is the keeper of the process. The ScrumMaster is responsible for making the process run smoothly, for removing obstacles that impact productivity, and for organizing and facilitating the critical meetings. The ScrumMasters responsibilities include Removing the barriers between the Development Team and the Product Owner so that the Product Owner directly drives development. Teach the Product Owner how to maximize return on investment (ROI), and meet his/her objectives through Scrum. Improve the lives of the development Team by facilitating creativity and empowerment. Improve the productivity of the development Team in any way possible. Improve the engineering practices and tools so that each increment of functionality is potentially shippable. Keep information about the Team’s progress up to date and visible to all parties. In practical terms, the ScrumMaster needs to understand Scrum well enough to train and mentor the other roles and educate and assist other stakeholders who are involved in the process. The ScrumMaster should maintain a constant awareness of the status of the project (its progress to date) relative to the expected progress, investigate and facilitate resolution of any roadblocks that hold back progress, and generally be flexible enough to identify and deal with any issues that arise, in any way that is required. The ScrumMaster must protect the Team from disturbance from other people by acting as the interface between the two. The ScrumMaster does not assign tasks to Team members, a task assignment is a Team responsibility. The ScrumMaster’s general approach towards the Team is to encourage and facilitate their decision-making and problem-solving capabilities so that they can work with increasing efficiency and the decreasing need for supervision. The goal is to have a team tha t is not only empowered to make important decisions but does so well and routinely. Product Owner The Product Owner is the keeper of the requirements. The Product Owner provides the â€Å"single source of truth† for the Team regarding requirements and their planned order of implementation. In practice, the Product Owner is the interface between the business, the customers, and their product related needs on one side, and the Team on the other. The Product Owner buffers the Team from the feature and bug-fix requests that come from many sources and is the single point of contact for all questions about product requirements. Product Owner works closely with the team to define the user-facing and technical requirements, to document the requirements as needed, and to determine the order of their implementation. Product Owner maintains the Product Backlog (which is the repository for all of this information), keeping it up to date and at the level of detail and quality, the Team requires. The Product Owner also sets the schedule for releasing completed work to customers and make s the final call as to whether implementations have the features and quality required for release. Team The Team is a self-organizing and cross-functional group of people who do the hands-on work of developing and testing the product. Since the Team is responsible for producing the product, it must also have the authority to make decisions about how to perform the work. The Team is therefore self-organizing: Team members decide how to break work into tasks, and how to allocate tasks to individuals, throughout the Sprint. The Team size should be kept in the range from five to nine people, if possible. (A larger number make communication difficult, while a smaller number leads to low productivity and fragility.) Note: A very similar term, â€Å"Scrum Team,† refers to the Team plus the ScrumMaster and Product Owner. Scrum pros:- Scrum can help teams complete project deliverables quickly and efficiently: Scrum ensures effective use of time and money Large projects are divided into easily manageable sprints Developments are coded and tested during the sprint review Works well for fast-moving development projects The team gets clear visibility through scrum meetings Scrum, being agile, adopts feedback from customers and stakeholders Short sprints enable changes based on feedback a lot more easily The individual effort of each team member is visible during daily scrum meetings Scrum cons:-Nothing is perfect, and the Scrum methodology is no exception. In some cases, Scrum is combined with other project management techniques that can help resolve some of these drawbacks: Scrum often leads to scope creep, due to the lack of a definite end-date The chances of project failure are high if individuals arent very committed or cooperative Adopting the Scrum framework in large teams is challenging The framework can be successful only with experienced team members Daily meetings sometimes frustrate team members If any team member leaves in the middle of a project, it can have a huge negative impact on the project Quality is hard to implement until the team goes through the aggressive testing process Scrum process:- Needless to say, proper planning and smart decision making can help you get past these disadvantages with the Scrum methodology. For example, in larger teams, each member needs to have defined roles and responsibilities with definite goals, so that there is no compromise on quality and no excuse for failure. This will keep the team focused to project goals. Plus, the ScrumMaster needs to guide the team effectively to avoid pitfalls and ensure 100% project success.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Global Organizational Environment Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global Organizational Environment - Article Example This is a reflective essay which summarises my learning experience gained through the entire model describing each of the sessions undertaken by me all through the course. One aspect has been chosen in each of the sessions’ and an academic journal has been selected which helped me to have a further detailed knowledge about the topics covered in each of the sessions. Session 1: Organizational form and purpose The first session of the module was meant to have an understanding about the various types of business concerns operating in different parts of the world and how they are governed. This session was a great learning experience for me that helped me to have a wide knowledge about different types of organisations, their primary motives or purposes, the concepts of corporate governance and stakeholders and the various ethical issues concerned with the business activities followed by the organizations. The concept of corporate governance and the problems related to the agency t heory was an interesting topic discussed in this session. Agency theory is one of the corporate governance theories which have marked significant importance in the recent years. Jensen and Meckling (1976) are commonly associated with the term agency theory as found in most of the existing literature. The journal named â€Å"A Survey of Corporate Governance† by Shleifer and Vishny (1997) helped me to know more about the issues related to corporate governance systems followed by different business organisations worldwide. It also helped to have knowledge about the concept of ownership concentration found in business concerns. Enron can be cited as one of the many examples related to an organisation which restored to unethical accounting practices because of the existing agency problems associated with the company. It is recorded as one of the major accounting scandals which have ultimately led to the downfall of Enron (Arnold, & Lange, 2004). Session 2: Transnational business a nd its role in contemporary society This session was aimed at having knowledge about the various roles played by transnational companies (TNCs) and how they have contributed to global trade. This session helped me to learn about the impacts of TNCs on the global trading environment, different types of internationalisation strategies followed by organisations, costs and benefits associated with free trade mechanism, and role of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organisation (WTO). Different types of internationalisation strategies followed by TNCs and other global organisations were of particular interest to me. Internationalisation is a process which is followed by organisations to expand their business outside their national boundaries and it can be achieved through various strategies followed by different firms. The journal named "Internationalization strategies for services" by Gronroos (1999) speaks about five types of internationalisation strategies that are followed by service organisations with their motives to establish their business abroad. Those internationalisat

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Relationships and Sexuality Worksheet and Journal Essay

Relationships and Sexuality Worksheet and Journal - Essay Example This paper highlights that the passages offered for consideration provide a comprehensive look at Christian perception of human relations based on the idea of unselfish help, love and cooperation in the name of God. The righteousness is reflected in a kind and respectful way a person treats other people. At the same time, the importance of careful choice of friends is emphasized, for friends should help a person in self-improvement and encourage all the best traits and qualities. Thus, these passages shape the attitude towards relationships based on benevolence.As the report outlines sexuality viewed from the Christian point of view should be free of impurity and sexual immorality. The key ideas promoted in the given passages are: 1) the connection between a human and the God through the body and thus necessity to keep the body ‘clean’ from adultery, sexually immoral actions and evil desires; 2) the idea of mutual marital fidelity and being loyal to a single person whom one has once chosen. In other words, sexuality in Christian context has certain moral restrictions that should keep people from crossing the line between sexuality and immorality.  The purpose in life is a kind of a lighthouse that leads us though the life journey, otherwise we could easily get lost. In fact, a person can take anything for a life purpose, anything that fills his/her way with sense turning mere existence into full life.Â