What is Scrum? - Definition & Meaning

Definition

Scrum is an agile framework for developing, delivering, and maintaining complex products. It organizes work into short iterations called sprints (typically two weeks), during which a cross-functional team delivers working software. Scrum provides structure through defined roles, events, and artifacts.

Technical explanation

Scrum defines three roles: the Product Owner who manages the product vision and prioritizes the Product Backlog, the Development Team (3-9 people) that performs the work, and the Scrum Master who facilitates the process and removes impediments. The five Scrum events are: Sprint Planning (the team selects work for the upcoming sprint), Daily Standup (daily 15-minute synchronization), Sprint Review (demo of delivered work to stakeholders), Sprint Retrospective (process evaluation and improvement points), and the Sprint itself as the overarching event. The three artifacts are: the Product Backlog (prioritized list of all desired features), Sprint Backlog (selected items for the current sprint), and the Increment (the working product result after each sprint). User stories describe features from the user's perspective. Story points estimate work complexity. Velocity measures how many story points a team delivers per sprint. The Definition of Done defines when an item is considered complete. Burndown charts visualize progress within a sprint.

How MG Software applies this

MG Software works with a tailored Scrum approach for our client projects. We work in two-week sprints, where each sprint starts with planning together with the client and ends with a demo of working software. The Product Owner role is fulfilled by the client or their representative, ensuring priorities always align with business goals. Daily standups keep the team synchronized, and retrospectives after each sprint ensure continuous improvement of our work process.

Practical examples

• A software team working in two-week sprints: Monday starts with Sprint Planning, daily 15-minute standups, and every two weeks a demo to the client followed by a retrospective to improve the work process.
• A startup using Scrum to deliver their MVP: the Product Owner prioritizes the backlog so the most valuable features are built first, and after four sprints (eight weeks) a working product is ready for initial users.
• An enterprise team coordinating multiple Scrum teams via Scrum of Scrums, where each team runs their own sprint but discusses shared dependencies in weekly synchronization meetings.

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