scrum

Len Whitmore writes on using agile practices for the development of software. In the ten years since the Agile Manifesto, the agile development domain evolved, as evidenced by such things as the six levels of planning: strategy, release, iteration, daily, and continuous, with strategy appearing to be the least evolved of the planning levels.

Over the past ten years, Scrum has become the leading project management approach in agile development. Now, there’s a new kid on the block-Kanban. Devotees of each approach emphasize their fundamental differences, debating pros and cons of one versus the other. Recognizing that their principles and practices are not utterly dissimilar, Jean Tabaka leads an open discussion about Scrum and Kanban approaches. For instance, both approaches create high project visibility and work in smaller increments than traditional development. And yet, each approach emphasizes its principles that influence which practices and measures guide the team and its organization. Scrum uses a Burndown Chart for visibility on progress; Kanban tracks work-in-process (WIP) as one of its tools for progress visibility. Is one better than the other? Or more importantly, when is one better than the other?

Too many software projects spend too much time and money delivering too little, too late. Projects drag on for months, either thrashing from the chaos of ever-changing requirements or rigidly rejecting legitimate changes. If they deliver at all, they deliver products with too few features and too many bugs. Customers blame developers for not meeting their commitments. Developers blame customers for not knowing what they want. Dale Emery presents the better way-Scrum-a simple approach for managing complex projects. Scrum succeeds by breaking the development process into monthly or daily-or shorter-delivery cycles. Within every monthly cycle, a Scrum team plans, develops, and delivers new features with high quality and high business value. Every day, the team reports progress and coordinates its work. Scrum builds rapid action-oriented feedback into every step, guiding the team to stay on track.

The product owner role on agile projects is critical to the team and the project. The product owner's influence, performance, and behavior can set the stage for smooth sailing—or sink a project. In this article, Anupam Kundu shares two different product owner experiences to drive home the argument how their behaviors and practices can shape organizational culture—specifically for new product development and start-ups.