OIT uses Scrum, an Agile framework for completing complex projects. The purpose of this page is to provide helpful information and resources to learn more about Scrum. It is not intended to be an exhaustive resource, and it is not intended to be prescriptive: scrum is a toolkit for finding the process that works for you in your situation, and your needs are more important than staying true to the ideology.
Before you begin: talk to a Scrum Master
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The team then holds a sprint planning meeting, where the team commits to delivering a set of cards within the sprint period. The team takes this commitment very seriously, and as result, much of the sprint planning meeting is dedicated to figuring out what deliverables are achievable within this short window of time. Before the team can commit to delivering a card, they must fully understand the requirements and estimate the size and complexity. After a few sprints the team's average velocity will emerge and the team will become more reliable at meeting commitments.
It is important to note that team consistency greatly contributes to establishing a predictable velocity. When a new scrum team is formed, initial sprints will typically result in lower velocity than is the full potential for the team. As more sprints are completed with the same team, sprint team's dynamics, strengths, and weakness become more evident resulting in story assignments that are better suited for specific team members. When a team makeup changes across sprints, the new team member(s) introduces an "unknown" factor that will require few sprints for the team predictability to stabilize. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to maintain team consistency as much as possible to get the best results.
Committing to deliver a set of cards within a sprint is a team decision: the Product Owner and other non-team members assist by providing information and clarification only. As such, the team collaboratively estimates each card and jointly decides whether it will "fit" within the sprint. Many teams use an agile consensus-based estimation technique called Planning Poker to make these decisions, which facilitates discussion and encourages all voices to be heard.
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- Product Backlog: prioritized list of everything that might be needed in the product
- Sprint Backlog: the set of the Product Backlog items selected for a Sprint. Teams use index cards, Trello, or other tools to track progress
- Burn-downs, burn-ups, or cumulative flows: used by some teams to track progress towards the goal
Benefits of Scrum
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