Overview of Scrum Phases

There are a lot of technologies to consider for project management such as Agile, Scrum, XPM, Kanban, Prince2, and PMP. The project managers, team players, and other senior leaders are entrusted to work on the pressuring environment with the ability to deliver and make the projects successful. To do that they are required to know all the project management techniques and methodologies and be a master of one. The industry as such both manufacturing and software development prefers the managers who are certified in one or many frameworks and methodologies. In this article, we will discuss the Scrum project phases in detail.

Begin with understanding scrum if you are just starting with scrum projects. 

Scrum phases 

There are 3 groups of Scrum phases and processes namely pregame, game, and post-game.

These are different from the waterfall, spiral, and iterative model. The waterfall methodology has the following phase such as planning and developing phases. The Spiral makes the actions go again and again. Scrum phases are more practical than other methods. The Scrum methodology phases are important to understand and comprehend in detail for every aspiring scrum master.

1) The first phase is the pregame phase which deals with the planning and architecture of the project.

The planning is done with the creation of the backlog and list of activities that must be done for breaking down the epics into smaller user stories to make the product backlog. Also, the user stories are made into tasks in the sprint backlog stage. 

Next is the Architecture or high-level design. Here most of the actual work in the sprint backlog is decided. The work that is accomplished is how to work on the tasks, make changes if required, refine the tasks, do analysis, and solve issues or problems that appear in the processes. 

2) The game phase is the second phase in the scrum phases.

It is where the actual work is accomplished. Here each task assigned to the resource is started and completed with the definition of done. There 4 steps to accomplish the tasks,

• Develop the sprint backlog and then start the development, testing and documenting changes, etc
• Close the work status
• Conduct review meetings
• Make the changes required for the definition of the done.

Here in this phase at the beginning, there will be a stand-up meeting and every team member must attend this meeting. After the planning phase when the development starts there might be issues or problems that need to be solved, or so the scrum master or the product owner will stop the sprint and accommodate the changes and then restart the sprint newly. To know more and explore more we recommend you take up the Scrum Master Certification training at StarAgile for your bright future.

The team members at the end of every sprint must do the following,

• Actualize  a burndown chart
• Take part in the sprint review meeting
• Finally, take part in the retrospective meeting

3) The post-game phase is the last in the scrum phases.

The development phase is ended and the products are prepared for the release. All the necessary steps such as testing, integration, training, user documentation, and marketing materials are released.

As you see the scrum is more time-oriented than the other methods. The people do not waste time as time is very important.

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Agile Scrum methodology phases

The scrum models have 5 steps also called phases in scrum.

Step 1:  Product Backlog Creation

In this step, the large items and functional details are transformed into epics and user stories. The user stories are transformed from large items and are smaller which can be put in the product backlog. The epics can also be included in the product backlog but cannot be included in the sprint backlog without converting it to a user story.

A typical user story example is as an admin I want to add, modify, and delete the tasks for the users in the website.

The following required fields in the user stories are necessary.

• The user stories significance
• The initial estimate made during the meeting
• Demo of how to make the user stories into tasks

Know what is included in the product backlog

Step 2: Sprint planning and creating backlog

The sprint duration is very important so that the user stories are as small as possible. The typical average sprint duration lasts about 2 weeks. If the sprint duration is small than the advantage is that more customer feedback can be received and most of the errors and bugs can be addressed earlier. If the sprint duration is long then it allows the developer to work thoroughly. 

The next stage is to do the sprint backlog creation for which the scrum team must select the important user stories and make them into smaller tasks. They need to plan on how to get the task completed. Also, one important thing is to prioritize the necessary tasks. StarAgile conducts CSM certification online training for the professionals aspiring to become a certified scrum master.

Step 3: Working on sprint

The actual user stories are moved as small tasks in the sprint backlog where the actual work starts. This is where the realization of the software application for example the website development begins.

To begin with, a task board also called a Kanban board is made with a lot of cards is used. The cards specify the details about the tasks such as assignee, work details, due date or the time duration, etc. The task board consists of the following columns "Product backlog or the User stories", and the "To Do" lists, "Work In Progress" and then "Testing" and "Work Done" columns.

The cards can be moved from the left to right in the order of preference and based on the completion. The task board is explained thoroughly in the Scrum master certification training online at StarAgile institute.

The typical task board is shown in the diagram below,

 Instead of a physical chart, you can have the digital chart prepared in the computer using the software such as Jira, Trello, Kanbanize, Monday, etc

In this step the scrum meetings are important as it is done to track the progress status and who is doing what status. The burndown chart is the output of this meeting as it provides the details about how many tasks are completed and if there any issues or problems in completing the tasks in the "Work In Progress" columns.

Step 4: Testing and Product Demonstration

The tasks completed are to be realized as a working product with full life cycle testing. The testing cost can be minimized with the addition of QA or having fewer user stories, however, the first one is the best possible solution. Every sprint that is completed must be demonstrated to the customer for his acceptance and his viewpoint on the complete solution

Step 5: Retrospective and the next sprint planning

The result of this step is to discuss what went well and what can be improved for the next level. Also, you need to discuss the lessons learned and the pitfalls of any particular issues or problems. Then the next sprint planning has to be commenced based on the knowledge that we have for the current processes and past projects. StarAgile conducts Certified scrum master online training for the professionals. Understand the sprint retrospective process. 

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Also Read: Scrum Workflow

Final Takeaway

To know more and implement the scrum phases in real-time take up the CSM certification or the Scrum Master Certification online at StarAgile institute. We recommend the training at StarAgile as it is the pioneer online coaching and training institute in India for the Scrum and Agile training.