Benefiting By Using Scrum Methodology In Projects

By Author: Mrugesh panchal
Total Articles: 48
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Project managers and development companies have used traditional project development methodologies extensively in the past to churn out successful projects. However, many times, traditional methods do not deliver the expected project results, and fail to incorporate the newly emerging market trends into the project definition. The entire project might be properly worked out and incepted, but by the time it is completed, it is discovered that a newly launched product has already captured the bulk of the market, and the product so painstakingly developed by you is forced to compete rather than monopolize the sales channels. Perhaps the main reason why this happens is linear project development methodology is stage bound i.e. the entire project is executed in stages, and it is very difficult to start the project afresh if some of the features and functionality linked with the project needs to be changed.

Scrum provides a definite solution, and helps to develop projects that can be changed dynamically with the changes occurring in the market conditions. Scrum has great adaption capability – it can easily and effortlessly ...
... adapt to the changes and incorporate them into the product even while it is currently under development. It is worth looking at the advantages offered by scrum methodology over traditional Waterfall development methodology.

Using scrum methodology
Rather than spending countless hours in planning the project, spending even more time working out the process flow, and designing project modules, scrum can get you started right away. You need to put in some initial though about what kind of features and functionality the project is supposed to deliver, and once you prepare a master list pertaining to the project requirements, you can immediately start with the development activity.

You save a lot of time in planning and implementing projects.

Development carried out in daily sprints
Unlike traditional development methods, scrum is not stage bound. It is very flexible. You do not have an entirely separate “stage” or “process” in which the actual development activity should be carried out. The development starts almost immediately in the form of daily sprints. The entire project is broken down into small segments of development activity called sprints in which the developers design and create the product functionality. A sprint typically lasts for two weeks at the end of which completely developed functionality is delivered to the project owners. The features are “shippable” i.e. totally “complete”. Once a sprint is completed and tasks are successfully developed, the sprint can be executed again with fresh tasks and new functionality, which can be developed on an individual basis, just like in the first sprint.

You immediately start with the manufacturing process and start developing product features on the go!

Adaption to new needs and incorporating changes in the development cycle
This is one area where scrum scores and traditional development methodology fails. Look at it from a practical point of view. A project might be thought about and carefully planned by the project manager. Right from inception, all the stages may be worked out and planned. Once the project flow is determined and finalized, it cannot be changed or tampered with. The development has to proceed in a predefined manner. This is not the case with scrum. You can change the product definition any time during the project implementation, even while the project is being developed, or may be nearing completion. It will not affect the project results or deliverables. You can force the changes into the current project, and it will incorporate them without disrupting the project flow or development. You can also decide what needs to be developed and when, including in what precise manner.

Introduce changes in the product features and functionality at any stage during the development process.

Develop profitable projects
With scrum, you can control the business value of what you are developing. You are not forced to develop functionality just because it is a part of the project, or because it was decided to develop during the project planning stage. You can select which of the tasks are important and which carry high business values. You can also ascertain just how important the feature will be once it is launched into the market based upon the feedback received from the end users – something not supported and impossible in traditional methodology. As the project proceeds, you can decide which of the product features are less important and should be avoided. On the other hand, you can increase the business value of the project by adding new features and functionality, which carry more weight, and business value.

Decrease your project development costs and increase your ROIs through scrum.

Please visit us if you are new to scrum and desire to develop successful projects using scrum. You can benefit from profit generating scrum projects by implementing scrum methodology into your existing projects. Find how to do this now!