Running Projects with Scrum, Explained | Software Engineering

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Running Projects with Scrum

Software Engineering · Chapter 5: Agile Methodology in PracticeSection 5.7 · lesson 37 of 1036 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

The sprint, and Scrum's 3 roles, 4 ceremonies, and 3 artifacts.

  • Explain the sprint as Scrum's defining unit of time
  • Describe the 3 roles and their distinct responsibilities
  • Explain the purpose of each of the 4 ceremonies
  • Describe the 3 artifacts, including the burndown chart

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (852 words). Read along, or search it.

Agile Methodology in Practice

Running Projects with Scrum

Scrum is the most widely recognized way of putting the agile lifecycle into practice. It is a complete operating structure, built around a fixed-length cycle called a sprint. This section covers the sprint, and the three things Scrum defines. Its roles, its ceremonies, and its artifacts.

What Scrum Defines

Who, When, and What Gets Tracked

The engineering practices of X P focus on how code gets written. Scrum focuses on something different. It defines who does what, which meetings structure the work, and what gets tracked along the way. Its defining unit of time is the sprint, a fixed-length iteration, commonly two to four weeks. The team commits to a sprint's worth of work, executes it under a consistent rhythm of meetings, and closes it out before the next sprint begins. Scrum is largely agnostic about technical practices. Many teams run Scrum alongside X P's engineering practices.

The 3 Roles

Distinct, Non-Overlapping Responsibilities

Scrum defines exactly three roles, each with a distinct responsibility. The Product Owner owns the backlog, and decides what gets worked on, and in what order. They represent the customer's and the business's interests, and are the single point of accountability for the value the work produces. The Scrum Master facilitates and coaches the team's process, rather than managing people directly. They remove obstacles, and protect the team's focus. And the Development Team does the cross-functional work of turning backlog items into a working increment. It self-organizes, and shares accountability for delivering.

Worth Noticing

No Project Manager

It is worth noticing what is missing. None of these three roles is a traditional project manager. Deciding priority belongs to the Product Owner. Safeguarding the process belongs to the Scrum Master. And doing and organizing the work belongs to the Development Team. The jobs a single manager might otherwise hold are deliberately split apart.

The 4 Ceremonies

Structuring Every Sprint

A fixed set of four ceremonies, sometimes called events, structures every sprint. Sprint planning happens at the start. The team and the Product Owner decide together which backlog items to pull in, and roughly how to accomplish them. The daily standup happens every day of the sprint. It is a short, time-boxed check-in, to synchronize on progress and surface blockers. The sprint review comes at the end. The team demonstrates the working increment to stakeholders, and gathers feedback. And the retrospective follows the review. The team reflects on its own process, and decides what to change. That retrospective then feeds the next sprint planning, and the whole sprint repeats.

Reading the Ceremonies

2 Inspections, 1 Daily Conversation

Two of these ceremonies are easy to confuse, so it helps to be precise. The sprint review inspects the product, the working increment the team just built. The retrospective inspects the process, how the work actually got done. And the daily standup is the team talking to itself, synchronizing and surfacing blockers to each other. It is not a status report to a manager.

The 3 Artifacts

Making the Work Visible

Three artifacts give Scrum's work a visible, trackable form. The product backlog is the full, ordered list of everything that might ever be built for the product. It is continuously refined, owned and prioritized by the Product Owner, and never considered truly finished. The sprint backlog is the subset of items pulled into the current sprint, together with the team's own plan for delivering them. The team owns it, and updates it throughout the sprint as the work gets broken down. And the third artifact is the burndown chart.

Figure 2

A Burndown Chart

A burndown chart tracks the work remaining in the sprint, against the days remaining. The dashed line is the ideal. Work falling steadily, from all of it on day zero to none of it on day ten. The solid line is what actually happened. Notice the flat stretch around days three and four. For two days, the remaining work barely moved. That plateau is a real signal worth raising, not just a data point.

Why This Matters

A Stall You Can't Ignore

A burndown chart does not fix anything by itself. Its value is that it makes a stalled sprint impossible to ignore quietly. Without it, the same problem might only surface at the sprint review, days later, when there is far less time to respond. So the plateau is the moment to raise the issue at the daily standup, while the team can still act on it.

Key Terms

The Vocabulary of This Section

Let's lock in the key terms. A sprint is Scrum's fixed-length iteration, commonly two to four weeks, inside which its roles, ceremonies, and artifacts operate. The product backlog is the full, continuously refined, ordered list of everything that might ever be built, owned by the Product Owner. The sprint backlog is the subset of items pulled into the current sprint, together with the team's plan for delivering them. And a burndown chart tracks remaining work against time within a sprint, showing at a glance whether the sprint is on pace.

Key Takeaways

What to Carry Forward

To pull this together. Scrum runs on the sprint, a fixed-length iteration, commonly two to four weeks. Its three roles split priority, process, and the work itself between the Product Owner, the Scrum Master, and the Development Team. Four ceremonies structure every sprint. Planning, daily standups, the review, and the retrospective. The review inspects the product, while the retrospective inspects the process. And the backlogs and the burndown chart keep the work visible and trackable.

About Software Engineering at UPI Study

Software Engineering (Computer Science 301) is a self-paced online course of 103 video lessons in 15 chapters, from process models and agile to requirements, design, user interfaces, reliability, security and project management. It carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits.

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Why students take Software Engineering with UPI Study

How professional software gets builtSoftware Engineering covers how teams turn requirements into working, maintainable software: process models, agile, requirements, design, testing, reliability and project management. It is a core course in computer science and software degrees.
Credit at a fraction of the priceThe same 3 credits can cost $750 or more at a US college. Here it is one payment, self-paced, with lifetime access.
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130,000+students helped with college creditsACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Where the credit goes

Universities that work with NCCRS

Software Engineering carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Thomas Edison State UniversityThomas Edison State UniversitySigned partnerUniversity of the PeopleUniversity of the PeopleSigned partnerCharter Oak State CollegeCharter Oak State CollegeSigned partnerStrayer UniversityStrayer UniversitySigned partnerColumbia Southern UniversityColumbia Southern UniversitySigned partnerIndiana TechIndiana TechSigned partnerPenn StatePenn StateWorks with NCCRSSouthern New Hampshire UniversitySouthern New Hampshire UniversityWorks with NCCRSSUNYSUNYWorks with NCCRS +many more cooperating universitiesFind my college →

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Running Projects with Scrum

What is a sprint in Scrum?
A sprint is Scrum's fixed-length iteration, commonly two to four weeks long, inside which its roles, ceremonies, and artifacts operate. The team commits to a sprint's worth of work, carries it out under a consistent rhythm of meetings, and closes it out with a review and retrospective before the next sprint begins.
What are the three roles in Scrum?
Scrum defines the Product Owner, the Scrum Master, and the Development Team. The Product Owner owns and orders the backlog and is accountable for the value produced. The Scrum Master coaches the process, removes obstacles, and protects the team's focus without managing people directly. The self-organizing, cross-functional Development Team turns backlog items into a working increment. None is a traditional project manager.
What is the difference between a sprint review and a sprint retrospective?
A sprint review inspects the product, while a retrospective inspects the process. In the review, the team demonstrates the working increment to stakeholders and gathers feedback. In the retrospective, which follows the review, the team reflects on how the work got done and decides what to change, feeding into the next sprint planning.
What does a burndown chart show?
A burndown chart tracks the work remaining in a sprint against the days remaining, usually with an ideal line falling steadily to zero and an actual line showing real progress. A flat stretch where remaining work stops dropping signals a stalled sprint. Its value is making that stall visible early, so it can be raised at the daily standup while the team can still act.

About the Software Engineering course

How many college credits is Software Engineering?
Software Engineering (Computer Science 301) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Software Engineering cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 103 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
How long does Software Engineering take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 103 lessons total about 11 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
How do my credits reach my college?
When the course shows 100% complete, request the official transcript from your dashboard. It is sent to the college you name, and you can send it to more than one. Check your college first with "Find my college" on this page, or ask Athena.

Ready for the full course? Earn 3 credits in Software Engineering.

103 video lessons, a quiz after each one, and the graded work that earns the credit. Recommended for credit by NCCRS.

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