There are many ways to approach project management – our preferred way is an agile approach using the Scrum Framework. This allows products to be built in a series of iterations, incorporating customer feedback at each stage, thus allowing a quick and efficient response to change.
The scrum framework breaks down into people and ceremonies. There are three main roles for people in the scrum framework: the product owner, the scrum master and the team.
The product owner’s role is to represent the final user of the product, and to identify the list of requirements the final product needs. This list is created in the form of a Backlog, which is basically a list of what’s required. The product owner has to prioritise the backlog. At EPIX, all members of our implementation and management teams take on this role. Each product owner sponsors their own list of requirements – needed to advance MARKUS and satisfy our end users.
The scrum master’s job is a complex one, but it’s mostly to support and empower the team to ensure they can get their work done. The scrum master also makes sure that the scrum framework is adhered to. At EPIX the role of the scrum master is usually performed by a member of the management team, but one who isn’t also a product owner at that time. An example of what an EPIX scrum master does is to ‘corral us for daily meetings’.
The final role is that of the team. Team members are responsible for working out how to accomplish the goals in the product backlog. The team decides how it should be done, and puts their own time estimates on it. The team’s output is the product. Scrum recognizes no sub-teams in a team, and so the team is not just made up of software developers. Almost everyone at EPIX, regardless of their job role, participates as a member of the team.
A sprint is one the of key parts of a scrum framework. A sprint is a fixed period of time where tasks move from backlog to completion. The current sprint period used at EPIX is two weeks. Occasionally this is switched to one week, but not often. Each sprint has four different ceremonies (or meetings) attached to it. We start with a sprint planning meeting every other Wednesday. Team members are assigned a list of tasks to complete during that sprint. This includes a combination of bug fixes, feature requests, code reviews and implementation tasks. Each team member plans their own day and decides how they will solve the tasks they have been allocated. They also help one another to ensure a successful sprint completion.
To monitor a sprint’s progress the framework advises that a daily scrum meeting takes place. Everyone takes part, reporting on progress, daily plans and any blockages that have occurred. We have this meeting at 9am every day.
At the end of each sprint there are two more meetings: sprint reviews and sprint retrospectives. The sprint review is a time to showcase what’s been achieved and allow others to review the completed work. It’s a good time for getting feedback on projects, for boosting team morale and for congratulating each other. Our sprint reviews occur on Tuesday mornings and usually include cake!
The final part of the sprint is sprint retrospective. This is where we analyse and reflect on how well the sprint went, look at what was successful, what went badly and what could be improved next time. It gives the team the opportunity to share their ideas on how to improve the process going forward. Everyone who took part in the sprint attends this meeting.
To sum up, by following the scrum framework our products can be developed easily and efficiently. Working in a two-week life cycle gives our product owners the ability to predict when a requested feature might be released. Customer feedback is always welcomed and often actioned on very quickly.
‘We’ve been using the scrum way of working for years,’ explains Mike, our MD. ‘It’s a great way to ensure that we’re all working in an effective and productive way. It means that we can respond quickly to any issues or customer requests that arise. It has worked as our team has grown and is a great framework for agile working.’
