Complete Agile Scrum Master Tutorial Guide for Beginners

If you are a tech savvy then you must have heard of agile and scrum terms frequently. Both have its own strange language like stand-ups, planning pokers, or sprints etc. If you are also new to the agile scrum then you should refer this blog thoroughly otherwise you can be hooked at the workplace. The way how it takes the complicated problems, prioritizing the tasks and the best ways to solve each of the tasks are incredible.

Agile Scrum Master Tutorial Guide

You with all the fundamental knowledge you need regarding Agile and Scrum Master in the following sequence:

• What is Agile?
• What is Scrum?
• What are the features of Scrum?
• Important parts or people of the Scrum Framework
• How to start a Basic Scrum Framework?
• Agile Process - transparent Work
• What is the need of iteration or Improvements?
• Final Words

What is Agile?

Most of the times, both terms agile and scrum are used interchangeably but there is an important difference between the two.

Agile is defined as the complete set of methods that are based on principles or values expressed in the Agile Manifesto as the cross-functionality of teams, collaboration, or self-organization etc.

What is Scrum Master?

Scrum is the framework used to implement the agile development successfully. So, you must be able to differentiate between analogy recipe and diet now. A diet is the set of methods based on principles or values. A recipe is a framework that can be used to implement the vegetarian diet ahead. Here, Agile is the diet and Scrum is the recipe.

Read: A Definitive Guide to Scrum Methodology and Scrum Project Management?

Today, a lot of Companies are not just involved in software development but embracing the agile methodologies too. From all agile methods, Scrum is one of the popular names used frequently by Companies. In the next section, we will discuss the features of the Scrum and who can enjoy the maximum benefits from the Framework.

What are the Features of Scrum?

You must be thinking that Scrum is suitable for Software engineers or developers only. But it can be utilized for almost any type of project either it is complex or simpler. If you are in a marketing team and needs to write a copy of the complex project then Scrum is definitely the best option for your team.

It can be used by everyone like marketing agencies, FBI, construction crews, any type of product, a software application, or a small email campaign. Scrum always helps you to complete the most complicated work in almost half the time. The different roles associated with Scrum are the product owner, Scrum Master, Scrum developer, Agile expert etc.

Here are the things that can be performed by Scrum masters successfully –

• This is easy to plan for sprints, releases, daily activities etc.
• Developers can understand the artifacts including Sprint backlogs, products, deliverables, definitions etc.
• Explain the best practices around the sprints or releases that are really helpful during the execution.
• Developers could understand how to track or monitor a Scrum project with appropriate matrices or indicators.
• You are free to focus on advanced topics like complex systems, distributed teams etc.
• A combined knowledge of agile methods and scrum best practices can work magically for your project.

Important Parts or people of the Scrum Methodology

To understand the Scrum topic in depth, you should know the people and part of the Framework well. The best part is that you don’t need any special experience or certification to start. There is a need for organizing your thoughts and your backlogs. Let us break down the parts that make Scrum happen:

• Scrum Framework starts with the Product Owner and he is the person who expresses the best interests of users and he has the authority to decide what should be added to the final product.
• The product owner takes care of the Backlog that involves tasks or requirements for the final product needs. This is an important part and BACKLOG should be prioritized wisely here. This is the job of a product owner only.
• Next important part is the Sprint that is described as the predetermined framework helping the team to complete a set of tasks from the Backlog. Each task is to set some deadlines based on the length or efforts.
• Teams work together almost daily to meet up the deadlines to add the progress status in the Daily Scrum. For a few people, it is named as the daily stand-ups too.
• For each Sprint, there is added one Retrospective or we can say Review in simple words where the work of the team is reviewed well and possible ways are discussed to make necessary improvements in the next Sprint.

So, you can see yourself there is no need for specific training to get started. Still, you should follow the standard rules or guidelines to make the Scrum work. If you will compare the Scrum and Poker together then this is not wrong but its rules can be learned in ten minutes only. Obviously, it takes time in getting great at it.

Read: Agile Scrum Master Interview Questions And Answers

How to start a Basic Scrum Methodology?

When you are tired of using the same methods again and again. Why not give a chance to the Scrum Framework today? As we have discussed already, there is no need for special training to get started and it takes a matter of minutes only to learn the things on your own. You can also refer to the free guide available on the Scrum official site.

Obviously, learning the basics could be easy for you but how to master the scrum skills is a challenge for you. For this purpose, you should join some online education institute like JanBask Training to make the things easy and more significant for you. Once you will master the scrum, you can be more productive and happier employee like never before.

Let us learn the basics of how should you get started…????

• First of all, you need to download the PFD file from the official site of Scrum. Read it thoroughly in your free time and highlight the important things too. Learn the phrases that are new to you and start memorizing them quickly.
• In the next step, decide on your role, either it is a Project Manager or the Scrum Master. There is no place for ego when you are working with Scrum and it avoids team conflicts too.
• Now start with the creation of the Backlog where you can list everything related to the project and prioritize them based on their importance. Don’t forget that Backlog is always incomplete. As soon as the project starts taking shape then needs are added to it automatically. The Product Owner is primarily responsible here.
• Now, plan for the Sprint and decide on tasks from the backlog that you are planning to complete in the first Sprint. Keep in mind that Sprints are always time restricted so you should pick tasks accordingly. Make sure that tasks are assigned to the right people based on their skills or knowledge.
• This is the time to start work on the planned Sprint. Team members will start working on the tasks one by one and you may check the progress in Daily Scrum whenever needed. So, it will take only a few minutes to check what did you work on yesterday, what will be started today and is there anything that needs more help.
• In the last step i.e. Retrospective, the work will be reviewed carefully by the concerned people and feedback is given to make the next Sprint even better.

Once you first Sprint is complete, this is the right time to start over again. Pick up more tasks from the backlog and repeat the process again.

Agile Process – Transparent Work

The important principle or best practice in Scrum is Transparency. The team leader should understand that everyone is working for the Company and equally responsible for the progress and achievements accomplished. That’s why keeping thing more transparent is important for complex software projects. The major component of Framework for the transparency is the Scrum Board. This is the place where you could manage backlogs, or tasks effectively and check the progress of the current Sprint together. Scrum Boards are simple to understand like sticky notes where charts or other tracking features are added for each task.

The main objective here is to check each task is visible completely to the users. The team members can see the work themselves and start on the same already. There is no reason that they should come to the project manager all the time for work. When tasks are outlined in detail properly before you assign them, work can be completed much faster than your expectations.

What is the need for iterations or improvements?

One of the best features of Scrum that makes it even more powerful is the idea of iteration or continuous improvements. Every time you deliver a Sprint to the client then it does not signify that work is complete but one milestone is achieved successfully. Imagine you spent thousands of dollars in working on a complex project and realized later it was not good for your Company at all. Learning the issues after the final product deployment is not acceptable at all. This is the reason why iterative deliveries are so popular these days. Instead of deploying the complete project together, it should be delivered in chunks over time. It would make the changes easy and affordable too. Besides the iterations, Scrum focuses on improving the process with each new cycle too.

During the Retrospective meeting, everyone can give his opinion on how the efficiency of a project can be improved. He can suggest solutions to work even better in the next Sprint. Ultimately, the team would be able to deliver more with each new cycle.

Final Words:

The objective behind the framework is not to do more work but to work smarter and achieve more. With Scrum Framework, you can always complete the twice of work in half the time. With the Scrum, achievements are measured based on the work completed not on the basis of the number of hours. In this way, you can always spend more time with people and things you love. It would create perfect life-balance approach too.