The Basics, Scrum Events

Scrum events are carefully planned and time-boxed meetings for the Scrum Team designed to facilitate teamwork and product development. Each event serves a specific purpose and provides a framework for your Scrum Team to inspect and adapt, ensuring progress and continuous improvement. And, every Sprint has the same events in them. The Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum/ Stand-ups, Sprint Review and a Sprint Retrospective.

Sprint Planning

Sprint Planning marks the beginning of each Sprint, during which your team determines which items from the Product Backlog to take and put on the Sprint Backlog. It’s a collaborative session where the Product Owner shares the vision and priorities, while the Development Team brings their expertise to the table. The outcome is a Sprint Goal and a clear plan of action to achieve it.

Daily Scrum/ Daily Stand-ups

The Daily Scrum is a concise daily meeting where team members share their progress, plans for the day, and any potential obstacles. It’s an excellent way to keep everyone informed, identify impediments, and ensure a unified direction. According to Scrum this meeting is for the Developers and the Developers alone. The Scrum Master and Product Owner can be present but only participate if they themselves are taking up development tasks. The important distinction here is that they are present but don’t participate.

Sprint Review

The Sprint Review is a demonstration of the completed product increment during the Sprint. Your team presents the work to stakeholders and the Product Owner, gathering valuable feedback and insights. This event promotes transparency and ensures that the team remains aligned with stakeholder expectations.

Sprint Retrospective

After each Sprint, the team comes together for the Sprint Retrospective to reflect on the process and identify areas for improvement. This discussion helps the team continuously adapt and refine their practices, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. During this session the Scrum Team should choose at least one high priority process improvement and place it on the Sprint Backlog. The Scrum Master is responsible for facilitating the Events, like the Retrospective. The Scrum Master should help the team to have the discussions about improvement in a constructive manner that stays within the Timebox.

Why Scrum Events are Essential

Scrum events play a vital role in driving success and efficiency within your team:
Effective Communication: These events foster open and transparent communication, ensuring that everyone is on the same page.
Continuous Improvement: Regular retrospectives enable the team to learn from their experiences and implement improvements for future Sprints.
Stakeholder Engagement: The Sprint Review involves stakeholders, providing an opportunity for their valuable input and ensuring that the product meets their needs.
Adaptability: Scrum events empower your team to adapt to changes and challenges, helping them stay on track even in dynamic environments.

What are the 3 Pillars within Scrum?

Scrum contains many concepts, including 5 values, 3 pillars, 5 events, and 3 artifacts. This might sound like a lot, and perhaps even unnecessary, but nothing could be further from the truth! They all play an important role. The 3 pillars help to understand the principles on which Scrum is based.

Where do the 3 Scrum Pillars come from?

Scrum is based on Empiricism. Just like Scrum, Empiricism has 3 pillars, which Scrum has adopted. The 3 pillars can be seen as an ancient Greek temple. The temple has a roof, Empiricism, and 3 pillars, each representing one value: Transparency, Inspection, and Adaptation. Finally, there is a foundation necessary to support the 3 pillars, which is trust.

Empiricism

You may have heard the term “empirically determined.” This means something has been established based on practice. The expression “trial and error” is similar because you try something and see if it works or not. In Empirical working, we learn from practice, and this forms the basis for Scrum. However, we want to work in a structured manner, not just try everything. To do this, according to the Scrum framework, we need the other 3 pillars, as well as the foundation of trust.

Trust

As mentioned earlier, the foundation for the pillars in Scrum is trust. Trust makes it possible to have the other pillars. For example, transparency is not possible without trust. Why would someone be transparent if the organization doesn’t trust them to make mistakes? A mutual trust between team members and the organization is crucial in Scrum, as it enables empirical working.

Transparency

Transparency is one of the core principles and 3 pillars within Scrum, ensuring that all aspects of the process are visible to everyone. This includes the work being done, the progress being made, and any obstacles that may arise. Through transparency, Scrum teams can make informed decisions, adapt to changes, and continuously improve. Key elements such as the Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, and Burndown charts are made visible to everyone, allowing for clear communication and shared understanding. Transparency fosters trust among team members, stakeholders, and ensures alignment on goals, priorities, and expectations, contributing to successful outcomes.

Inspection

Inspection is an essential element and part of the 3 pillars within Scrum, where teams regularly assess progress toward goals and the quality of work. This process ensures that the team identifies problems, obstacles, or deviations early, allowing for timely adjustments. Scrum events such as the Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective promote continuous inspection of work and processes. Inspection is closely related to transparency, as it depends on clear, visible information about progress, challenges, and results. By inspecting regularly, the team can maintain an accurate view of the situation and make informed decisions to stay aligned with project goals—this is not possible without transparency.

Adaptation

Adaptation in Scrum refers to the team’s ability to adjust their approach based on insights gained through regular inspection. When the team identifies problems, inefficiencies, or changes in priorities, they adjust their plan, processes, or goals to stay on track. This flexibility ensures continuous improvement and alignment with project objectives. Adaptation is closely linked to transparency, as it relies on clear, accessible data about progress and challenges. When information is transparent, the team can make informed adjustments quickly, enabling them to respond effectively to emerging needs and remain aligned with both stakeholders and the broader vision.

Conclusion

The three pillars of Scrum—transparency, inspection, and adaptation—work together to create a framework that promotes continuous improvement and ensures teams can respond effectively to challenges. Transparency provides clarity and shared understanding, inspection allows teams to assess progress, and adaptation enables necessary changes to stay on track. When these pillars are embraced, Scrum teams are empowered to deliver high-quality results, adapt to changes, and achieve greater success in their projects.