A B C D E F I L M O P R S T U V W
- Adaptation
- One of the core Scrum pillars which requires adjustments to be made when the product or process varies beyond acceptable limits, ensuring the end product remains acceptable.
- Backlog
- A prioritised list detailing all pending work items for the Scrum Team, managed by the Product Owner.
- Backlog item
- Represents a discrete unit of work for the Scrum Team within the backlog. Scrum uses two backlogs: a Product Backlog containing items for the whole product, and a Sprint Backlog containing items to work on during a Sprint.
- Backlog refinement
- An iterative process of enhancing the detail, estimates, and sequence of backlog items, typically consuming no more than 10% of team capacity.
- Burndown chart
- A burndown chart is a graphical representation showing the volume of work completed over time during a project iteration or the entire project.
- Burnup chart
- A burnup chart is used to illustrate progress by displaying the cumulative amount of work completed in the context of the total amount of work.
- Common Sprint
- In Scrum@Scale, a synchronised time-box during which all teams produce a potentially shippable ‘Done’ increment, shared across the Scrum of Scrums.
- Common Sprint goal
- In Scrum@Scale, a shared objective for the Scrum of Scrums, potentially spanning multiple Sprints, to guide the shared Product Backlog’s implementation.
- Courage
- A Scrum value that embodies the Scrum Team’s resolve to tackle challenging problems and make tough decisions.
- Cross-functional
- Refers to the ability of the Scrum team to possess all necessary skills to produce a releasable increment within a Sprint without external dependencies.
- Chief Product Owner (CPO)
- Within Scrum@Scale, an individual who coordinates priorities among the Product Owner Team, aligning backlogs with stakeholder and customer needs.
- Commitment
- A Scrum value where individuals pledge to meet the objectives of the Scrum Team.
- Daily Scrum
- A Daily Scrum is a 15-minute time-boxed meeting occurring every day of the Sprint where Developers plan the upcoming 24 hours of work, facilitating team co-operation and enhancing performance.
- Definition of Done
- The set of criteria that must be met for an Increment to be considered complete, ensuring clarity and a common understanding amongst stakeholders regarding what has been achieved.
- Definition of Ready
- Criteria that a Product Backlog Item must satisfy to be considered prepared for development, involving aspects such as clarity and feasibility.
- Dependency board
- A visual tool displaying dependencies, collaborations, and events that may impact the team during the Sprint, aiding in the management of work flow.
- Developer
- Any Scrum Team member who engages in the creation of a usable Increment within a Sprint, irrespective of their specific area of expertise.
- Development Team
- A collective term for individuals working on Sprint Backlog items, possessing all required skills to produce a functional Increment every Sprint.
- Empiricism
- A philosophy based on the belief that knowledge arises from experience and evidence, which in Scrum underpins the iterative process of learning and adaptation.
- Engineering standards
- Consensus on development and technical norms that developers adhere to ensure high quality, releasable Increments.
- Enterprise Backlog
- In Scrum@Scale, a central repository of prioritised work items intended for the entire organisation, aiming to prevent duplication and clarify overarching priorities.
- Enterprise Backlog item
- In Scrum@Scale, significant work items with broad impact that typically entail collaboration across multiple teams and products over several Sprints.
- Enterprise Goal
- In Scrum@Scale, a strategic objective set at the enterprise level to be achieved via the Enterprise Backlog, aligning teams towards a common vision.
- Estimation
- The process of approximating the effort necessary to complete a Product Backlog Item, crucial for planning and tracking progress.
- Executive Action Team (EAT)
- In Scrum@Scale, the group responsible for addressing impediments beyond the reach of the Scrum of Scrums and for maintaining the quality and adoption of Scrum within the organisation.
- Executive MetaScrum (EMS)
- In Scrum@Scale, the overarching MetaScrum governing the organisation’s strategic direction and ensuring all teams are aligned with common goals.
- Focus
- A core Scrum Value where team members concentrate on Sprint tasks and objectives to achieve successful outcomes.
- Impediment
- Any obstacle that slows down or hinders the team’s progress, which are to be identified and eliminated swiftly, often with the assistance of the Scrum Master.
- Improvement Backlog
- In Scrum@Scale, a prioritised list of potential enhancements or impediment resolutions aimed at refining the team’s methodology and practices.
- Improvement Backlog item
- In Scrum@Scale, individual items within the Improvement Backlog that address specific impediments, opportunities, or change requirements.
- Improvement Backlog refinement
- In Scrum@Scale, the continuous process of detailing, estimating, and prioritising Improvement Backlog Items to convert challenges and opportunities into actionable plans.
- Increment
- A concrete representation of all completed Product Backlog items within a Sprint, cumulatively creating the product.
- Inspection
- One of the three Scrum Pillars, where Scrum artifacts and progress are examined regularly to identify variances, overseen by skilled inspectors.
- I.N.V.E.S.T. Criteria
- Guidelines for Product Backlog items ensuring they are actionable, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small, and testable, facilitating readiness for iteration.
- Large Scale Scrum (LeSS)
- LeSS is a framework for scaling Scrum across multiple interdependent teams, working concurrently on a single product to deliver large-scale systems and software.
- MetaScrum
- A gathering where the Chief Product Owner presents the Scaled Backlog to business stakeholders to incorporate their preferences and critical requirements.
- Minimum Viable Product
- The simplest form of a product that allows a team to gather maximum validated learning about customers with minimum effort.
- Openness
- One of the five Scrum Values which encourages transparency and the sharing of information, ideas, and feedback within the team and broader organisation.
- Pair Programming
- An approach where two programmers work together at one workstation to write code, with one writing code and the other reviewing each line as it is written.
- Product
- The outcome delivered by the Scrum team to stakeholders, embodying value and utility.
- Product Backlog
- An ordered list of all work requirements for a product, curated by the Product Owner, which outlines tasks needed for product creation, maintenance, and sustenance.
- Product Backlog item
- Any change or enhancement to the product slated for a future release, such as a new feature, function, requirement, enhancement, or fix.
- Product Backlog refinement
- The collaborative process during a Sprint where the Product Owner and Developers add detail and estimates to items in the Product Backlog.
- Product Envisioning
- In Scrum@Scale, the continual process of aligning multiple Scrum teams towards a unified direction in response to dynamic market conditions.
- Product Feedback
- Insights from stakeholders used to shape the iterative development and trajectory of a product or service.
- Product Goal
- A specific, future state of a product that provides a target for the Scrum Team to plan against and includes the scope of work necessary to achieve that state.
- Product Owner
- A Product Owner is the individual responsible for maximising the value of the product, managing the Product Backlog, and ensuring the team understands the items in the Product Backlog to the level needed.
- Refactoring
- The process of restructuring existing computer code without changing its external functional behaviour, to improve non-functional attributes of the software.
- Release Planning
- A strategic planning session for defining goals over a longer horizon than a Sprint, typically ranging from 1 to 6 months, led by the Product Owner Team to align with stakeholders.
- Refinement
- Refers to the process of Product Backlog refinement, where more detail and estimates are added to Product Backlog items.
- Respect
- A Scrum value that promotes regard and consideration for team members as capable and autonomous individuals.
- Roles
- Specific functions or responsibilities within a certain context. In Scrum, there are three main roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developer.
- Scrum
- Scrum is a lightweight Agile framework that facilitates people, teams, and organisations in creating value through adaptable solutions for complex problems.
- Scrum artifacts
- Artifacts are key elements within Scrum consisting of the Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, and Increment, each underpinned by commitments to increase transparency and focus, and provide a metric for tracking progress.
- Scrum at Scale
- Scrum at Scale is a framework that extends Scrum principles to large, complex organisational contexts, enabling efficient value delivery at scale.
- Scrum board
- A Scrum board is a visual representation for the Scrum Team to manage the Sprint Backlog, typically showing work items and their progress.
- Scrum ceremonies
- Ceremonies in Scrum, are also known as Scrum Events. They are prescribed events that take place during a Sprint, including Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-up, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective, and Product Backlog Refinement.
- Scrum Event
- Scrum Events are prescribed occurrences within the Scrum framework that ensure regularity and minimise the need for meetings not defined in Scrum. See Scrum ceremonies.
- Scrum Guide™
- The Scrum Guide is the official body of knowledge for Scrum, authored by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, comprising the roles, events, artifacts, and the rules that bind them.
- Scrum Master
- A Scrum Master is accountable for leading, coaching, and helping a Scrum Team and its environment in effectively implementing Scrum practices.
- Scrum of Scrums
- A Scrum of Scrums is a method for scaling Scrum to larger groups by structuring them into smaller Agile teams.
- Scrum of Scrums Master
- The individual responsible for guiding and coaching the Scrum of Scrums in the Scrum@Scale framework, ensuring its effective function and removing impediments.
- Scrum of Scrums Retrospective
- An event in Scrum@Scale for the Scrum of Scrums to introspect and devise improvement plans, held at least once every three months.
- Scrum of Scrums Team
- A group of Scrum Teams within Scrum@Scale that collaborate to deliver an integrated, potentially shippable Product Increment every Sprint.
- Scrum pillars
- The three pillars of Scrum support its empirical framework, which is based on empiricism or empirical process control. The three pillars are: transparency, inspection, adaptation.
- Scrum Team
- A Scrum team is a small, unified group within the Scrum framework, consisting of a Scrum Master, a Product Owner, and Developers, working collaboratively on the Product Goal.
- Scrum values
- Scrum values are the principles that guide the Scrum Team’s actions and behaviours, including Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage.
- Scaled Daily Scrum
- In Scrum@Scale, a time-boxed session following the Daily Scrum to plan work for the next day, address dependencies, and enhance collaboration across teams.
- Scaled Product Backlog Refinement
- Within Scrum@Scale, a continual process conducted by the Product Owner Team to detail, estimate, and order items in the Shared Product Backlog for team consumption.
- Scaled Sprint Review
- A Scrum@Scale event concluding the Common Sprint where the Shared Increment is inspected and the Shared Product Backlog adjusted accordingly.
- Self-management
- The autonomy of a team to decide on its workload, roles, and processes without external imposition or direction.
- Self-Managing
- Describes a Scrum Team’s ability to organise its own work autonomously, without the need for external management.
- Servant Leader
- A leader who prioritises the needs of the team, facilitating support and empowerment; the Scrum Master is an embodiment of this leadership style.
- Shared Definition of Done
- In Scrum@Scale, a standardised set of completion criteria across all teams within the Scrum of Scrums to ensure unified quality and integration standards.
- Shared Increment
- In Scrum@Scale, the combined, integrated output of all Sprints completed by the Scrum of Scrums, adhering to the Shared Definition of Done.
- Shared Product Backlog
- Within Scrum@Scale, a consolidated backlog serving multiple teams working on the same product or product family, facilitating prioritisation and reducing overlap.
- Shared Product Backlog Item
- An element within the Shared Product Backlog of Scrum@Scale, generally larger than individual team items and delivering substantial value.
- Spike
- A type of user story aimed at conducting research or building a technical proof of concept, typically time-boxed to a short duration.
- Sprint
- A Sprint is a predetermined, fixed period of time during which a Scrum team works to complete selected items from the Product Backlog.
- Sprint Backlog
- A Sprint Backlog is a selection of Product Backlog items chosen by the team to focus on during a Sprint, representing the work required to achieve the Sprint goal.
- Sprint board
- A visual tool displaying the current status of tasks in the Sprint Backlog, typically indicating ‘To Do’, ‘In Progress’, and ‘Done’ states.
- Sprint Burndown
- A chart that shows the work completed in the Sprint against the work remaining, providing a visual representation of Sprint progress.
- Sprint Cadence
- The fixed schedule and sequence of events and activities associated with consecutive Sprints.
- Sprint Goal
- A concise statement outlining the intent and business value of the work to be performed during a Sprint.
- Sprint Planning
- Sprint Planning is a Scrum event that kick-starts the Sprint by determining the scope of work to be undertaken throughout the Sprint.
- Sprint Retrospective
- A Sprint Retrospective is a meeting to reflect on the recently concluded Sprint, identifying lessons learned to encourage continuous improvement.
- Sprint Review
- A Sprint Review is a Scrum event conducted at the end of a Sprint where the Increment is reviewed and stakeholders provide feedback.
- Stakeholder
- Any individual outside the Scrum Team with a vested interest in the product who contributes to the incremental discovery process.
- Technical Debt
- The potential future work arising from past decisions that prioritised rapid delivery over perfect code, which may require additional resources to rectify.
- Timebox
- A precisely defined period within which a task or event must take place or be completed in the Scrum framework.
- Timeboxing
- The act of allocating a fixed, maximum amount of time for an activity, characteristic of the Scrum framework’s events.
- User Story
- A user story is a description of a software feature from the perspective of an end user, written in a language that emphasises verbal rather than technical communication.
- Velocity
- Velocity is a metric used within a Scrum Team to estimate how much Backlog work is converted into Product Increments within a Sprint.
- Vision Statement
- A succinct description of the Scrum Team’s direction and the desired future state it aims to achieve.
- Working Agreement
- An accord established among team members outlining their agreed-upon principles, practices, and conduct to facilitate collaborative work.