Introduction
Nowadays, Agile, especially Scrum, is becoming very popular. Every Industry is using this methodology to design/deliver their products. With more and more Agile-Scrum coming into the picture, one misconception is also prevailing: that Agile-Scrum projects don’t follow any process.
Is that true? The answer is No.
Agile-Scrum projects do follow a process, but the processes used in Scrum are bit different from processes being used in waterfall projects. Processes used in Agile-Scrum are Empirical Processes. Let’s understand what are empirical processes and how they differ from fixed processes.
Empirical processes are the processes in which decisions are made on observations rather than on a fixed, defined path. These processes are based on three pillars - transparency, inspection, and adaptation.
- Adaptation - Adjust the process as soon as possible before any further issue arises
- Inspection - Do a timely check if the given process is giving the desired outcome. If not change it
- Transparency - Is outcome coming from this process visible to all the stakeholders
- These pillars are very much related to Scrum Values Adaptation is related to Commitment, Inspection is related to Trust, and Transparency is related to Respect.
Here are a few differences between Fixed Processes and Empirical Processes...
- Fixed processes are repeatable and don't differ from project to project whereas empirical processes differ from project to project.
- In empirical processes steps are predictable, whereas, in the case of empirical processes, the next steps are not predictable.
- In the case of fixed processes, scope, and cost of changed requirements within the project are very risky, whereas in the case of empirical processes, this can be very well accommodated.
- Fixed processes are inflexible in terms of scope, resources, time and cost, whereas empirical processes are very flexible in all factors
- With Empirical processes, products are delivered very fast to market as compared to Fixed processes.
I hope this would help in understanding the process methodology used in Scrum.