Agile vs Scrum: what you need to know

Software development is one of the most rapidly evolving industries, and choosing the right method will influence the project management approach and workload completion. Agile methodology is one of the most widely used frameworks by teams all over the world.

Agile, as a philosophical base that lets teams adapt collaboration, iterative development, and customer need focus, has developed over the years. The Scrum process, like many agile methodologies, has its own framework.

In the article Agile vs Scrum, we will learn about what agile and scrum methodologies are, as well as their key differences and values.

What is Agile Methodology?

Agile is a product management methodology based on an incremental approach and iterative development. Its requirements and solutions evolve within cross-functional teams through implemented collaboration channels.

Agile methodology focuses on the customer and his needs rather than company goals. This enables teams to react to adjustments in a timely manner, which leads to quicker delivery of high-quality software.

Agile vs Waterfall

In a constantly changing world, there is an urgent call for creating more adaptive ways of doing things. This applies to the sphere of project management as well. Agile Methodology emerged as an alternative to the conservative Waterfall approach.

While Waterfall methodology operates in a hierarchical fashion best illustrated as a ladder, Agile's project management approach is to organize a network among all the participants, including agile team members and customers, where they can equally take part in the activities, bounce ideas, and exchange opinions to achieve project success.

The Waterfall, contrary to Agile manifesto, has a pretty straightforward organizational structure: it is tailored to move directly from the initial concept to the final product in compliance with your schedule. Agile methodologies resemble a dashed line since the workload is normally split into short intervals with pauses to discuss the achievements, continuous improvement and gather feedback from potential users.

Agile Principles and Values

In its role of modus operandi, Agile Methodology has its roots in 12 principles. This Manifesto for Agile Software Development serves as a guide, providing a profound comprehension of the essence of the approach and agile practices.

Research and analysis indicate that this project management model proclaims the need to implement agile principles and values.

Agile Values

The 4 core values include that aid in improving agile processes include:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

• Working software over comprehensive documentation

• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

• Responding to change over following a plan

Agile Principles

Let's look into the main agile principles, used in the project management.

Adaptiveness

Changes, adjustments, and feedback are acceptable and even welcome at any stage. This allows agile teams to boost project efficiency and the quality of the product and enhance its competitiveness.

Continuity

According to the agile frameworks, all the participants, including cross-functional team members, sponsors, and customers, should communicate with each other on a regular basis, discussing the results they achieved during short periods of time.

Cooperation

All the parties involved in the software development contribute to the project. Users collaborate together to produce the perfect working software and meet project requirements.

Openness and trust

Openness and trust. Communication is the key instrument in the agile framework. Contributors should be allowed to speak freely. Disputes and contract negotiation should be settled through open and productive conversations.

This means that the project manager, company directors, and shareholders have faith in their development teams. In addition, it results in the company, customers, and sponsors displaying mutual trust.

Simplicity

The Agile strategy suggests implementing small tasks within short working sessions, which enables the project manager to make assignments for the team achievable, coherent, and fully comprehensible with the use of this software development methodology.

Personal responsibility

Project managers rely on motivated and vibrant individuals, who have enough energy and discipline to be accountable and perform steadily.

Agile Methodologies and Scrum Methodologies

Agile Methodology corresponds more with a notion of project management philosophy than a strict action plan on how to deliver software to the clients. Thus, there are several frameworks that provide project managers with the requisite to apply the agile philosophy efficiently.

For instance, Scrum is one pf the most popular agile methodologies. It is a lightweight process framework where each team has its own assignment, which they work on during sprint sessions, followed by meetings to discuss the results and perspectives. You can find plenty of other agile frameworks to explore, including:

• Kanban board,

• Crystal Clear,

• Lean Software Development (LSD),

• Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM),

• Extreme Programming (XP).

Therefore, it is incorrect to state that Agile and Scrum are separate project management methods, as well as claim that they are identical. Scrum is simply a specific agile methodology used to assimilate Agile principles into your project administration strategy.

Benefits of Agile as Project Management Methodology

Obviously, Agile methodologies are extremely popular among software development teams because of their flexible, coherent, and interactive nature. It represents such modern values as prioritizing people over procedures, working product over papers, change over strict rules, and open communication over negotiations.

As a result, agile methods seem really appealing. Their adaptive and iterative essence perfectly aligns with complex projects of a relatively vague work field, where the final results are open for interpretation because they provide room for experimentation and change.

However, if alterations are not required and the amount of work is pretty much clear, the Agile development might result in unnecessary spending of time and resources, excessive functions, etc. Moreover, applying an agile approach requires a certain expertise.

Demonstrating empathy and soft skills, such as effective communication, willingness to cooperate and reaching agreements with people are vital if you strive to exercise a people-centered strategy.

What is Scrum Methodology?

As we now know, Scrum project management is a combination of several practices that embody the Agile concept for project management. Scrum is an Agile process, which basic characteristic is product or software development through strictly defined short development cycles called sprints.

They usually take from 1 to 4 weeks, and once the length of the sprint is decided, it may be prolonged. This goal is reached through particular roles and processes within scrum-based development projects:

• The Product Owner acts on behalf of the client's interests and makes business decisions.

• The Scrum Master administers the organizational aspect of the procedures. He supervises the meetings, communicates with the Product Owner, and monitors and motivates the staff.

• The Scrum Team and Scrum Master involve all the specialists accommodating the project, such as developers, QA, programmers, etc.

• Sprint planning is a meeting, where the Product Owner proposes the possible tasks for the upcoming sprint.

• Sprint backlog – a list of prioritized tasks that the development team should perform over this sprint. They appear on a Sprint Board in three columns, "To do", "In progress" and "Done". As the task status changes, scrum teams should move it to the corresponding column.

• Daily Scrum – a short daily meet-up to analyze what has been done by the scrum teams that day and plan their future activities.

• Over a Sprint Review Meeting, the team, owner and master express their point of view on the sprint results and create an updated backlog.

• A Sprint Retrospective Meeting allows the participants to analyze how the project progresses, reflect on the previous sprint, and modify the next one.

Pros and Cons of the Scrum Methodology

Scrum practices, just like other agile methodologies, inherit their major strengths and weaknesses. Alongside adjustability, open communication, and coherence, the Scrum methodology allows a project manager to stimulate transparency, rely on its staff, and control costs.

Nonetheless, a lack of expertise in agile and Scrum or soft skills among employees, an unspecified work scope, insufficient management, and the pressure of inflexible time limits can cause many obstacles and interfere with the desired outcome.

Key Differences Between Agile and Scrum Methodologies

Anyone who has dedicated a career to project management knows the plethora of methodologies to develop a product. Habitually, they often intertwine, overlap and get confused. Therefore, it is essential to clarify the issue of Agile vs. Scrum.

As research shows, Agile is a philosophy, strategy and form of guidance that one can use during the project realization. Meanwhile, Scrum describes the exact algorithm of how these guidelines can be incorporated into the development process.

Thus, "Agile vs Waterfall" and "Scrum vs Kanban" are the adequate substitutes for the "Agile vs Scrum" pair. Still, it is inaccurate to state that there are no differences between Agile and Scrum. They represent different things.

It can be compared to paint and a brush. You can draw objects using Extreme Programming instead of Scrum methodology, but you will still use one paint – Agile. It means that:

• Agile does not necessarily imply Scrum,

• Agile will always work hand-in-hand with Scrum.

To Recap

An experienced project manager knows that adopting the appropriate action plan is crucial to ensure a favorable outcome. If your project thrives in an adaptive environment, needs nonstop feedback, and can survive a lack of discipline, the Agile approach is certainly the way to go.

It would be a good choice to opt for the Scrum framework for administering Agile strategy if performing small tasks in short, limited time periods suits your project. If something is not appropriate for your needs, you can try another method or framework and even combine them at different development stages to create high-quality software.