Scrum development is a term used for a management method as part of agile software engineering. As well as providing an iterative, incremental framework for project management, the process is based on the clear allocation of roles between the team, the product owner and the scrum master. Kerstin Buth, product manager at Lindenbaum GmbH, has been a professional scrum master for a number of weeks now. She qualified during the recent ‘Karlsruher Entwicklertage’, an event held by Ken Schwaber, one of the founders of this method. She provides some of her views on the topic to the Lindenbaum Newsletter below:

Question: Why did you decide to qualify as a scrum master?
Kerstin Buth: My qualification as a professional scrum master was more of a spin-off from learning more about the process. As a product manager at Lindenbaum, it was far more important for me to extend my knowledge of scrum development for my role as product owner. The product owner provides the interface between the external customer and the internal development team. Ken Schwaber’s training course provided many new ideas on how this role can be the driving force behind the process.

Question: What will change for customers?
Kerstin Buth: What we expect to achieve from the method is that we will be better able to respond to customer requirements. The scrum management process helps us make development processes more transparent. Our customers benefit from the fact that we will carry out an installation on the test system every three weeks, which will allow our customers to test for themselves the incremental improvement in software performance. Their feedback can subsequently be fed back into the development process, meaning that the final product will fully meet customer expectations.  

Question: What will change internally at Lindenbaum?
Kerstin Buth: We aren’t newcomers to agile development. Some elements, such as pair programming or consistent software development in teams, have been adopted at the company for some time. Our experience to date has been very positive: for example, the three-week sprints enable the implementation of a more transparent quality assurance process. We find we can respond more flexibly to requirements if we are not tied to a fixed road map for the entire year. Moreover, consistent teamwork is motivating: there has been a fundamental improvement in internal communication. Each team member can take on more responsibility for his or her work and – just as importantly - has an idea of the end result. It is these elements that we want to extend and improve in the future.

More information on scrum development can be found e.g. at scrum.org