Should you use Scrum?

When to use scrum methodology

Agile software development is based on an incremental, iterative approach. Instead of in-depth planning at the beginning of the project, Agile methodologies are open to changing requirements over time and encourages constant feedback from the end users.

Business stakeholders and developers must work together to align the product with customer needs and company goals.

While the level of flexibility in Agile is usually a positive, it also comes with some trade-offs. It can be hard to establish a solid delivery date, documentation can be neglected, or the final product can be very different than originally intended.

What about Waterfall?

Waterfall is best used for simple, unchanging projects. Its linear, rigid nature makes it easy to use and allows for in-depth documentation.

Waterfall requires documentation for every phase, resulting in better understanding of the logic behind the code and tests.

Disadvantages of Waterfall

Software isn’t delivered until late into the project. As a result, stakeholders won’t see working software until late in the life cycle.

If the team reaches the testing phase and realize that a feature was missing from the requirements phase, it is very difficult and expensive to go back and fix it.

We recommend using Waterfall if:

  • You don’t expect changes in scope and you’re working with fixed-price contracts
  • The client or stakeholder doesn’t have the necessary time for rapid back and forth with the team.

And you should use Agile if:

  • Rapid deployment is the goal
  • The clients/stakeholders need the ability to modify the scope

Scrum has the power to transform project management across every industry, every business, and even across life in general. By using Scrum, you’ll become more Agile, discovering how to react more quickly and respond more accurately to the inevitable change that comes your way. And by staying focused, collaborating, and communicating, you can accomplish what truly needs to be done — successfully.

Scrum prioritizes delivering incremental business valueto the client. This allows the client to start using the most valuable parts of the product earlier. Allowing them to see and use the product before it’s completely finished helps the customer to realize if changes are necessary. The sooner changes are detected, the less its impact and cost will be.

So whether you’re working on the next smartphone app, managing logistics for a store, or planning a charity event, you should take a closer look at using Scrum.


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