Scrum explained
Each sprint starts with planning, includes a short daily stand-up and ends with a review of the work and a retrospective on the process. A product owner keeps the backlog in priority order.
The fixed sprint length is a timebox: the dates do not move, so the team learns to size work realistically.
Try it today
- Pick a two-week sprint and choose the work that fits.
- Hold a 15-minute check-in each day.
- End with a demo and a short discussion of what to change next sprint.
Where it comes from
The name and core ideas come from Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka's 1986 Harvard Business Review article "The New New Product Development Game". Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber shaped it for software and presented it at the OOPSLA conference in 1995.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Scrum?
- Scrum is an agile framework where a small team works in short, fixed-length sprints, usually one to four weeks, and reviews and adjusts after each one.
- Where does Scrum come from?
- The name and core ideas come from Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka's 1986 Harvard Business Review article "The New New Product Development Game". Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber shaped it for software and presented it at the OOPSLA conference in 1995.
- How do I start with Scrum?
- Pick a two-week sprint and choose the work that fits. Hold a 15-minute check-in each day. End with a demo and a short discussion of what to change next sprint.
- Which tools help with Scrum?
- Tools in our directory that help include Linear, ClickUp, TaskView, Trello. Each has its own page with pricing, pros and cons.
