Scrum background
Large tech giants such as Adobe, Microsoft and HP (Hewlett Packard) practice production workflows like Scrum and Agile. In fact, more than 70% of all IT based companies have adopted workflows like these, this is due to how efficient and effective the production workflows are. It is also worth mentioning that the Scrum and Agile methodologies are now starting to be brought into industries such as the games development industry as the outdated waterfall method is beginning to be phased out. The scrum method was originally conceptualised in 1986 to counter act the established waterfall method, but was first seen used in 1993 and was officially made a formal development process in 1995; since then more industries have been using this workflow.
What is Scrum?
Scrum is a workflow that more companies are using rather than the outdated and inefficient Waterfall workflow; the same also applies for Agile. Below I have included a diagram of the scrum methodology. This workflow is incredibly efficient because it allows a company working on a project to be given more control, as well as the ability to work more effectively. This method is able to be modified to match the circumstances of a project and tells a team working on a project what is needed to be done – the method does not tell you how to go about completing tasks within a project, it instead makes a team figure out what needs to be figured out in order to progress. Scrum is also a very easy concept to understand and work with, as well as being a well-balanced workflow due all parts needing to be in order for it work properly and effectively. Teams that are going to work on a project can use Scrum to sort out what will need doing over a number of sprints, which are time periods where a team will work on specific tasks, and any that are not completed within the sprint will either be carried onto the next or will be given extra time to be finished – this is done after a sprint review. A unique aspect of Scrum is the daily meetings called “Daily Scrums”, where a team working on a project will stand around in a circle and tell each other what each person is working on, what they have done since the last session and finally any areas where they have encountered problems as well as if they need help with anything.
Agile background
The agile workflow was developed during the 90s, but coined the term Agile in 2001 due to the method’s flexible nature. The production workflow came about due to a software developmental crisis, where consumer demands and requirements could not be met because the industry could not move fast enough. Before the advent of Agile, traditional development workflows were timeline based, meaning that that final product was not shown to the customer before the final stage of development – this left little to no room for any amount of change or flexibility. The Agile methodology became a foundation for other workflows such as scrum.
What is Agile?
The Agile methodology is a workflow that allows for requirements and solutions to be developed and evolve through the collaboration of self-organising teams. The method also inspires frequent inspection and adaptation within a project to ensure that a product meets customer need as wells company goals. Using Agile allows for swift delivery of a project, because the method promotes teamwork and accountability to work efficiently, as well as the frequent inspection that helps to detect any problems with a project and how they can be overcome. Agile promotes 12 principles in order for a team working together on a project work, these are listed below. Below I have also included an agile development chart, which demonstrates how agile works. Agile gives more control to a company because they don’t have to constantly work backwards and forwards like the Waterfall method.
- Satisfy the customer – Agile demands that the satisfaction of the customer as well as a high quality end result. Every other principle is in service to this one.
- Welcome change – due to customer needs and requirements constantly changing, companies must also change with them in order to suit their customers, and resisting this change is extremely counter-productive. Agile promotes teams to welcome the inevitability of change because it allows them to adapt to the new requirements and stand out from their competition by meeting the requirements quickly with quality work.
- Deliver frequently – customers want quality work to spend their hard earned money on a frequent basis, so companies/teams must be able to deliver quality work on a frequent basis.
- Work together – Agile teams are extremely self-sufficient because teams are made up of individuals who possess all the necessary skill and authority to complete their tasks. Working together also ensures rapid development and production of high quality of work.
- Build projects around motivated individuals – for Agile to work, projects must be built with a motivated team because they will work together to deliver an end result of quality that would hopefully satisfy the customer. If a project is assigned with an unmotivated team, then Agile won’t work for the team wouldn’t be developing high standard work.
- Face-to-face time – face-to-face communication is key in Agile because it helps to eliminate confusion and is a key process of brainstorming ideas. Emails seem more efficient, however they are only useful short term.
- Measure of progress – After a team has finished and delivered a piece of work, they must measure their progress in order to work more effectively and efficiently on their next project.
- Sustainable development – companies that implement the Agile are to ensure that teams are properly structured and maintained in order to avoid burning out your employees and create a rapid workflow indefinitely.
- Continuous attention – continual attention helps to improve agility.
- Keep it simple – for the Agile workflow to be effective and sustainable in the long run, teams must simplify as much as they can in order to decrease the amount of redundant and unnecessary work that will only take up more of a team’s precious time.
- Organised teams – the best Agile teams come together because members know who is able to work on a specific area with the necessary skills in order to produce high standard and great quality work.
- Reflect or effectiveness – for a company to be able to adapt to change on a frequent basis, they must reflect on how they are working currently and what they’ve learnt from the process. Doing this allows for companies and teams to adapt and work more efficiently.
What is the Waterfall Method
The waterfall methodology was first created in 1970 by Winston W. Royce (an American computer scientist), and was quickly adopted by a variety of industries. Industries that typically use this method include construction and IT and software industries. The waterfall method is a linear project management system that involves the client and customer needs to be collected and planned around. This method consists of typically 5-7 phases and is formally executed, meaning that a phase cannot be started until a previous one is completed. Below I have included a diagram example of the Waterfall method. Also listed below are the basic phases that this method follows:
- Requirements – this a crucial element of Waterfall methodology because customer and client needs are required in order to start planning for the next phases of development. After this, the client will have fairly limited involvement.
- Design – this phase of development is typically broken down into subphases of design (logical and physical). During the logical design phase is where a team will spend their time brainstorming and creating ideas, and the physical design phase is when the ideas during the logical design stage are made concrete.
- Implementation – the implementation stage of the waterfall method occurs when the design phase has been completed. This is the start of ideas being implemented and used with client and customer needs into creating a product, example a game or piece of software.
- Verification – during this stage, the completed product is released to customers and clients and reviewed to see if the product meets the specifications that were given at the requirements phase.
- Maintenance – at this stage, the customer would be actively using the product that a company has released. During this stage when the customer is using the product they will discover any issues that occurred through the development process. Example if the product was a game, customers would discover bugs and errors – the development team would be made aware of said issues and will actively seek to fix them. In some cases, the client and customer would not be happy with the released product, when this happens the development team will review each stage during the Waterfall production, and would have to keep doing so until the customer and client is happy with the finished and changed product.
Comparison of Scrum and Agile to the Waterfall Method
Now that these methodologies have been discussed, it’s time to compare these production workflows against each other in order to see which one is the most effective and efficient.
Scrum and Agile on review appear to be the better and far more efficient production workflows, as opposed to that of the outdated Waterfall workflow. I believe that these two methods are far more efficient for many reasons. First off, the Scrum and Agile methods allow the development team more creative control over their project whiles also serving to meet that of the client and customer’s needs, unlike the waterfall method which involves frequent check-ups from the client hindering the creative process as well as consuming more time than necessary. The waterfall method is slowly being phased out due to its slow linear development process, which is outdated, and instead companies are adopting the newer Scrum and Agile methods which allow a product to be produced at a faster pace. During the waterfall process, segments of teams are left waiting for one stage of the product to be completed, wasting valuable production time, unlike the other two methods which involve the whole production team to work together in unity to produce the product – no one is left waiting, ensuring everyone on a teams is occupied and working.
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Nathan May Game Animation And VFX 