Agile Scrum : Terminology

Burn Down:
The trend of work remaining across time in a Sprint, a Release, or a Product. The source of the
raw data is the Sprint Backlog and the Product Backlog, with work remaining tracked on the
vertical axis and the time periods (days of a Sprint, or Sprints) tracked on the horizontal axis.

Chicken:
Someone who is interested in the project but does not have formal Scrum responsibilities and
accountability (Team, Product Owner, ScrumMaster).

Daily Scrum:
A short meeting held daily by each Team during which the Team members inspect their work,
synchronize their work and progress and report and impediments to the ScrumMaster for
removal. Follow-on meetings to adapt upcoming work to optimize the Sprint may occur after
the Daily Scrum meetings.

Done:
Complete as mutually agreed to by all parties and that conforms to an organization’s standards,
conventions, and guidelines. When something is reported as “done” at the Sprint Review
meeting, it must conform to this agreed definition.

Estimated Work Remaining (Sprint Backlog items):
The number of hours that a Team member estimates remain to be worked on any task. This
estimate is updated at the end of every day when the Sprint Backlog task is worked on. The
estimate is the total estimated hours remaining, regardless of the number of people that perform the work.

Increment:
Product functionality that is developed by the Team during each Sprint that is potentially
shippable or of use to the Product Owner’s stakeholders.
Increment of Potentially Shippable Product Functionality
A complete slice of the overall product or system that could be used by the Product Owner or
stakeholders if they chose to implement it.

Sprint:
An iteration, or one repeating cycle of similar work, that produces increment of product or
system. No longer than one month and usually more than one week. The duration is fixed
throughout the overall work and all teams working on the same system or product use the
same length cycle.

Pig:
Someone exercising one of the three Scrum roles (Team, Product Owner, ScrumMaster) who
has made a commitment and has the authority to fulfill it.

Product Backlog:
A prioritized list of requirements with estimated times to turn them into completed product
functionality. Estimates are more precise the higher an item is in the Product Backlog priority..
The list emerges, changing as business conditions or technology changes.

Product Backlog Item:
Functional requirements, non-functional requirements, and issues, prioritized in order of
importance to the business and dependencies and estimated. The precision of the estimate
depends on the priority and granularity of the Product Backlog item, with the highest priority
items that may be selected in the next Sprint being very granular and precise.

Product Owner:
The person responsible for managing the Product Backlog so as to maximize the value of the
project. The Product Owner is responsible for representing the interests of everyone with a
stake in the project and its resulting product.

Scrum:
Not an acronym, but mechanisms in the game of rugby for getting an out-of-play ball back
into play.

ScrumMaster:
The person responsible for the Scrum process, its correct implementation, and the
maximization of its benefits.

Sprint Backlog:
A list of tasks that defines a Team’s work for a Sprint. The list emerges during the Sprint. Each
task identifies those responsible for doing the work and the estimated amount of work
remaining on the task on any given day during the Sprint.

Sprint Backlog Task:
One of the tasks that the Team or a Team member defines as required to turn committed
Product Backlog items into system functionality.

Sprint Planning meeting:
A one-day meeting time boxed to eight hours (for a four week Sprint) that initiates every
Sprint. The meeting is divided into two four-hour segments, each also time boxed.. During the
first four hours the Product Owner presents the highest priority Product Backlog to the team.
The Team and Product Owner collaborate to help the Team determine how much Product
Backlog it can turn into functionality during the upcoming Sprint. The Team commits to this
at the end of the first four hours. During the second four hours of the meeting, the Team
plans how it will meet this commitment by designing and then detailing its work as a plan in
the Sprint Backlog.

Sprint Retrospective meeting:
A time boxed three-hour meeting facilitated by the ScrumMaster at which the complete Team
discusses the just-concluded Sprint and determines what could be changed that might make
the next Sprint more enjoyable or productive.

Sprint Review meeting:
A time-boxed four hour meeting at the end of every Sprint where the Team collaborates with
the Product Owner and stakeholders on what just happened in the Sprint. This usually starts
with a demonstration of completed Product Backlog items, a discussion of opportunities,
constraints and findings, and a discussion of what might be the best things to do next
(potentially resulting in Product Backlog changes). Only completed product functionality can
be demonstrated.

Stakeholder:
Someone with an interest in the outcome of a project, either because they have funded it, will
use it, or will be affected by it.

Team:
A cross-functional group of people that is responsible for managing themselves to develop an
increment of product every Sprint.

Time box:
A period of time that cannot be exceeded and within which an event or meeting occurs. For
example, a Daily Scrum meeting is time boxed at fifteen minutes and terminates at the end of
fifteen minutes, regardless. For meetings, it might last shorter. For Sprints, it lasts exactly that length.

Note: Reference from Pete Deemer and ScrumTI.com