What is Scrum, the project management framework agile teams rely on?

A Scrum team brings that product from an idea to delivery using the Scrum framework as a guide for transparency, inspection, and adaptation.

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Scrum organizes projects using cross-functional Scrum teams, each one of which has all of the capabilities necessary to deliver a piece of functionality from idea to delivery.

Diagram showing a Scrum framework

The Scrum framework

The Scrum framework guides the creation of a product, focusing on value and high visibility of progress. Working from a dynamic list of the most valuable things to do, a Scrum team brings that product from an idea to delivery using the Scrum framework as a guide for transparency, inspection, and adaptation.

Dig deeper: MarTech’s agile marketing for teams



Scrum events

Scrum is probably best known for events or activities that occur inside each sprint.

  • The Sprint is the heartbeat of Scrum. Each sprint should bring the product closer to the product goal and is a month or less in length.
  • Sprint Planning by the entire Scrum team establishes the sprint goal, what can be done, and how the chosen work will be completed.
  • Daily Scrum serves to inspect the progress toward the sprint goal, adjusting the upcoming planned work.
  • Sprint Review – The entire Scrum team inspects the sprint’s outcome with stakeholders and determines future adaptations. Stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on the increment.

Marketing work management: A snapshot

What it is: Marketing work management platforms help marketing leaders and their teams structure their day-to-day work to meet their goals on deadline and within budget constraints, all while managing resources and facilitating communication and collaboration. Functions may include task assignments, time tracking, budgeting, team communication and file sharing, among others.

Why it’s important today. Work environments have changed drastically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has heightened the need for work management tools that help marketers navigate these new workflows.

Marketers have been at work developing processes that allow them to work with those outside their own offices since marketing projects—campaigns, websites, white papers, or webinars—frequently involve working with outside sources.

Also, with marketers required to design interfaces, write content, and create engaging visual assets today, more marketers are adopting agile workflow practices, which often have features to support agile practices.

What the tools do. All of these changes have heightened the need for marketing work management software, which optimizes and documents the projects undertaken by digital marketers. They often integrate with other systems like digital asset management platforms and creative suites. But most importantly, these systems improve process clarity, transparency, and accountability, helping marketers keep work on track.

Dig deeper: What is marketing work management


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About the author

Stacey Ackerman
Contributor
Stacey knows what it’s like to be a marketer, after all, she’s one of the few agile coaches and trainers that got her start there. After graduating from journalism school, she worked as a content writer, strategist, director and adjunct marketing professor. She became passionate about agile as a better way to work in 2012 when she experimented with it for an ad agency client. Since then she has been a scrum master, agile coach and has helped with numerous agile transformations with teams across the globe. Stacey speaks at several agile conferences, has more certs to her name than she can remember and loves to practice agile at home with her family. As a lifelong Minnesotan, she recently relocated to North Carolina where she’s busy learning how to cook grits and say “y’all."

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