Scrum
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
Scrum is a specific recipe for doing Agile. It has fixed roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Dev Team), fixed events (Sprint Planning, Daily Standup, Sprint Review, Retro), and fixed artefacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog). It's Agile with a very specific instruction manual.
Real Talk
Scrum is an agile framework that structures work in sprints with defined roles and ceremonies. The Product Owner manages the backlog, the Scrum Master facilitates the process, and the development team self-organises to deliver sprint goals. Originated from Schwaber and Sutherland in the 1990s.
When You'll Hear This
"Our team does Scrum with two-week sprints." / "Scrum requires daily standups and sprint retrospectives."
Related Terms
Agile
Agile is a philosophy of building software in short cycles, learning from real feedback, and adapting quickly instead of following a massive upfront plan.
Backlog
The backlog is the master to-do list for a product — every feature, bug, and idea that hasn't been built yet, prioritised by importance.
Epic
An epic is a big chunk of work that's too large to finish in one sprint, so it gets broken down into smaller user stories.
Kanban
Kanban is a visual workflow system where tasks move through columns — To Do, In Progress, Done. Unlike Scrum with fixed sprints, Kanban is continuous flow.
Sprint
A sprint is a fixed time-box — usually 1-2 weeks — where a team commits to completing a specific set of tasks.
Standup
A standup is a short daily team meeting — meant to be done standing so it stays brief.