Scrum is an agile framework that organizes product development into short, regular cycles called sprints (often two weeks), at the end of which the team delivers a usable increment. It was formalized by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland in the mid-1990s, drawing on a paper by Takeuchi and Nonaka on product development.
Scrum relies on three roles:
- the Product Owner, who prioritizes the backlog;
- the Scrum Master, who keeps the method alive and removes obstacles;
- the developers, who build the product.
The pace is set by fixed events: sprint planning, daily stand-up (daily), sprint review and retrospective. Everything rests on three principles: transparency, inspection and adaptation. Scrum remains the most widespread agile approach, often blended with Kanban.
Why it matters when hiring
Many teams say they "do Scrum" while keeping only the meetings. In interviews, ask what changed after a retrospective, or how the team handled a failed sprint: a candidate who has really practiced it gives concrete examples. For a Scrum Master role, certification is a starting point, not proof.