Burndown graph

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 accountabilities (is not a Team member, Product Owner, ScrumMaster, or other stakeholder).

Daily Scrum meeting

A short status meeting held daily by each Team during which the Team members synchronize their work and progress and report any impediments to the ScrumMaster for removal.

Done

Complete as mutually agreed to by all parties and conforming to an organization’s standards, conventions, and guidelines. When something is reported as “done” at the Daily Scrum or demonstrated as “done” at the Sprint review meeting, it must conform to this agreed definition.

Estimated work remaining

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 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.

Increment of potentially shippable product functionality

A completely developed increment that contains all of the parts of a completed product, except for the Product Backlog items that the Team selected for this Sprint.

Iteration

One cycle within a project. In Scrum, this cycle is 30 sequential calendar days, or a Sprint.

Pig

Someone occupying 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 project requirements with estimated times to turn them into completed product functionality. Estimates are in days and are more precise the higher an item is in the Product Backlog priority. The list evolves, changing as business conditions or technology changes.

Product Backlog items

Functional requirements, nonfunctional requirements, and issues, which are prioritized in order of importance to the business and dependencies and then estimated. The precision of the estimate depends on the priority and granularity of the Product Backlog item, with the highest priority items that can 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 represents all stakeholders in the project.

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

A time-box of 30 sequential calendar days during which a Team works to turn the Product Backlog it has selected into an increment of potentially shippable product functionality.

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 8 hours that initiates every Sprint. The meeting is divided into two 4-hour segments, each also time-boxed. During the first segment, the Product Owner presents the highest priority Product Backlog to the Team. The Team and the 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 Product Backlog at the end of the first segment. During the second segment of the meeting, the Team plans how it will meet this commitment by detailing its work as a plan in the Sprint Backlog.

Sprint retrospective meeting

A meeting time-boxed to 3 hours and facilitated by the ScrumMaster at which the 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 meeting time-boxed to 4 hours at the end of every Sprint at which the Team demonstrates to the Product Owner and any other interested parties what it was able to accomplish during the Sprint. Only completed product functionality can be demonstrated.

Stakeholder

Someone with an interest in the outcome of a project, either because he or she has funded it, will use it, or will be affected by it.

Team

A cross-functional group of people that is responsible for managing itself to develop software 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 to 15 minutes and terminates at the end of those 15 minutes, regardless.