Agile vs Scrum

Agile and Scrum are two of the most widely used (and misunderstood) project management methodologies. While these two approaches are similar, there are some crucial differences to be aware of if you're considering a career in software development, project management, or both. Here's a brief overview of what Scrum and Agile mean in project management, how they differ, and which approach is ideal for your project.

If you have landed on this page, you are probably searching for "What is the difference between Scrum and Agile?". To clearly understand the Agile vs Scrum difference, first, you need to know what is Agile and Scrum. In this article, we would be covering the following topics 

Agile vs Scrum - What's the Difference?

What is Project Management Tools

Project management tools assist an individual or team to organize and manage the projects effectively. Organizations have to handle several projects at the same time. Teamwork and proper planning play an important role in making any project successful.

If you want to enrich your career and become a professional in Agile, then visit Mindmajix - a global online training platform: "Agile Certification Training" This course will help you to achieve excellence in this domain.

Organizations use project management tools to map out the hierarchy of activities needed for the efficient completion of the project. These tools also indicate what tasks are dependent on each other and help team leaders to decide which task to assign whom.

There are many project management tools/methodologies available in the market where each tool/methodology has its own uniqueness and specialties.  Following are the most used project management methodologies 

  1. Agile
  2. Scrum
  3. Lean
  4. Kanban
  5. Six Sigma
  6. Waterfall

In this article, we would be just exploring Agile and Scrum methodology and find out Agile Vs Scrum methodology. So, here it is….

What is Agile Methodology?

An agile methodology is an approach where a project is divided into multiple parts and each part is developed individually. This process involves iterations in every part of the project and constant collaboration with stakeholders. Here, the development and testing processes are concurrent, unlike the waterfall model. 

  • In agile, the software development and testing process are conducted parallelly.
  • In this approach, it is possible to change the requirement because the different blocks are developed independently. 
  • It supports cross-functional collaborations among the team members
  • In agile methodology, the stakeholders, developers, project managers often discuss the progress and update if any change is needed.
  • Agile promotes feedback that helps in making the product more useful

The Agile Methodology Considers Four Core Values 

  • Individual and team interactions over processes and tools
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Working software over comprehensive documentation
  • Responding to change over following a plan

[ Related Article: Learn and Practice Agile Interview Questions ]

What is Scrum?

Scrum comes under the broader umbrella of Agile project management. It also supports accountability, promotes teamwork, and follows an iterative and incremental approach to complete the project successfully. 

Steps in the Scrum Flow: 

  1. Product Backlog
  2. Sprint Planning
  3. Refinement of Backlog
  4. Daily Scrum
  5. Reviewing Sprint
  6. Sprint Retrospective

MindMajix Youtube Channel

Agile vs Scrum: Are Agile and Scrum Same?

Building a new product is not an easy task. Also, it is difficult to find out which of the tools and techniques are suitable or appropriate for your project. If you have work experience in IT industries, you must have heard of Scrum and Agile.

But when it comes to newcomers, they get confused between Agile and Scrum. So, here we would be explaining basic is scrum really agile or Agile Vs Scrum difference.

Agile is a collection of methods and practices based on principles expressed in the Agile Manifesto. Scrum is a framework that implements Agile principles to complete the project successfully within an estimated time.

Now, you must have struggled with another doubt - Can you do agile without scrum? Yes, we can. Many frameworks implement agile principles and Scrum is one of them. 

Now, let us discuss the differences between Agile and Scrum to understand the concept clearly. 

Related Article: SAFe vs Agile 

Agile vs Scrum: Key Difference

  • In agile, leadership plays an important role, whereas Scrum focuses more on a self-organizing and cross-functional team.

  • Agile promotes collaborations and face-to-face interactions between the members of cross-functional teams and Scrum collaboration is done through daily stand-up meetings.

  • Agile is a continuous iteration of software development and its testing but Scrum is an agile approach that focuses on delivering the project in the shortest time.

  • Agile delivers the software on a regular basis to get feedback whereas Scrum delivers the software after every sprint. 

What Is The Difference between Agile and Scrum?

Following is a difference of Agile vs Scrum:

Agile
Scrum
Agile is a methodology
Scrum is a framework that implements agile principles
Leadership plays an important role
Focuses on self-organizing teamwork
Simple design and execution
Innovative designs and execution
Compared to scrum, it is more rigid and there is no room for frequent changes.
Scrum is highly flexible and reacts quickly to the changes
The fundamental measure of progress is working software
Working software is not considered progress
Deliver and update the software on a regular basis
After completing the current sprint, the next sprint can be planned
Defined process control - plan what to expect to happen
Empirical process control - progress is based on observation and experimentation
May require many up-front development process and organization changes
Few changes are needed while implementing the Scrum process

[ Related Page: CSPO Certification ]

Agile Vs Scrum: What is Better Project Approach?

Agile or Scrum - what can give you better results? Every business has a different requirement and therefore they may need a different approach too. Before picking any of the approaches whether agile or scrum, it is really very important to be aware of the fundamental difference between them.  So, let us find out what is the right approach for your business. 

Agile is an iterative approach to develop the software as per the client's expectations. Here, the client's feedbacks are the topmost priority and is taken at regular intervals to deliver the best result. Scrum is the subset of Agile methodology that offers the highest business value and is suitable for those projects where there is a rapid change in the requirement. 

So, instead of asking what is better for your project Agile or Scrum, one should question whether Agile practice is suitable for their business and if yes then which of the agile approach they can go with Scrum or some other.

Conclusion

Agile and Scrum cannot be substituted for each other. Agile methodology is a continuous iteration of software development and testing whereas the Scrum framework practices the agile principles to deliver the business value in the shortest time. This was all about Agile Vs Scrum. We hope you found the article useful. 

Got any queries regarding agile vs scrum methodology? Please mention it in the comment below and we will soon resolve it.

Course Schedule
NameDates
Agile TrainingNov 05 to Nov 20View Details
Agile TrainingNov 09 to Nov 24View Details
Agile TrainingNov 12 to Nov 27View Details
Agile TrainingNov 16 to Dec 01View Details
Last updated: 03 Apr 2023
About Author

Pooja Mishra is an enthusiastic content writer working at Mindmajix.com. She writes articles on the trending IT-related topics, including Big Data, Business Intelligence, Cloud computing, AI & Machine learning, and so on. Her way of writing is easy to understand and informative at the same time. You can reach her on LinkedIn & Twitter.

read less