From the #Scrum Guide: “The Scrum Team turns a selection of the work into an Increment of value during a Sprint.”
But what exactly does ‘Increment’ mean? And why is it so foundational to progress in Scrum?
(PS: I already touched on value in an earlier post)
From Cambridge Dictionary:
“Increment: one of a series of amounts that increase a total.”
In Scrum, an Increment represents a meaningful addition to the product that builds on everything delivered before it.
Think of value as the knowledge you gain through taking courses. After completing each course (like PSM or PSPO 😉), you add to your knowledge. While you might occasionally refine or challenge earlier learnings, your overall knowledge base grows—it’s additive.
Similarly, in product development, every Increment adds value for your users. Sometimes, this even means removing features—for good reasons like they’re no longer used, too costly to maintain, or outdated. But removing features creates opportunities to add new value or improve existing areas.
In Summary:
Every Increment is additive—it builds on all prior Increments, and everything works together seamlessly.
Each Increment is a concrete step forward toward the Product Goal, making it real progress.
In Scrum, progress isn’t about completing tasks but about delivering usable value incrementally.
The Definition of Done plays a crucial role in ensuring every Increment is truly a step forward (more on Done in a future post—and see the bottom of this reference for now).
PS. In future blog posts, we’ll dive deeper into the different adjectives used to describe an Increment—valuable, useful, usable, and inspectable. Stay tuned!
So how does your Scrum Team ensure each Increment is adding value for your users? How is it moving you forward toward the Product Goal?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
I hope you find value in these short articles and if you are looking for more clarifications, feel free to take contact.
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Wishing you an inspiring read and a wonderful journey.
Scrum on!
