Using Jira to Practice Professional Scrum

May 25, 2021

Professionalism embodies a set of thoughts and perceptions that provide others with a confidence in the people doing the work. Professional Scrum is just that, it provides a confidence that the Scrum Team is working in a way that will deliver the best results possible in the best possible way. These include:

Customers and stakeholders believing you did your best to serve their needs
Your colleagues and fellow professionals respecting you and you treat all others with respect
You desire to help others grow in their craft and become more professional
The outcomes you achieve deliver value and are of a high quality
You treat everyone in a manner that leaves them feeling good about the interaction

In order to work professionally, tools and automation are required to ensure proper communication, repeatability and transparency. That is why Scrum.org and Atlassian University have come together in partnership to help Scrum Teams improve their Professional Scrum capabilities through the use of Atlassian Jira. This is the start of a series of videos and other resources that will give an overview of different parts of the Scrum framework and how to best apply them with Jira.

What is Jira?

Jira is a software tool designed to help teams plan, track, and release software. For teams that use the scrum framework, Jira’s scrum board provides a visual display to manage complex projects and create a culture of collaboration.

Throughout the development cycle, the Jira scrum board helps drive iterative delivery and unifies the team around a single goal. As the single source of truth, the scrum board increases team communication and transparency. It improves sprint planning and optimizes the development process. Overall, increasing team focus and delivering clearer organization.

Scrum boards contain individual tasks assigned to team members or groups. These tasks are mapped to customized workflows, based on the need of the team and organization. This allows for further transparency and visibility into the status of every work item across the team.
Jira allows for full-scale customizations to meet your team’s Professional Scrum needs. If you’re curious about how to use all of Jira’s features, enroll in a training course with Atlassian University.

For now, let’s start learning the basics of Professional Scrum with Jira.

Sprint Planning with Jira

Sprint Planning initiates the Sprint by laying out the work to be performed for the Sprint. This resulting plan is created by the collaborative work of the entire Scrum Team. During Sprint Planning, the Product Owner ensures that attendees are prepared to discuss the most important Product Backlog items and how they map to the Product Goal. Sprint Planning requires transparency of work previously completed and of the ideas for future work. In this video, we discuss what Sprint Planning looks like when practicing Professional Scrum, how the Scrum Team works together and how Jira can help provide automation and transparency to the team and stakeholders involved.

Product Backlog Management with Jira

The Product Backlog is an emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product. It is the single source of work undertaken by the Scrum Team. Product Backlog items that can be Done by the Scrum Team within one Sprint are deemed ready for selection in a Sprint Planning event. They usually acquire this degree of transparency after refining activities. Product Backlog refinement is the act of breaking down and further defining Product Backlog items into smaller more precise items. This is an ongoing activity to add details, such as a description, order, and size. Attributes often vary with the domain of work. All of the work described surrounding the Product Backlog can be considered Product Backlog Management. In this video, we explore how Scrum Teams manage the Product Backlog when practicing Professional Scrum and how Jira can provide greater transparency and engagement.

Sprint Reviews with Jira

The Sprint Review is the Scrum event designed to inspect the outcome of the Sprint and determine future adaptations. During the Sprint Review, the Scrum Team presents the results of their work to key stakeholders based on the Sprint Goal, they discuss progress toward the Product Goal and collaborate on what to do next.

This video provides a brief overview of some ways that those Scrum Teams who use Jira can better collaborate and engage with stakeholders.

The Daily Scrum with Jira

The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event where the Developers of the Scrum Team inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog as necessary, adjusting the upcoming planned work. This video provides Scrum Teams using Jira with a brief overview of ways to leverage Jira during the Daily Scrum to increase transparency, discuss progress toward the Sprint Goal and make decisions during the event.