Scrum on a one-person team? Sure!

First off, what is Scrum? Scrum is an Agile methodology that is used to facilitate a project. Typically a scrum team would consist of around 7 developers that would work on a two week sprint. So why am I talking about using it on a one-person team? There are key principles that I feel will help even in single player mode.

The Scrum Board

In the Scrum process you would have a scrum board like the one Jared from Silicon Valley is using.

The Backlog is where you will have all you tasks to do. You can prioritize which tasks you will attempt on your current sprint.

For this sprint I decided I will knock out task 1 and 3.

As I work one task 1, I will move it to the In Progress column.

At this point you may be asking, why does it matter if you are essentially working alone? Who are you showing which tasks are being worked on? The answer is yourself!

Why? I find it helpful to visually see what I’m working on and the progress that I’m making. Have you ever worked on your own project and felt, “what should I do next?” This process will help self organize. I also feel it gives you sense of accountability. You gave yourself a list of things to accomplish by the end of your current sprint. It’s also pretty satisfying seeing things move from your backlog to your Done column.

The daily stand up

Who exactly are you meeting with? Again, the answer is yourself. You can take this time to review what you worked on yesterday. Also to reflect on what could have gone better. What and why you became blocked.

To learn more about Scrum development, check out scrum.org