Why learn SCRUM today?
Waterfall projects that go off the rails, requirements documents that are obsolete by the second week, teams shipping the wrong thing: those scenarios were the norm 25 years ago. Since then, SCRUM has become the most-used agile framework worldwide — and mastering it is now essential, whether you are a developer, project manager, manager or team member.
In this training, you will learn how to:
- Explain SCRUM's 3 roles, 3 artifacts and 5 ceremonies in plain English
- Run a Sprint end-to-end, from planning to retrospective
- Avoid the classic pitfalls that derail half of all agile transitions
Upgrade to Premium to access the full course, the 10-minute video and the final quiz.
Agile and SCRUM: the full course
This written part deepens the concepts presented in the video and slides. You will find the history of the agile movement, a detailed look at roles, artifacts and ceremonies, and a "What's new" section about agile's role in today's workplace.
1. Where agility comes from
For decades, IT projects were run with a rigid model called "V-cycle" or "waterfall": one full analysis phase, then design, then development, then testing, then delivery. Each phase had to be finished before moving to the next. The outcome: 12-to-24-month cycles before any actual delivery, and products that no longer matched the original need by the time they shipped.
In February 2001, seventeen experts met at Snowbird (Utah) and published the Agile Manifesto. A short, 68-word text that turned project management upside down by putting people, working software, customer collaboration and adapting to change at the center.
2. The 4 values and 12 principles of the Agile Manifesto
The 4 values set the priorities of the movement:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a rigid plan
The 12 principles flesh out those values: deliver early and often, welcome late changes, self-organizing teams, motivated individuals, simplicity, technical excellence, regular retrospectives, and so on. Together they form a philosophy — not a method. Different frameworks (SCRUM, Kanban, XP, Lean, SAFe...) implement it in their own way.
3. SCRUM: the most widely used framework
Among agile frameworks, SCRUM is by far the dominant one: more than 70% of agile teams worldwide use it in some form. Created in the early 1990s by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, it is built on a simple principle: split work into short iterations called Sprints, typically 2 to 4 weeks long, at the end of which the team delivers a usable product increment.
Between Sprints, the team inspects what it has produced, listens to feedback, adapts, and starts a new iteration. This "deliver — inspect — adapt" loop is SCRUM's fundamental engine.
4. The 3 roles of SCRUM
- Product Owner (PO) — Represents the voice of the customer and end user. They prioritize the product, maintain the Product Backlog, and validate deliveries. They are the one who decides when there is a tradeoff between several features.
- Scrum Master — Guardian of the framework and team facilitator. They remove blockers, run ceremonies and shield the team from external interruptions. Unlike a project manager, they have no hierarchical authority: their lever is influence and coaching.
- Development team — Self-organizing and cross-functional (dev, test, design...). The team commits collectively to delivering an increment by the end of the Sprint. Ideal size: 5 to 9 people.
5. The 3 artifacts and the Definition of Done
- Product Backlog — Ordered list of everything that may be done on the product. It is alive: it evolves continuously with feedback and learning.
- Sprint Backlog — Subset of the Product Backlog selected for the current Sprint. It is the team's commitment for the iteration.
- Increment — Sum of items completed during the Sprint. It must meet the Definition of Done (DoD), a shared list of criteria that defines what "done" means for the team (tests written, code reviewed, docs up to date, deployable...).
6. The 5 ceremonies of a Sprint
- Sprint Planning (2 to 4 hours at the start of the Sprint) — The team defines the Sprint goal and selects items from the Product Backlog.
- Daily Scrum (15 minutes every day) — A short stand-up. Each person answers: what did I do yesterday, what will I do today, do I have any blockers?
- Sprint Review (1 to 2 hours at the end of the Sprint) — The team showcases the increment to stakeholders and gathers feedback.
- Sprint Retrospective (1 hour after the Review) — The team analyses how it worked and picks one improvement action for the next Sprint.
- Backlog Refinement (1 to 2 hours mid-Sprint) — Refining upcoming User Stories with the PO.
7. 2026 outlook — agile today
Agile has long since outgrown the software domain and keeps evolving. What a professional should know in 2026:
- Agile at scale — Large organisations roll out agility through frameworks like SAFe, LeSS or the Spotify Model. SAFe certifications (Scrum Master, Product Owner, RTE) are among the most in-demand in the job market.
- Agile beyond IT — HR, marketing, finance, R&D: agile methods are spreading to every business function. Non-technical teams adopt adapted variants (e.g. OKRs for strategic steering).
- The impact of AI on the Scrum Master role — Tools like Atlassian Intelligence, Jira AI and Copilot automate part of reporting and facilitation. Scrum Masters are shifting toward a "team coach" role with higher added value.
- Remote & asynchronous — Since Covid, SCRUM teams are mostly distributed. New rituals are emerging: written dailies (Slack/Teams), async retrospectives in Miro, planning sessions in FigJam.
- Salaries — A certified Scrum Master (PSM I, CSM) earns on average 45 to 65 k€ in early career; an experienced Product Owner exceeds 70 k€. These are among the most-searched profiles on LinkedIn France.
8. User Stories and estimation
A User Story describes a feature from the user's point of view, in the form: "As a [role], I want [action] so that [benefit]." This wording forces you to think in terms of user value, not technical specs.
The team estimates the complexity of each Story in Story Points, an abstract unit that combines effort, risk and uncertainty. The most popular technique is Planning Poker: each member shows their estimate at the same time on numbered cards (often a Fibonacci sequence: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20...), then the team discusses the gaps until they converge.
9. Pitfalls to avoid
- The "catch-all" Sprint that accepts every urgent request along the way — keep the Sprint stable, schedule new items for the next one.
- The retrospective without action — always leave with 1 concrete action (not 5) and a named owner.
- The Scrum Master who acts like a boss — their role is to facilitate, not to direct.
- A vague Definition of Done — display the DoD and stick to it to avoid technical debt.
- Sprints that are too long (6 weeks "to do it properly") — you lose the fast-iteration benefit; 2-3 weeks max.
Course summary on video
10-minute video — to be embedded once the team has finished filming
Test your knowledge
10 questions to validate your training. You need at least 60% (6/10) to pass. You can retake the quiz as many times as you want.
Documents and useful links
Download the course slides to review at your own pace.
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📥 DownloadCourse slides — Discover SCRUMFull PDF (in English) to review the agile method