Q & A: Scrum Development

Standard Time is a project planning and timesheet software product.  It has specific features designed to support the scrum development process.  The Q & A below should help describe the features.  Feel free to download a copy to test.

Q: How does Standard Time support scrum development?
A: First-off, it should be understood that Standard Time lets you create project tasks and hierarchies that represent the work you do.  It's much like Microsoft Project.  When you track time to those tasks, Standard Time keeps project history.  That history represents the scrum burn-down chart.  As you near your goals, you see the remaining work fall.  Daily sprints eventually hammer it into the ground.

More below...

Scrum Development - Project History Chart

Q: How does Standard Time support the daily sprint?
A: Simple.  Project tasks are assigned to employees.  They are responsible for daily status for their sprints, and completing their goals.  Employees can receive email notifications for tasks that are due this week or today.  They can also filter their timesheets to see only those tasks.  That provides focus.  Managers can see tasks completed every day.

Q: How does Standard Time support the scrum team?
A: Team members have goals.  They naturally want to reach those goals quickly, and move on to others.  Standard Time projects may be broken up into smaller pieces that represent those goals.  As team members complete their goals, those sub-projects are eliminated and the project advances.  People feel good about that.

Q: What about the review process?
A: Scrum has daily status meetings and periodic project reviews.  Simply print the project task view, and you have the basic status.  You see which tasks are completed, and which are still in development, and how far along they are.

See Advanced Development Methods, Inc for more info on scrum development.