Crystal and Scrum methodologies have their importance in development and project management teams. Although you can find reasons to work simultaneously with them, it is vital to distinguish a few points on what are the differences between Crystal and Scrum.

Perhaps Scrum is the most used agile methodology and the most trustworthy tool for bigger projects. But Crystal has its value and you can consider it your ally since you work with simple or complex projects.

In this article, you will see some differences between Crystal and Scrum methodologies. And all these agile methodologies you can add to your teams using GitScrum’s best features.

Scrum’s procedures and advantages

In Scrum, projects are divided into cycles called Sprints. The Sprint represents a Time Box within which a set of activities must be performed. Agile software development methodologies are iterative, that is, the work is divided into iterations, which are called Sprints in the case of Scrum.

At the beginning of each Sprint, a Sprint Planning Meeting is held, that is, a planning meeting in which the Product Owner prioritizes the items in the Product Backlog and the team selects the activities it will be able to implement during the beginning Sprint.

Each day of a Sprint, the team holds a short meeting (usually in the morning), called the Daily Scrum. The objective is to disseminate knowledge about what was done the day before, identify impediments and prioritize the work of the day that begins.

At the end of a Sprint, the team presents the features implemented in a Sprint Review Meeting. Finally, there is a Sprint Retrospective and the team moves on to planning the next Sprint.

Features

Implementing Scrum in a company, department or project makes processes more efficient, which has several advantages:

• Simplifies complex product development
• Creates an environment that favors collaboration
• Increases ROI (Return on Investment), as indicated in this study
• It gives agility and efficiency to the processes
• Provides continuous improvement
• Motivates the team, which monitors the progress of the project every day
• Provides conditions for constant planning, fixing small flaws quickly
• Improves communication between all actors involved in the project
• Reduces production costs
• Raises team productivity
• Reduces common risks in new product development projects
• Decreases the number of complaints by the customer.

How does Scrum work?

The methodology works based on iterations, which are production and evaluation cycles carried out to improve an item, even during the production phase.

Iterations and Scrum work dynamically, incorporating the concept of MVP (Minimum Viable Product).

This means that, at the end of each iteration, the team delivers the simplest version of the final product, with the least possible effort, which will be presented to the customer.

When MVP is ready, the customer gives feedback, approving or requesting improvements.

In Scrum, each iteration is called Sprint and usually lasts between two and four weeks, but this period can be longer or shorter if the team decides.

Before starting a Sprint, the team holds the Sprint Planning Meeting, a planning meeting with the customer’s representative – the Product Owner.

Scrums steps

In this meeting, tasks, people in charge, methods, and project time are defined. The activities form a list called Product Backlog.

Then, the Sprint realization stage begins, when each member performs their duties and monitors the project status through Daily Scrum, which is daily quick meetings.

You can also track the project by looking at the Sprint Burndown, a graph that shows the progress of tasks as a function of the predetermined time to complete the Sprint.

After ending the Sprint, the team conducts the Sprint Review Meeting to reveal the generated product, and the Sprint Retrospective, a meeting that focuses on lessons learned.

See below for details about the people involved in Scrum and the rites that make up the methodology.

People

In simple terms, each Sprint requires the participation of at least three professionals: one to represent the client, another to manage and facilitate the tasks, and one more to develop the project.

Product Owner

Acting as the owner of the product, this professional knows what the customer expects as a result, being responsible for defining the resources and steps to achieve this goal.

The Product Owner is a representative of the customer and therefore can guide the team and control the list of tasks (Product Backlog).

Scrum Master
He is a leader oriented to agile methodology, which means having a facilitator role within the team.

Instead of managing through demands and demands, the Scrum Master is informed about the difficulties and acts so that they are overcome in the best possible way.

It also has the function of disseminating Scrum good practices among the team, ensuring that the rites are carried out efficiently and with quality.

Having a qualified Scrum Master is essential for the success of any Sprint, especially in companies or teams that are not yet familiar with agile methodologies.

Crystal’s properties, procedures, and advantages

The crystal methodology comprises several agile processes. It includes Crystal Clear, Yellow, Orange, and other uniquely defined methods.

Thus, the Crystal family focuses on the perception that each project has unique characteristics. Therefore, policies and practices must customize to accommodate these features.

1. Teamwork

The first property is teamwork, which focuses on assigning tasks to team members and encourages them to perform tasks as a team rather than as individuals.

2. Communication

It’s the most critical aspect of any project. It requires an appropriate email or in-person communication between Customer and Developers.

3. Simplicity

The third property focuses on the fact that the Product Design, Requirements Document, and other documentation needs to be understandable and straightforward.

4. Frequent adjustments

The team must be able to make adjustments according to the situation and the necessary changes.

5. Improve processes

Improvement is an ongoing process. They improve based on customer feedback, internal feedback, exit from the meeting, after analyzing the root cause of any bug.

Properties

1. Frequent delivery

The priority of any project is to provide working software at the end of each release, regardless of project type, team size, budget, or profit.

2. Reflective improvement

Crystal Clear is a method, not a pattern.  An incorrect decision can produce an adverse outcome. Therefore, it is crucial to discuss in each situation what might work and what might not work.

3. Communication

This communication takes place when all team members are in the same room. A discussion takes place between all members. They may or may not participate, but everyone gets the idea of ​​the discussion.

4. Personal security

Personal safety is the first step towards trust. Team members should speak up when something is bothering them.

5. Focus

Leaders and executives must set priorities correctly. They must decide what developers should work on and allow them to work on those activities without any interruption.

6. Easy access

Developers need to have a direct link to the “real user” Real user means the same set of people who will use the project’s product.

7. Technical environment and frequent Integration

The main goalof the technical environment is to do continuous integration and testing to identify errors, code breaks, bugs, etc.

Because continuous integration takes place regularly using automated testing, configuration management, and frequent integration. Therefore, problems are less likely to occur.

Crystal x Scrum

Do you still have questions about what you choose for your right plan? Let’s compare some of Crystal ad Scrum’s benefits:

• The crystal is more permissive and accepts changes as per the project requirement and team size. Scrum has more options and once the sprint starts. It does not allow further changes made to the sprint scope.
• Crystal delivers as per the criticality. Scrum delivers according to the priority of backlog items.
• Due to flexibility, the requirement for proper documentation becomes vital. Often criticized due to insufficient documentation.
• After finalizing the process and budgeting, nothing can change. Due to the acceptance of requests, customers demand more.
• Crystal has different methods for each type of project, based on the number of people working on the team. Scrum believes in one method that fits all. The overall team divides the scrum teams and the number of Scrum teams may increase, but the size of the individual Scrum team remains the same. That’s why Crystal and Scrum can work together.

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