Scrum glossary and terminology cheat sheet

Definitions for Common Scrum Terms.

September 3, 2023
two people learning Scrum together

Leaning Scrum for the first time can be a bit overwhelming. There are many new terms and concepts in Scrum. And you may be wondering:

What do all these new Scrum terms mean?

Well we’re here to help.

If you're just getting started in your Scrum journey, you might want to begin with the definition of Scrum, why Scum matters or even an everyday guide to using Scrum.

If you just have questions about key Scrum terms, below you will find a glossary of crucial Scrum concepts with definitions and links to relevant articles. 

Sometimes you just have questions about key Scrum terms. Download the Scrum terminology cheat sheet.

Three Pillars of Scrum

Scrum is founded on the three pillars of empiricism.

Transparency

Transparency is the discipline of making things more visible. So much productivity and value are lost when there isn’t clarity, focus or shared understanding. 

Inspection

Once things are visible, the team can inspect them to achieve shared understanding and grow. 

Adaptation

The Scrum team makes necessary changes based on what they learn during inspection. The environment is constantly changing, and as leaders, we need to help our people and processes grow and adapt.  

Scrum Roles

Scrum Master

The Scrum Master is a master of process and an empowerer of people as they focus on maximizing the impact of the development team. They support the team by removing obstacles and representing Scrum to the rest of the organization. Learn about the Scrum Master role.

Product Owner

The Scrum Product Owner's primary responsibility is to maximize the value delivered to the product. They serve as the inflection point between the development team and stakeholders. Learn about the Product Owner Role.

Development Team

The Development Team is a self-organizing, cross-functional group that makes up most of the Scrum team. They transform backlog items into new value each sprint. Learn more about the Development Team role.

Scrum Events

Daily Scrum

Also called the standup, the Daily Scrum is a fifteen-minute meeting where the development team inspects the previous day's work, plans the next day’s work and identifies any barriers to getting things done. Learn to keep your team in sync with a daily standup.

Backlog Refinement

During the backlog refinement session, the Scrum team reviews new product backlog items asking questions to clarify the requirements and the goals. There is flexibility about when during the sprint to have the backlog refinement. Learn how to facilitate a backlog refinement session.

Sprint Planning

At the beginning of a new sprint, the team meets together to discuss how they will reach the sprint goal. They review the work selected for the sprint and make an initial plan that can be adapted via the daily scrum. Learn how to do sprint planning in Scrum.

Sprint Review

The sprint review occurs at the end of the sprint to inspect the delivered work. Various stakeholders and subject matter experts from across the organization attend to give feedback on the work completed. Learn to run a sprint review.

Retrospective

The retrospective occurs at the end of the sprint, focusing on the whole Scrum team. The tone is positive and productive, focused on improving the team. The team will identify points of growth and action steps to take in the next sprint. Learn how to facilitate a Scrum retrospective.

Leaning Scrum for the first time can be a bit overwhelming. There are many new terms and concepts in Scrum.

Well we’re here to help.

Scrum Artifacts

The Backlog

There are actually two backlogs, the product backlog and the sprint backlog. They each contain the definitive list of work to be done. The product owner keeps the backlog ordered by priority. Learn to use the backlog in Scrum.

Product Backlog Items (PBIs)

Each item in the backlog represents precise work and value to deliver. Often these PBIs are written using both user stories and acceptance criteria. The PBIs are what gets refined during the backlog refinement session, and if one is too large, it may be broken down into smaller PBIs.

Definition of Done

The definition of done is a list of what must be true in order to consider a PBI done. The whole team creates and agrees to what is in the definition of done and is updated as needed for the team to function effectively. Learn to use the definition of done. 

User Stories

User stories are a simple schema to order the PBI requirements around the end user's  needs, motivations, and goals. They keep the team focused on the value they create for the end-user. PBIs are evaluated against their user story during the sprint review. Learn to write your own user stories.

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance Criteria defines the requirements which must be met for the sprint deliverables to be accepted by the product owner. Acceptance criteria follows a consistent structure of Give that... When... Then... See examples of acceptance criteria.

Story Points

Story points measure the relative size of a PBI.  They aren’t absolute measurements like hours or days but measure the amount of work a PBI takes relative to other PBIs. Learn to use story points.

Velocity

Velocity measures how many story points a Scrum team completes on average per sprint. This allows the product owner to forecast when future features will be ready. Learn to forecast in Scrum using velocity.

Increment

The increment is the new functionality or value delivered at the end of a sprint. The increment should be ready to release to the end-user even if the team chooses to wait.

Scrum Values

Learn to align Scrum values with your organization.

Commitment 

The Scrum team members keep their commitment to achieving the goals of the Scrum Team. 

Courage

The courage to do the right thing and work on challenging problems is essential for a Scrum team to have a high impact.

Focus

The Scrum team focuses on the sprint goal and the work selected for a given sprint. Being freed up from worrying about the work of future sprints allows the team to deliver value consistently. 

Openness

Openness is vital to living out the pillars of transparency, inspection and adaptation. The Scrum team is open about all the work and the challenges with performing the work.

Respect

Collaboration requires respect for each other to be capable, independent people. I have often said Scrum treats you like an adult. 

I hope this article helped you feel confident using and apply important Scrum concepts.

Action Plan

If you want to learn more about Scrum in general, check out my What is Scrum? A Guide for Everyday People to Learn Scrum. If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out on LinkedIn.

Still not sure about your next step with Scrum? I offer a couple of free coaching sessions each month. You can signup for a free 30-minute coaching session, and we can work together to identify a good next step for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scrum team

How does a scrum team work?

The scrum team is made up of the product owner, scrum master and development team. They each play important roles.

  • The product owner maximizes the value delivered by the product.
  • The scrum master maximizes the impact of the development team.
  • The development team transforms the product vision into reality.

Learn more about how a scrum team works together. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Is a Scrum Master a project manager?

Project managers and scrum masters differ in where they focus and what they emphasize. 

The project manager is focused first on the work. Does the project have everything it needs to get done? The scrum master is focused first on the people. Are they the best team they can be to get projects done?

Continue learning about the relationship between a scrum master and a project manager. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Can a scrum master be a developer?

This combo is very doable, but it depends on the person. Some people are great team contributors but are not good scrum masters. 

Often, people suggest the type A personality to be the Scrum Master because they seem like the typical leader type. Unfortunately, what usually happens here is that person begins to act like the team's boss, which is not the role of the scrum masters.

Learn more about the roles of a scrum team. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

What’s the right scrum team size?

With less than three, you don’t get much of the benefit of collaboration or shared momentum. More than nine, and the logistics of coordination start to eat away at the benefits of coordination.

Learn more about how a scrum team works together. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Scrum roles

What are the roles in scrum?

There are three roles in Scrum:

  1. Scrum Master 
  2. Product Owner
  3. Development Team

Learn more about the scrum roles. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

What if I don’t have all the scrum roles on my team?

You really can’t run Scrum without a product owner or scrum master, so someone will likely have to wear multiple hats. Here are some recommended combos:

  • One Scrum Master for multiple teams
  • Scrum Master + Development Team member
  • Product Owner + Development Team member

A combo you want to avoid is being both the Product Owner and Scrum Master at the same time.

Learn more about what to do if you don’t have all the scrum team roles. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Who are the stakeholders in scrum?

A scrum team has stakeholders on two sides.

  1. Organizational leaders.
  2. Customers or end-users.

Success depends on identifying and serving the goals and motivations of both groups of stakeholders. The product owner is responsible for harmonizing and prioritizing the needs of both.

Learn more about the different scrum roles. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Is an agile coach a scrum role?

Often an agile coach serves as someone who can come in from the outside to help an organization evaluate their practice of scrum or implement it for the first time. 

An agile coach should also have competency around agile practices beyond just scrum.

Learn more about the roles in scrum or the difference between scrum and agile. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Scrum elements

What is the definition of done?

The definition of done is a list of what must be true to consider a PBI done. The whole team creates and agrees to what is in the definition of done and is updated as needed for the team to function effectively. 

Learn to use the definition of done and explore acceptance criteria vs definition of done.

What is the increment in scrum?

It is the next complete piece added to build the product. The increment is complete in the sense that it should be ready to release to the end-user even if the team chooses to wait.

Learn more about incremental and iterative development or explore the essential Scrum glossary.

Scrum design

What are the three pillars of Scrum?

Scrum is founded on three essential pillars, and each leads the team to ask a critical question.

  1. Transparency. How does this make things more visible?
  2. Inspection. Where does this create space to evaluate?
  3. Adaptation. When does this encourage growth?

Learn how to apply the three pillars of Scrum and then explore the most common terms in a Scrum glossary.

What are the values of Scrum?

There are five values critical to the practice of Scrum: commitment, courage, focus, openness, and respect.

  1. Commit to achieving the goals of the Scrum Team.
  2. Courage to do the right thing and work on challenging problems.
  3. Focus on the Sprint's work and the Scrum Team's goals.
  4. Open about all the work and the challenges with performing the work.
  5. Respect each other to be capable, independent people

Learn how to align Scrum values with your organization and then explore the most common terms in a Scrum glossary.

What is the sprint goal in scrum?

The sprint goal encapsulates the product owner’s vision into a concrete statement for the development team to measure the sprint against. The sprint goal provides a theme for the sprint’s work helping the team see how all the parts come together. 

Learn more about the role of the sprint goal in scrum and explore the essential Scrum glossary.

Scrum User Stories

What is a user story?

They keep the team focused on the value they create for the end-user and are written using the following format:

  • As a… [user]
  • I want to… [goal]
  • So that I can… [motivation] 

See examples of user stories to learn to write your own and explore the essential Scrum glossary.

What is acceptance criteria in scrum?

Acceptance criteria is written using the following structure:

  • Given that [context allowing me to take an action]
  • When [I take the action]
  • Then [a result occurs indicating success or failure]

Learn more about how acceptance criteria is used in Scrum and explore the essential Scrum glossary.

How are acceptance criteria and user stories different?

A user story focuses on the identity, goals and motivations of the user you’re designing for. It emphasizes the why of the new functionality.

Acceptance Criteria focuses on the action taken by the user to meet their goal. It highlights the what of the new functionality.

See more acceptance criteria examples and learn to write acceptance criteria or learn other essential scrum terms.

What's an example of acceptance criteria?

Acceptance criteria is structured using the template

  • Given that [context allowing me to take an action]
  • When [I take the action]
  • Then [a result occurs indicating success or failure]

Here are 3 examples:

Checkout process functionality

  • Given that I’ve added all the items to my cart and I’m logged in,
  • When I click the check out button,
  • Then the checkout page loads with all my payment and shipping information preloaded.

Advertising campaign

  • Given that someone fits our ideal customer persona,
  • When they search for keywords we’re targeting,
  • Then a link to a compelling offer is displayed above the fold.

Marketing campaign (Did you know you could use Scrum for marketing)

  • Given that a customer is already receiving email communications,
  • When they visit the site and engage content related to a specific product,
  • Then they will be automatically subscribed to nurturing campaign highlighting that product. Or

See more acceptance criteria examples and learn to write how to create your own or learn other essential scrum terms.

What are story points?

They aren’t absolute measurements like hours or days but measure the amount of work a PBI takes relative to other PBIs. Typical measurements include using Fibonacci numbers or t-shirt sizes.

Learn to use story points and explore the essential Scrum glossary.

Scrum events overview

What are the Scrum events?

The rhythm of scrum consists of various events.

  • Sprint planning
  • Daily standup 
  • Backlog refinement
  • Sprint review
  • Sprint retrospective
  • The sprint

The last on the list is sometimes debated as to whether or not it’s actually a scrum event. I include it because it's critical to creating a cadence of work for the team. 

Learn more about the rhythm of scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

What scrum events are timeboxed?

Most scrum events are timeboxed relative to the length of the sprint:

  • Sprint planning: 2 hours / sprint week.
  • Daily standup: 15 minutes.
  • Backlog refinement: 2 hours / sprint week.
  • Sprint review: 1 hour / sprint week.
  • Retrospective: 45 minutes / sprint week.

Just because an event has a timebox doesn’t mean it needs to be that long. The timebox is the maximum time allowed for the event.

Learn more about the different scrum events. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

When should scrum events be held?

Scrum events are generally held in the following order

The backlog refinement session is unique in that it can be held anytime. 

Explore further the events of scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Which scrum event is most important?

I included this because it is frequently asked, but the question misunderstands the importance of the scrum events. It’s like asking which of your limbs is most important. You may be able to answer, but they are really all critical. 

If pressed for an answer, the daily scrum probably has the greatest impact on the team's effectiveness. 

Learn more about the events in scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

What is Scrum?

What is the definition of scrum?

Scrum is founded on three essential pillars leading teams to ask the following questions:

  1. How does this make things more visible? (Transparency)
  2. Where does this create space to evaluate? (Inspection)
  3. When does this encourage growth? (Adaptation)

Further explore the definition of scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Is Scrum hard to learn?

This is because Scrum’s simplicity makes learning easy, but Scrum truly changes how you work, and that adjustment can be difficult. It changes power dynamics and expectations within the team and between the team and the rest of the organization.

You can explore further is Scrum hard to learn, along with the pros and cons of Scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

When did Scrum start?

Scrum was initially used as a term related to project management in 1986 by Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka in their paper “New New Product Development Game” In the Harvard Business Review. The first recorded Scrum project came a little later in 1993 from Jeff Sutherland.

You can learn more about Scrum’s backstory. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

What do all the scrum words mean?

Learning Scrum for the first time can be overwhelming. There are a lot of new terms and concepts in Scrum. I’ve listed the most common terms in a Scrum glossary.

How to use Scrum

Why use Scrum?

It forces clarity and prioritization, which provides the focus necessary for teams to be effective. Scrum embraces complexity and change by keeping many things simple and iteratively evaluating and adapting. 

You can learn more about why to use Scrum and three challenges Scrum solves. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

When does Scrum not work well?

Scrum isn’t always the best option for teams. Scrum can fail when there is a substantial mismatch between organizational culture and the Scrum values. It also depends on the nature of the work you do. If you work if very linear, predictable and tightly defined, you may not experience many benefits Scrum provides.

Find out more about aligning your organizational values with Scrum or how Scrum might fit in your context. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

How do I know when to use Scrum?

Scrum functions at its best when you have a dedicated team focused on developing a singular product. Its agility shines when there are time constraints combined with uncertainty. 

Explore the pros and cons of Scrum along with expectations vs. realities with Scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Learning to apply Scrum

How to choose between Scrum and Kanban?

Important factors include your team size and the type of work you do. Kanban is very process-oriented, so you should consider how defined, static, or long your process is? 

You can explore Scrum and other agile approaches. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

How does scrum help an organization?

Scrum forces clarity and prioritization, which are critical to organizational effectiveness. It provides a competitive edge by allowing teams to adapt as the market or priorities change. Teams operate more effectively because Scrum combines empowerment of the team members with alignment to top priorities.

Learn more about scrum’s impact on organizational culture. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Is scrum a methodology or a framework?

Scrum is more of a framework than a methodology, and it helps teams adhere to Agile principles and get stuff done. Scrum provides basic rules but doesn’t prescribe how to do the work. It provides principles, values, rules, and some core structure but still leaves a lot undefined.

Learn more about scrum as a framework. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

What’s the difference between scrum and agile?

When people say “agile,” they usually refer to it as a mindset. Scrum is a framework for how to organize people and work in an agile way. If you’re practicing Scrum, you’re working in an Agile way.

Learn more about the relationship between scrum and agile. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.

Scrum backlog

What is the backlog in Scrum?

There are actually two backlogs, the product backlog and the sprint backlog. They each contain the definitive list of work to be done. The product owner keeps the backlog ordered by priority. 

Learn to use the backlog in Scrum and check out the sprint backlog vs product backlog in Scrum.

How are the product backlog and sprint backlog different?

The product backlog prioritizes the features needed in the product. It is a singular visible source of requirements for the product.

The sprint backlog represents the work to do in a given sprint. It is a definitive list of all the scrum team is being asked to produce for the sprint. 

Learn more about the sprint backlog vs product backlog in Scrum.

What is a PBI (product backlog item)?

Each item in the backlog represents precise work and value to deliver. Often these PBIs are written using both user stories and acceptance criteria. The PBIs are what gets refined during the backlog refinement session, and if one is too large, it may be broken down into smaller PBIs.

Learn more about how backlogs are used in scrum, the sprint backlog vs product backlog in Scrum and explore the essential Scrum glossary.

What is the Scrum sprint backlog?

The Scrum sprint backlog is a prioritized list of items from the product backlog that the development team plans to complete during the upcoming sprint.

It is a plan for the Sprint and is created during the Sprint Planning meeting where the Development Team decides on how to build the functionality that meets the Sprint Goal. The Sprint Backlog typically includes user stories, bugs, technical work, and other items that the development team needs to work on during the sprint. Each item in the Sprint Backlog has a clear definition of done, so the team knows when the item is considered complete.

The Development Team is responsible for creating and updating their Sprint Backlog throughout the Sprint, making sure they are on track to meet the Sprint Goal. The Sprint Backlog is a working document that helps the Development Team visualize their progress and make any necessary adjustments to their plan as they go along. The Sprint Backlog is also transparent, allowing stakeholders to see what work is being done during the Sprint.

Learn more about the backlogs of Scrum.

What is the Scrum product backlog?

In Scrum, the product backlog is a prioritized list of features, bugs, technical work, and other product-related items that need to be addressed by the development team.

It serves as a single source of truth for what needs to be done on the product.

The items in the product backlog are ordered based on their importance to the product owner and the value they bring to the end-user. As the project progresses, the product backlog is constantly updated to reflect new priorities, changes in requirements, and feedback from stakeholders.

The product backlog is a living document that evolves throughout the project's lifecycle. It provides transparency and enables collaboration among all members of the Scrum team.

Learn more about the backlogs in Scrum.

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