What Are Agile and Scrum? A Simple Guide for Beginners

You’ve probably seen the terms Agile and Scrum in almost every tech job description out there. But what do they actually mean? If you’re coming from a non-tech background like banking, these concepts might feel confusing and overwhelming. Don’t worry—I’m here to break it down for you so you can confidently understand and discuss them.

Let’s start with Scrum.

What is Scrum?

Scrum is a framework that helps teams work together by breaking down tasks into smaller, manageable pieces. Through continuous feedback and experimentation, Scrum allows teams to learn and improve as they progress. It’s all about delivering value incrementally, in stages, while working as a team.

Scrum is built on three key pillars:

Transparency: The process is visible to everyone, ensuring that all team members are on the same page and accountable.
Inspection: Regular progress checks help identify any issues early, allowing the team to address them and maintain quality.
Adaptation: Based on feedback, the team adjusts its strategies to remain flexible and aligned with project goals.

In addition, Scrum is guided by five important values that shape how the team collaborates:

Commitment: Team members are fully dedicated to achieving the team’s objectives.
Focus: Everyone concentrates on the work at hand to maximise efficiency during sprints.
Openness: Team members are open about their progress, challenges, and results.
Respect: Every team member’s skills and contributions are valued and appreciated.
Courage: Teams take on tough challenges and make difficult decisions with honesty and confidence.

Scrum may sound complicated, but it’s really just a structured way to manage teamwork and improve productivity. Now that you’re comfortable with Scrum, let’s dive into Agile.

What is Agile?

Agile is a set of values and principles designed to guide teams in delivering software quickly and efficiently. Unlike traditional methods, Agile prioritises adaptability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Here are the four core values of Agile:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
Working software over comprehensive documentation.
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
Responding to change over following a plan.

These values focus on people, adaptability, and customer needs, ensuring that software is delivered faster while still maintaining quality. The 12 principles behind the Agile Manifesto are:

Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
Working software is the primary measure of progress.
Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
Simplicity—the art of maximising the amount of work not done—is essential.
The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organising teams.
At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly.

To put it simply, Agile is like building a LEGO set with friends. You break it down into small, manageable pieces, check in frequently to ensure progress, and adapt as needed. Scrum, on the other hand, helps organise the work into short, focused sessions, called sprints, with regular check-ins to stay on track.