Our software delivery mission statement:
To deliver incremental change to our systems efficiently, and with the highest quality, to bring added value to our customers.
How do we deliver updates to our website, to improve our customer journey with us at Tempcover?
We use a software delivery framework, called Scrum to help us meet our mission statement.
What is Scrum?
Scrum is a framework that simplifies the complexities and challenges of software delivery. It does this by breaking the development of software into Sprints. At Tempcover, these are 2 weeks long.
A Sprint starts with a Sprint Planning session, where the Scrum Team (a group of engineers specialising in software coding, and testing) agree with the Product Owner (the person overseeing the direction of the product) what the goals are for the Sprint. The objective by the end of planning is to commit work items from the Product Backlog (the list of known and prioritised work items for the product) to the Sprint Backlog (the work list for the Sprint) that the Scrum Team must set to Done (where all pre-agreed criteria for the work item are met) to achieve the goals. The team must work together and self-organise to achieve the goals.
The Scrum Team attend Daily Scrum (a meeting no longer than 15 minutes) each morning to discuss progress from the previous day, and what is on the agenda for today. If there are any Blockers (impediments) they are shared, and the Scrum Master (the person who ensures Scrum is applied correctly) may assist with their removal. Key stakeholders often attend the Daily Scrum to observe Sprint progress.
By Sprint end all work items (hence goals) should be complete. The outcome of the Sprint is called the Increment which may result in a software release to production. The increment is shared with the Scrum Team, Product Owner, and Stakeholders in Sprint Review (a meeting where Sprint metrics, Sprint results and plans for next Sprint are shared). Any feedback may influence planning for the next Sprint.
The Scrum Team also meet before the next Sprint is planned in a Retrospective session. The session’s purpose is for the team to reflect on the Sprint and agree one or more actions to make improvements for the forthcoming Sprint. This method is called Empiricism and allows the team to inspect and adapt by applying frequent changes to working methods.
Tempcover – delivering constant change for our Customers
This level of agility enables us to deliver change to our customers quickly, to the highest standards. Our approach has given us a customer website that has constantly evolved, winning us multiple awards in good user experience, design, and content.
