Unlike the traditional waterfall methodology, where every task or project phase is sequential, Scrum prescribes the notion of iteration. At a high level, with Scrum, a project is broken up into a number of iterations called sprints. Each sprint is usually one or two weeks long. The project team completes a portion of the overall project, and the project is completed when all the sprints are finished. With this approach, the project team is able to do the following:
- Continuously deliver with each sprint so that feedback can be gathered early
- Accommodate changes during the project life cycle
- Identify issues early on rather than at the very end, which is costly
- Continuously improve the process with retrospective meetings at the end of each sprint
