Scrum is the most widely-used Agile framework. Roughly 70% of SA enterprise tech teams report using Scrum or a Scrum variant. As a BA, you will spend most of your career in a Scrum-shaped delivery context, whether the team calls it that or not.
This lesson covers what Scrum actually is, where the BA fits and what the framework expects from each role. The remaining lessons in this module unpack the ceremonies and patterns.
Scrum in one paragraph
A small cross-functional team works in fixed-length cycles called sprints (usually 2 weeks). Each sprint, the team commits to a small slice of work from a prioritised backlog. At the end of the sprint, the team demos the increment to stakeholders and reflects on how the sprint went. A new sprint starts immediately. The backlog evolves continuously.
That is it. The framework adds a small set of named roles, ceremonies and artefacts to support this rhythm.
The three Scrum roles
1
Product Owner (PO)Owns the product backlog. Decides what gets prioritised. Acts as the voice of the business to the team. Single point of accountability for value delivered.
2
Scrum Master (SM)Facilitates the ceremonies, removes blockers, coaches the team on Scrum. Not a project manager; not a tech lead. A servant-leader for the process.
3
Developers (the team)Everyone who builds the product, regardless of specialisation. In Scrum vocabulary, frontend engineers, backend engineers, QA testers, designers and BAs are all 'Developers'. The team is collectively accountable for delivery.
Note: Scrum does not formally include a BA role. The BA work happens, but the framework folds it into either the PO role (for backlog work) or the Developer role (for refinement, story shaping, acceptance criteria).
Where the BA actually fits
In SA enterprise practice, the BA usually plays one of three patterns.
BA as Proxy POMany SA enterprises (especially banks and insurers) have a senior business person as PO who is not embedded full-time. The BA acts as the day-to-day product owner. Writes stories, refines the backlog, handles sprint-level scope decisions, escalates strategic decisions to the actual PO.
BA as Developer-team MemberThe team has a separate PO. The BA is a full team member responsible for elicitation, modelling, acceptance criteria and stakeholder engagement. Sits in standups, refinement, planning, demos and retros.
BA across multiple teamsSenior BAs at SA banks often support 2-3 teams in parallel, doing the cross-team requirements work and leaving day-to-day backlog refinement to the team's own embedded BA or PO. Common at SAFe scale.
The Scrum cadence
A 2-week sprint repeats this rhythm.
1
Sprint Planning (day 1)Team selects work from the backlog for the sprint. Confirms goals, surfaces dependencies, commits.
2
Daily standup (every day)15 minutes maximum. What did you do yesterday, what will you do today, any blockers. Same time every day.
3
Backlog refinement (1-2 sessions per sprint)Team and PO refine upcoming stories so they are ready for the next sprint. INVEST-test, acceptance criteria, estimation.
4
Sprint Review or Demo (end of sprint)Team demos the increment to stakeholders. Stakeholders give feedback. The backlog updates.
5
Sprint Retrospective (end of sprint)Team-only meeting. What worked, what did not, what to change next sprint. Internal-process improvement.
The three Scrum artefacts
Product BacklogPrioritised list of everything the team might build. Owned by PO. Constantly evolving.
Sprint BacklogThe subset of the product backlog the team committed to this sprint. Owned by the team. Stable within the sprint (changes only if a story is added, dropped or reshaped during sprint planning).
IncrementThe work completed in a sprint that is potentially shippable. Should meet the Definition of Done.
Scrum values
Often skipped in technical training, but worth knowing because SA enterprise stand-ups and retros routinely reference these. The Scrum Guide lists five values: Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, Courage. When a Scrum Master says "the team is missing courage on this conversation", they are referencing the framework explicitly.
Common SA enterprise Scrum patterns
1
PO sits on the business side, BA acts as proxyThe named PO is often a business manager who is not in the team day-to-day. The BA handles the day-to-day PO work.
2
Two-week sprints are the defaultSome teams run one-week or three-week sprints. Two weeks is the modal cadence in SA enterprise.
3
Standups happen at 9:00 or 9:30Earlier than 9:00 conflicts with school drop-off. Later than 9:30 burns the morning. Most teams settle at 9:00 or 9:30 SAST.
4
Hybrid Scrum/Waterfall (Wagile)Many SA banks and insurers run Scrum at the team level inside a Waterfall programme structure. Sprints exist but the programme has fixed-date gates. The BA navigates both rhythms.
Scrum criticisms worth knowing
You will hear these in workshops and interviews. Worth knowing the substance.
Common honest critiques of Scrum1. Scrum assumes the team can deliver work in small slices. Some types of work (large architectural changes, regulatory programmes with fixed scope) do not fit. 2. The PO accountability for value is real but the PO authority often is not, especially in matrix-managed SA enterprises. 3. Daily standups can become status meetings rather than coordination meetings. 4. Story-point estimation is widely used but widely abused; teams gradually inflate points to look productive. 5. Scrum at scale (SAFe, LeSS) introduces overhead that small-team Scrum does not have.
Key Takeaways- Scrum: small team, fixed sprints, prioritised backlog, regular ceremonies.
- Three roles. PO (what gets built), SM (process facilitator), Developers (everyone building).
- BA is not a formal Scrum role. Plays Proxy PO, embedded team member or cross-team specialist depending on context.
- Five ceremonies. Sprint planning, daily standup, refinement, review/demo, retro.
- Three artefacts. Product backlog, sprint backlog, increment.
- SA pattern. 2-week sprints, BA-as-proxy-PO common, hybrid Scrum/Waterfall typical in regulated industries.