Agile Scrum Techniques on Detailed Product Backlogs: Basis in the Development of Human Resource Management in Freight Services

Abstract

The study is a Freight Services’ Human Resource Management module is designed to manage the organization’s automated HR process. The developed HR Management system consists of different modules namely: (1) Recruitment provides the organization a pool of qualified job candidates; (2) Applicant Management stores all the information of both qualified and non-qualified applicants. On the other hand, (3) newly hired on Board keeps the information of all newly-hired employees including the personal information; (4) Performance Management records the daily performance of the employee from attendance, tasks performed, as well as behavioral concerns; and (5) Social Recognition is particularly concerned on rewards which the company envisions to motivate employees. In developing the system, the proponents used Agile Scrum Methodology. Scrum is an agile project management methodology/framework that is used primarily for software development project with the goal of delivering the outputs every 2-4 weeks while maintaining higher-quality products. Agile Scrum Methodology is divided into sprints, basically the sprints are in the range of 2 weeks. The head of the team who manages the team is called the Scrum Master. The team then creates the product and sprint backlogs which is a list of tasks to perform within a certain sprint. The team was able to develop the system consisting of all the needed modules, from recruitment up to the social recognition module. With the system being tested and deployed in a pilot environment, the whole process of Human Resource when it comes to their employees was made so much easier. Completing tasks such as retrieving records and updating them is not anymore a challenge. The use of Agile Scrum techniques such as identifying the product backlogs first with the clients and dividing them into sprints contributed to the easy deployment of the HR system. Stand-up meetings helped the team realized the importance of checking what happened, what were the problems encountered, and what are the scheduled tasks for the day. The technique created a feeling of substantial contribution of all team members. Another technique that was contributory to the success of the study is the use of a burn down chart for each team member. Each one is able to monitor the expected delivery of the required tasks from each other.