Fixing Your Scrum

1. Embrace Scrum values to foster team collaboration and product success

Commitment, focus, openness, respect, and courage are the five Scrum values.

Scrum values are essential. They provide a foundation for effective teamwork and successful product development. Commitment ensures team members give their best effort, while focus helps prioritize the most important tasks. Openness promotes transparency and honest feedback, respect fosters a supportive environment, and courage enables team members to tackle challenges head-on.

Applying values in daily work. Teams should regularly reflect on how they embody these values:

• During Sprint Planning, commit to achievable goals
• Maintain focus on the Sprint Goal throughout the Sprint
• Be open about progress and impediments in Daily Scrums
• Show respect for diverse opinions in Sprint Retrospectives
• Demonstrate courage by addressing conflicts and taking risks

By consciously applying these values, Scrum teams can improve collaboration, increase productivity, and deliver better products.

2. Empower the Product Owner to maximize value and guide product vision

The product owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from work of the Development Team.

Product Owner responsibilities. The Product Owner plays a crucial role in Scrum by:

• Defining and communicating the product vision
• Managing the Product Backlog
• Prioritizing features based on business value
• Collaborating with stakeholders and the Development Team

Empowering the Product Owner. Organizations must give Product Owners the authority to make decisions about the product. This includes:

• Full control over the Product Backlog
• Ability to accept or reject work during Sprint Reviews
• Direct communication with stakeholders and customers

A fully empowered Product Owner can respond quickly to market changes, stakeholder feedback, and new opportunities, ensuring the product delivers maximum value.

3. Maintain a single, well-organized Product Backlog for clarity and focus

The Product Backlog is the single source of requirements for any changes to be made to the product.

Single source of truth. Having one Product Backlog ensures:

• Clear prioritization of work
• Reduced confusion and conflicting priorities
• Improved transparency for all stakeholders

Effective backlog management. The Product Owner should:

• Regularly refine and update the backlog
• Ensure items are clear, concise, and actionable
• Collaborate with the Development Team to estimate effort
• Order items based on value, risk, and dependencies

A well-maintained Product Backlog helps teams focus on the most important work, adapt to changes quickly, and deliver value consistently.

4. Build cross-functional Development Teams to deliver "Done" increments

Development Teams are structured and empowered by the organization to organize and manage their own work.

Cross-functional teams. Scrum teams should have all the skills necessary to deliver a "Done" increment without relying on others outside the team. This includes:

• Design, development, testing, and other technical skills
• Domain knowledge and business analysis capabilities
• DevOps and deployment expertise

Self-organization benefits:

• Increased ownership and accountability
• Faster decision-making and problem-solving
• Improved collaboration and knowledge sharing
• Enhanced creativity and innovation

By building truly cross-functional teams and empowering them to self-organize, organizations can significantly improve their ability to deliver high-quality products quickly and consistently.

5. Scrum Masters serve as servant-leaders, not micromanagers or taskmasters

The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the Scrum Team.

Servant leadership. Scrum Masters should focus on:

• Removing impediments for the team
• Facilitating Scrum events and discussions
• Coaching team members and the organization on Scrum practices
• Protecting the team from outside interference

Avoiding common pitfalls. Scrum Masters should not:

• Assign tasks or manage individual work
• Make decisions for the team
• Focus solely on administrative duties
• Act as a project manager or team lead

Effective Scrum Masters empower their teams to become high-performing units by fostering self-organization, continuous improvement, and adherence to Scrum values and principles.

6. Collaborate with management to align Scrum practices with organizational goals

Scrum's success is based on people becoming more proficient in living these five values.

Building organizational support. Scrum Masters and Product Owners should:

• Educate management on Scrum principles and benefits
• Demonstrate how Scrum aligns with business objectives
• Address concerns and misconceptions about agile practices
• Showcase team successes and improvements over time

Adapting organizational processes. Work with management to:

• Align HR practices with Scrum team structures
• Adjust budgeting and planning processes for agile workflows
• Develop metrics that focus on outcomes rather than outputs
• Create a culture that supports experimentation and learning

By collaborating closely with management, Scrum teams can create an environment that supports agile practices and maximizes the benefits of Scrum across the organization.

7. Use Sprints as creative constraints to drive continuous improvement

The heart of Scrum is a Sprint, a time-box of one month or less during which a "Done", useable, and potentially releasable product Increment is created.

Sprint benefits:

• Provides a clear timebox for focused work
• Encourages regular delivery of value
• Limits risk by constraining investment
• Promotes frequent inspection and adaptation

Leveraging Sprints effectively:

• Set challenging but achievable Sprint Goals
• Use timeboxes to drive creativity and problem-solving
• Regularly review and improve Sprint practices
• Maintain a consistent Sprint length for predictability

By embracing Sprints as creative constraints, teams can deliver value more frequently, adapt to changes quickly, and continuously improve their processes and products.

8. Make Sprint Planning collaborative and goal-oriented, not a tedious task assignment

Sprint Planning answers the following: What can be delivered in the Increment resulting from the upcoming Sprint? How will the work needed to deliver the Increment be achieved?

Effective Sprint Planning:

• Collaboratively define a clear Sprint Goal
• Select Product Backlog items that contribute to the goal
• Discuss implementation strategies as a team
• Ensure the Development Team feels ownership of the plan

Avoid common pitfalls:

• Don't assign tasks to individuals during planning
• Resist the urge to over-plan or create detailed schedules
• Don't let the Product Owner dictate the entire plan
• Avoid committing to more work than the team can realistically complete

By focusing on collaboration and goal-setting, Sprint Planning becomes an energizing event that sets the team up for success in the upcoming Sprint.

9. Leverage the Daily Scrum for team alignment and impediment removal

The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute time-boxed event for the Development Team to synchronize activities and create a plan for the next 24 hours.

Effective Daily Scrums:

• Focus on progress toward the Sprint Goal
• Identify and address impediments quickly
• Promote self-organization and adaptation
• Enhance transparency within the team

Improving Daily Scrum practices:

• Use a physical or digital board to visualize work
• Encourage team members to speak to each other, not the Scrum Master
• Keep the event timeboxed to 15 minutes
• Follow up on impediments immediately after the meeting

By treating the Daily Scrum as a crucial alignment and planning event, teams can significantly improve their ability to deliver value and respond to challenges throughout the Sprint.

10. Define and evolve "Done" to ensure high-quality, releasable increments

The definition of "Done" evolves as the Scrum Team matures.

Creating a Definition of Done:

• Collaborate as a team to define clear criteria
• Include all aspects of quality (e.g., testing, documentation, performance)
• Ensure the definition aligns with organizational standards
• Make the definition visible and accessible to all team members

Evolving the Definition of Done:

• Regularly review and update the definition in Sprint Retrospectives
• Gradually increase the rigor of the definition as the team matures
• Address technical debt and quality issues through the definition
• Use the definition to drive conversations about quality and process improvement

A clear and evolving Definition of Done helps teams deliver high-quality, releasable increments consistently, reducing technical debt and increasing stakeholder satisfaction.

11. Conduct Sprint Reviews as collaborative sessions, not mere demonstrations

The Sprint Review is an opportunity for the Scrum Team to get feedback on the product.

Effective Sprint Reviews:

• Involve stakeholders actively in the discussion
• Present the increment in the context of the product vision and goals
• Discuss market changes and their impact on the product
• Collaborate on updating the Product Backlog based on feedback

Improving Sprint Review practices:

• Prepare an agenda that includes more than just a demo
• Encourage stakeholders to provide honest feedback
• Use the event to make decisions about future product direction
• Celebrate successes and learn from challenges as a team

By treating Sprint Reviews as collaborative working sessions, teams can gather valuable feedback, make informed decisions, and ensure the product remains aligned with stakeholder needs and market demands.

Last updated: August 9, 2024