How well do you really understand Scrum?
Edward Skinner
Certified Professional Scrum Master, Technical Business Analyst, Power BI Developer & Consultant
?·?Do you regularly use the term 'ceremonies' to refer to the events in each sprint?
·?Is 'CSM' certification in your vocabulary, but 'PSM' unfamiliar?
?·?Do you religiously use 'burndown' charts as your go-to sprint metric because that's simply how it's done?
?·?Does your Product Owner single-handedly write each user story and dole it out to the development team to be worked, verbatim? With estimates??
. . . or worse, does your boss simply dictate the body of work to be done at the beginning of each sprint, with the ‘Product Owner’ being a diminished secretary or glorified record keeper, and the ‘engineers’ playing the role of hired guns?
I invite you to take 15 minutes this morning or afternoon to get up to speed with what Scrum actually is, with how it is currently defined (not how it was defined ten or more years ago), and with its now core philosophy of empowering people who do the actual design and coding work autonomously guiding, or at least legitimately influencing and steering, the direction of your team's efforts.
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Scrum.org, PSM Certification and the Scrum Guide
The source of the PSM certification, www.scrum.org is a website founded in 2009 by Ken Schwaber, a signatory of the Agile Manifesto and a leader of revisions to the 'Scrum framework', which covers the minimum things a team must to be able to say that they are ‘doing Scrum’.?
The Scrum Guide, authored by both Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland is, just like Sprints in Scrum, iterative and released in increments.? Since its first publication in 2010, it was revised in 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2020.? The Scrum Guide is the authority for and outlines the Scrum framework.
Passing the PSM I exam requires a practical understanding of Scrum, strong familiarity with the current Scrum Guide, its history and how the details of the framework are interpreted by Scrum.org for its test questions.? Study is best supplemented by additional reading and research.
You can view or download the current revision of the Guide at https://scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html
The current Guide contains just ten pages of actual content.? Its creators pride themselves on keeping it brief by leaving out non-essential, and especially ‘prescriptive’ guidance, such as recommending what should really be optional methods and tools.
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PSM or CSM - Will the real Scrum please stand up?
The Scrum Alliance was formed by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland a few years before Schwaber decided to leave and instead create a separate Scrum certification, along with creating Scrum.org, which focuses on core software development project best practices, which Scrum was originally intended to address.
·?Today’s leadership of Jeff’s Scrum Alliance is governed by a ‘board of directors’
·?Scrum.org is still led by Ken Schwaber
The following excerpt argues why one might favor Ken’s PSM over Jeff’s CSM certification.? Of course, either is a worthwhile achievement that proves the certificate holder understands the basics of Scrum.
Scrum Alliance: The certification a person will get through Scrum Alliance is the Certified Scrum Master (CSM). A student enrolling for this certification will have to register for the course, attend classes and sit for an examination at the end of the training. To get certified, a student must score at least 69% in the exam result.
It is important to note that holders of this certification are expected to pay renewal fees at intervals to keep the certificate active and relevant.
Scrum.org: The certification a person will get through Scrum.org is Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I). This is rigorous training that a student is expected to go through to learn the basics of Scrum. The certification the student will get is proof of Scrum knowledge and not just proof of attendance.
The assessments of this certification do not require attending classes and the certificate awarded stays relevant for years. It needs no renewal fees.
The PSM I Certification requires a passing score of 85% or better.?
And I can tell you from having studied for and passed it, it’s no walk in the park.
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Filling in the gaps – from the history of Scrum:
It could be said that Agile Scrum began under other names in the mid 1980's as a new method of iterative development for high-complexity products at companies like Honda and Canon to improve on 'waterfall' project methodology and its 'plan-do-check-act' cycle.? In the new method, all project phases from market research and design to final product release were carried out with significant overlap between the phases, enabling frequent re-design and adaptation over the lifecycle of the project.?
The Harvard Business Review 1986 article ‘The New New Product Development Game’ reveals where the name Scrum and many of its core practices originated from in enlightening detail.
From these ideas, 'Scrum' was born and presented publicly in the U.S. in 1995 by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber.? It was later first published as the Agile Manifesto by Jeff, Ken and 15 others in 2001.?
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A Few Change Highlights
Values and artifacts
Since 2016, the Guide lists a set of 'Scrum Values'; Focus, Respect, Openness, Commitment, and Courage.?
Because the essential three Artifacts of Scrum help accomplish Transparency to help optimize value and control risk, since 2020, each of the three have a corresponding 'Commitment':
·?The 'Product Goal' represents the unified Commitment of the Product Backlog and it describes the Product Owner's overall vision for the product.
·?In defining a 'Sprint Goal', the Sprint Team makes clear what the Sprint Backlog should accomplish.
·?A Definition of Done must be met by any completed work before it is deemed a releasable Increment.
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Transparency to progress
Scrum does not prescribe specific tools to give visibility to the Scrum Team’s progress during a Sprint.? It mentions a 'burndown' chart as being one way to accomplish it.? For that matter, the use of 'story points' is just another optional tool, and in fact, is not specifically called out in the Scrum Guide.
As an alternative to a burndown, the Guide also mentions a 'cumulative flow' chart, which can give greater understanding of a team's progress.? A cumulative flow shows not only the work done versus the remaining work over time and additions or reductions in overall scope, but also can highlight progress through multiple phases of work-in-process and the amount of completed versus accepted (releasable or 'done') work during the Sprint.?
Examples and details on cumulative flow charts:
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Adjust, adapt and course-correct
The importance of staying on track to follow a planned Sprint 'burndown' or 'burnup' chart is secondary to the team's need to inspect and adapt their planned work during the Sprint as new information becomes available or is uncovered.?
Scrum is founded on 'empiricism', which Scrum prizes above dutifully following an inflexible plan during any Sprint.? Empiricism holds that knowledge and therefore, justification come from direct observation and accumulated experience rather than tradition or pragmatism.? The empirical three Scrum pillars are transparency, inspection, and adaptation.? This means the Developers may raise justifications for adjusting plans during a Sprint, based on new information.
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The Sprint Backlog - Not just a to-do list
The 'Sprint Backlog' has three parts:
1) A Sprint Goal that communicates what the Sprint should to accomplish
2) List of Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint
3) A plan for delivering the items to meet the Definition of Done
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Scrum Events - Inaccurate or obsolete terminology
Did you know the term 'ceremony' isn't really part of Scrum today?? It came from Scrum training slides before 2010 and was never mentioned in the Scrum Guide since first published in 2010, although the term remains in common use.? Today, they're called 'events' or more informally, 'meetings' and are always timeboxed to a maximum limit.
Similarly, the term 'Daily Standup' was never part of the Scrum Guide.? That term comes from Extreme Programming in the late 90's.? So, sit, because in Scrum, it's the 'Daily Scrum', not the 'Daily Standup'.
When I first started studying Scrum in 2010, it used the terms 'pigs' and 'chickens' to refer to the developers and the stakeholders.? Those barnyard terms were removed in 2011.?
The Four Essential Scrum Events - Review with Additions
Scrum Events - Sprint Planning
?(Duration - up to 8 hours, usually shorter for Sprints less than 1 month)
This is the time for the Product Owner and the Developers (and others to provide advice, if appropriate) to select and discuss items from the Product Backlog to be delivered in the Sprint.? Only items in the Product Backlog that have been refined in their transparency and level of detail to the point of being 'ready' are candidates for selection.?
The 2020 (most recent) revision to the Scrum Guide gives more autonomy to the Developers to choose 'what' to work on instead of just letting them decide ‘who’ will do the ‘what’ or ‘how’ the ‘what’ will be done.? With the Product Owner, the Developers discuss, refine and negotiate the work to be done.? At this same event, the group then moves on to a second ‘topic’ where they break down (decompose) the selected backlog items into the 'how', as smaller work items of one day or less, which may include specific tasks and estimated hours.?
Also in 2020, a third topic or question of 'why' was added above 'what' and 'how' because the team needs to clearly understand the problem they are being asked to solve and why the Sprint is valuable to stakeholders.? This understanding feeds into writing the Sprint Goal.? A Sprint Goal is created during Sprint Planning and is added to the Sprint Backlog for ongoing reference during the Sprint.
Sprint Planning produces the 'Sprint Backlog', which has three parts; a Sprint Goal (the 'why'), a selected list of Product Backlog items (the 'what') and an actionable plan for delivering that Increment (the 'how').? The list of items to be completed for the Sprint is not a firm commitment, however.? It is a forecast and is subject to re-negotiation with the Product Owner as more becomes known during the Sprint.
For accurate forecasting and selection of items to be included in a Sprint, it is important to be aware that the Developers’ confidence in and ability to achieve the Sprint Goal during the Sprint is influenced by many things, including
·?A clear understanding of the work to be done (assumptions minimized)
·?The team's past performance (velocity and experience)
·?Available capacity (subtract outside time commitments like prod support)
·?Estimates are provided by the Developers themselves (not the Product Owner or business)
·?The team's agreed 'Definition of Done' (a.k.a. releasable), which can include agreed testing and acceptance criteria appropriate to the product, plus relevant organizational standards.
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?Scrum Events - The Daily Scrum
?(Always 15 mins)
This is a planning event and not a status event.? It focuses on inspecting the team's progress toward the Sprint Goal, identifying issues, finding solutions, possibly adapting the Sprint Backlog and finally producing an actionable plan for the next 24 hours.? Note that many of these things will also occur over the course of the day's work.?
If the Product Owner or Scrum Master are actively working on items in the Sprint Backlog, they participate as Developers.? Although Developers are required to be at this event, it is not altogether mandatory that the Scrum Master or Product Owner attend.? Any issues determined to be ‘impediments’ that the team cannot resolve on their own should be raised to the Scrum Master and possibly the Product Owner.
Specifically, the Developers are responsible for, and 'own' the Sprint Backlog and its individual items collectively.? They must be (or must become) a self-organizing and adapting team, assigning, handing off and taking on work as needed over the course of the Sprint as they inspect completed work and keep track of the team’s progress towards the Sprint Goal.
During the Sprint, scope is clarified and may need to be re-negotiated between the Product Owner and the Developers as more is learned.? When the work turns out to be impactfully different from what they expected, the Developers should work with the Product Owner to negotiate the scope of the Sprint Backlog.? The plan of work should be adjusted so that the Sprint Goal can still be achieved.? It is important to be transparent when challenges arise since, ultimately, the entire Scrum Team is accountable for creating a valuable, useful Increment.?
Product Owner is specifically responsible for maximizing the value produced by the Developers.? This responsibility means that the Product Owner must be willing to adapt the scope of work as it becomes clear what can be produced during the Sprint that meets the Definition of Done.? This can mean that the Product Owner agrees to remove an item from the sprint and return it to the Product Backlog, so long as it doesn’t affect the Sprint Goal.
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As of the 2017 and 2020 revisions, the familiar three questions below became merely a suggestion of one way to conduct the Daily Scrum.? In fact, it was decided that the famous three questions are too 'prescriptive' to remain part of the Scrum Guide and they were removed in 2020.
·?What did I do yesterday that helped meet the Sprint Goal?
·?What will I do today to help meet the Sprint Goal?
·?Do I see any impediment that prevents me/us from meeting the Sprint Goal?
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Critics of the three questions pointed out that properly functioning teams already know what each other is working on, significant obstacles can be missed without emphasis on inspection, and that there may be little real ‘collaboration’ happening with just people taking turns answering the three questions.?
According to Scrum.org, ‘…so long as the meeting is conducted in a way that focuses on progress towards the Sprint Goal, it can be structured any way the Developers decide.’
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Scrum Events - The Sprint Review
(Up to 4 hours, usually shorter for Sprints less than 1 month)
This event should not be referred to as a ‘demo’ because that is misleading.? The Sprint Review is a working session that includes stakeholders so that their feedback can be gathered as input to the next Sprint.? Recent changes in the business environment may translate to changed requirements or influence planning for the next Sprint.
The Sprint Review shows what was produced and seeks feedback to decide 'what to do next'.? This is part of the 'inspect and adapt' philosophy of Scrum that decreases the risk of delivering a product that does not meet an evolving Product Goal.? To borrow an older Waterfall term, requirements have a strong tendency to be 'progressively-elaborated' as stakeholders gain a clearer picture of what the product should really look like and do for them.
The Increment produced during the Sprint can optionally be released to stakeholders before the Sprint Review where appropriate.? As soon as a backlog item meets the Definition of Done, it becomes part of the Increment.? Backlog items not meeting the Definition of Done at the end of the Sprint are not presented at the Sprint Review and are returned to the Product Backlog.
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Scrum Events - The Sprint Retrospective
(Up to 3 hours, usually shorter for Sprints less than 1 month)
This event is about ‘Kaizen’ (Japanese for ‘change’ + ‘good’), which is a foundation of Scrum in ‘lean thinking’, which emphasizes continuous improvement and eliminating wasteful practices or incorrect assumptions.? The team’s goal here is to look for ways to improve efficiency, cohesiveness and productivity.?
The Scrum Team lists observations and comes up with ideas on how to improve its effectiveness. ??The most impactful improvements should be addressed as soon as possible. ?These ideas may even be added to the next Sprint as reminders or initiatives.
A Fifth Scrum Event
Product Backlog Refinement? (formerly Backlog Grooming)
(around 1 hour)
Per the Scrum Guide, ‘during’ the Sprint, the Product Backlog is refined as needed.? Called by the Product Owner, a Backlog Refinement meeting between the Product Owner and the Developers gives the needed time for items near the top of the Product Backlog to be discussed to break them down into sizes that will fit into a single Sprint, clarify requirements and list tasks or other details.? This activity makes items likely to be included in the next Sprint ‘ready’ and familiarizes the Developers with upcoming scope.
I hope you enjoyed and benefited from reading this post.?
If you have clarifications for corrections, thoughtful input, or would like to hire me to be an FTE on your team, please reach out to me directly at ?t d s k n r @ g m a i l . c o m.?
Edward ‘Ted’ Skinner
Power BI & Python Data Analyst & Business Intelligence Developer,
Business Systems Analyst, Certified Professional Scrum Master
Phoenix, Arizona
Postscript - I generated the cute photo for this article in Stable Diffusion on my local installation. AI generated images are not copyrightable and any resemblance of the people depicted in the image to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Principal Consultant at Instantia LLC
1 年All I can tell is that it involves a LOT of cowboy hats!