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. Sprints have consistent durations throughout a development effort. A new Sprint starts immediately after the conclusion of the previous Sprint. Sprints contain and consist of the Sprint Planning, Daily Scrums,…
Prescribed events are used in Scrum to create regularity and to minimize the need for meetings not defined in Scrum. All events are time-boxed events, such that every event has a maximum duration. These include the Sprint itself, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective. Once a Sprint begins, its duration is fixed and…
The Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. Scrum Masters do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory, practices, rules, and values. The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the Scrum Team. The Scrum Master helps those outside the Scrum Team understand which of their interactions with the…
Optimal Development Team size is small enough to remain nimble and large enough to complete significant work within a Sprint. Fewer than three Development Team members decrease interaction and results in smaller productivity gains. Smaller Development Teams may encounter skill constraints during the Sprint, causing the Development Team to be unable to deliver a potentially releasable…
The Development Team consists of professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable Increment of "Done" product at the end of each Sprint. A "Done" increment is required at the Sprint Review. Only members of the Development Team create the Increment. Development Teams are structured and empowered by the organization to organize and manage…
The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product resulting from work of the Development Team. How this is done may vary widely across organizations, Scrum Teams, and individuals. The Product Owner is the sole person responsible for managing the Product Backlog. Product Backlog management includes: Clearly expressing Product Backlog items;Ordering the items…
The Scrum Team consists of a Product Owner, the Development Team, and a Scrum Master. Scrum Teams are self-organizing and cross-functional. Self-organizing teams choose how best to accomplish their work, rather than being directed by others outside the team. Cross-functional teams have all competencies needed to accomplish the work without depending on others not part of…
When the values of commitment, courage, focus, openness and respect are embodied and lived by the Scrum Team, the Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life and build trust for everyone. The Scrum Team members learn and explore those values as they work with the Scrum events, roles and artifacts. Successful use of…
Scrum is founded on empirical process control theory, or empiricism. Empiricism asserts that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is known. Scrum employs an iterative, incremental approach to optimize predictability and control risk. Three pillars uphold every implementation of empirical process control: transparency, inspection, and adaptation. TransparencySignificant aspects of the process must…
Scrum is a framework for developing and sustaining complex products. Watch this short video to get a quick introduction to Scrum. https://youtu.be/L_sAo93ASTU For more details, watch the Scrum Foundations Video series or read the below blog series about Scrum. The series are excerpt from the Scrum Guide by the co-creators of Scrum, Ken Schwaber and Jeff…
At the 2017 Global Scrum Gathering in San Diego, CA, I presented on Fostering Self-Organizing Team. Below is the abstract of the talk, along with links to the Fostering Self-Organizing Team blog series and the presentation slides. 2017 San Diego Global Scrum Gathering Abstract: One of the 12 principles of the Agile manifesto states that “The…
Effective leaders or Scrum Masters are the catalyst that transforms ordinary teams into high-performing, self-organizing powerhouses. But this transformation capability doesn't happen overnight. Just as teams develop through stages, Scrum Masters must evolve their own skills and approaches to match their teams' needs and effectively guide their development. Understanding the ScrumMaster's or Leader's Development Path Earlier…
Check out the video below of Michael Hamman presenting on "The Art and Practice of the Agile Leader" at Washington DC Scrum User Group (DCSUG). Michael presents some perspectives on the role and the path of the transformational Agile Leader. First, he inquires into what is meant by “transformation” (it probably doesn’t mean what you think…
Creating high-performing self-organizing teams doesn't happen by accident. It requires deliberate leadership approaches that evolve with the team's development. One of the most challenging aspects for leaders is determining how much decision-making authority to grant their teams at various stages. Without clarity around authority boundaries, teams either hesitate to make decisions or overstep in ways that…
We know that self-organizing teams can drive innovation and deliver exceptional results. But what exactly makes a team truly "self-organizing" and capable of high performance? Seven critical attributes distinguish truly exceptional teams from ordinary teams. What Makes a Team Self-Organizing? Before we explore the seven attributes, let's clarify what we mean by "self-organizing." A self-organizing team…