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Scrum does not explicitly define or list any controls. Yet, if you analyze Scrum, you can see that Scrum has many built-in risk controls, because Scrum is fundamentally a risk-reduction framework for addressing complex problems. This book features the prominent controls with the intention that Scrum users can appreciate the significance of such controls and make an effort to fully leverage them in their Scrum implementations.
The following controls minimize risk of producing waste and lack of progress:
1. Time-boxed Scrum events eliminate waste associated with traditional meetings.
2. Inspections increase the transparency of the Product Value and Work Progress.
3. The Scrum Master guards the Scrum Framework and champions the Scrum rules including transparency.
4. Standards like the definition of “Done” set the expectations of the required quality levels and makes them transparent.
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Time-boxed events
The Scrum events are significant controls in the hands of the Scrum Team that are used to maneuver the journey to the desired end.
• All events are time-boxed events, which means that every event has a maximum duration.
• The events create regularity and minimize the need for meetings not defined in Scrum.
The Scrum Master coaches the Scrum Team to correctly conduct and utilize the events. The Scrum Master need not be part of some of the events, but they need to ensure that these events happen.
Fig. 17- A Sprint showing the time-boxed events
-------------------Question- 43--------------------------
A Development Team has only three members. The time box for the Daily Scrum is
a) 3 minutes
b) 15 minutes
c) Per team’s decision
-------Answer-------
Daily Scrum is always time boxed to 15 minutes and scheduled that way. However, the team can close the Daily Scrum earlier on the days if they are done. Correct answer is ‘b.’
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Once a Sprint begins, its duration is fixed and cannot be shortened or lengthened. The remaining events may end whenever the purpose of that event is achieved, ensuring an appropriate amount of time is spent without allowing waste in the process.
What happens if a Development Team completes the work before the Sprint end?
If a team completes the work before the Sprint end, they may collaboratively decide to do additional work such as refining the Backlog, etc. and still complete the Sprint as planned. The Sprint duration is kept intact without contraction or expansion.
But for the other four events, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Review, and Retrospective, if the team completes the intended agenda early, they can be closed early.
-------------------Question- 44--------------------------
Throughout the effort, who takes ownership of the Scrum events, sets-up the meeting for every event, and invites the required participants?
a) Product Owner
b) Scrum Master
c) Scrum Team
d) Development Team
-------Answer-------
The Scrum Team is a self-organized team. They manage and organize how they perform their work and are collectively the owner of their work. The Scrum Team together comes up with the shared understanding of when to have these events. By bringing in this self-management and regularity, the team avoids the complexities of meeting arrangement and attendance associated with traditional meetings. The Scrum Master may facilitate this only during the early period and coach the team to do it by themselves later. Correct answer is ‘c.’
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Inspections
Every event is an opportunity for inspection. In addition, a team can optionally inspect more frequently. However, their inspection should not be so frequent that inspection gets in the way of the work.
Inspections are performed by those doing the work and those who have knowledge of the product. In addition to the Development Team, the Product Owner, and invited stakeholders inspect the product Increment during the Sprint Review.
If an inspector finds that any aspect of the work or product deviates from the acceptable limits and that the resulting product will be unacceptable, the work activity must be adjusted. The Development Team does not wait for any formal event to make this adjustment; instead they make it as soon as possible to minimize further deviation.
-------------------Question- 45--------------------------
What should be the frequency of Inspection in Scrum? Select all that apply.
a) As planned in the Sprint Planning
b) As needed by the Product Owner
c) In every event within the Sprint
d) Frequently, as decided by the team, but not getting in the way of work
-------Answer-------
Every event is an opportunity for inspection. In addition, a team can optionally inspect more frequently, without having the inspections getting in the way of the work. Correct answers are ‘c’ and ‘d.’
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Summary of Which Roles participate in Which events
Sprint Starts - Sprint Planning
Ongoing Development Work
** In the middle of the Sprint, if the Development Team needs some external technical/domain help, they have to raise this as an impediment, and they can reach out to technical/domain stakeholders for help. However, later in the Sprint Retrospective, they need to inspect why they could not do it themselves without help. They need to identify the improvements to be made to make them truly cross functional and self-sufficient.
On a side note, if the team still cannot resolve an issue even with the external technical/domain help, they need to bring it up to the Scrum Master immediately and collaborate on the next course of action. If the Scrum Master cannot remove the impediment, then the Product Owner should be consulted.
Daily Scrum
The Daily Scrum is an internal meeting for the Development Team. If others are present, the Scrum Master ensures that they do not disrupt the meeting.
** The Scrum Master who also performs the Development Work must participate in the Daily Scrum. The Scrum Master who does not perform the Development Work can optionally participate to observe the correct implementation or facilitate discussions.
Ongoing Product Backlog Refinement
Sprint Review
Sprint Retrospective – Sprint Ends
-------------------Question- 46--------------------------
All the activities that happen within Scrum are called Scrum events.
a) True
b) False
-------Answer-------
There can be any number of activities within the Scrum Framework as chosen by the Scrum Team. It will include Development Work Practices, Backlog Refinement, etc. However, all the activities are NOT Scrum events. There are only five defined events in Scrum. Correct answer ‘b.’
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The Scrum Master's championship of Transparency
Scrum artifacts provide key information about the product and development work to both the Scrum Team and outsiders.
The artifacts are meant to maximize the transparency of the underlying information.
Scrum relies on transparency. Decisions to optimize value and control risk are made based on the perceived state of the artifacts. To the extent that transparency is complete, these decisions have a sound basis. To the extent that the artifacts are not transparent, these decisions can be flawed, value may diminish, and risk may increase.
The Scrum Master must work with the Product Owner, Development Team, and other involved parties to understand if the artifacts are completely transparent. The Scrum Master’s job is to work with the Scrum Team and the organization to increase the transparency of the artifacts. This work usually involves learning, convincing, and change. Transparency does not occur overnight, but is a path.
The Scrum Master and Artifacts
Note that the Scrum Master is not the owner of any artifact. However, the Scrum Master is the main driver in coaching the team to increase the transparency of these artifacts. The Scrum Master spends time in detecting incomplete transparency by inspecting the artifacts, sensing patterns, listening closely to what is being said, and detecting differences between expected and real results. There are practices for coping with incomplete transparency; the Scrum Master must help everyone apply the most appropriate practices in the absence of complete transparency.
-------------------Question- 47--------------------------
A good guideline to differentiate Acceptance Criteria from the definition of “Done” is, “the definition of “Done” provides a checklist to take the Increment to a potentially shippable state, while the Acceptance Criteria focus on testing the business requirements.”
a) True
b) False
-------Answer-------
The definition of “Done” is a standard to define the quality for the production release. Acceptance criteria are the specifications of the expected business behavior. Correct answer is ‘a.’
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The relationship between Roles and Artifacts and Events
The following table shows the relationship between the roles, events, and artifacts. It points out the creation and ownership of each Scrum artifact and the definition of “Done.”
Sprint Starts - Sprint Planning
Daily Scrum
Ongoing Product Backlog Refinement
Sprint Review
Sprint Retrospective – Sprint Ends
Summary
• Scrum has built-in controls to minimize the risk of producing waste and lack of progress.
• The first control is the Scrum events. They create regularity and minimize the need for meetings. All Scrum events are time-boxed events, such that every event has a maximum duration. The time boxing ensures that an appropriate amount of time is spent without allowing waste in the process.
• The second control is the Scrum Team Inspections. Other than the Sprint itself, which is a container for all other events, each event in Scrum is a formal opportunity to inspect and adapt. Inspections ensure that there is increased transparency of value and progress.
• The third control is the Scrum guardian, the Scrum Master. Since Scrum relies on Transparency, the Scrum Master must work with the Product Owner, Development Team, and other involved parties to understand if the artifacts are completely transparent and must champion to increase the transparency of the artifacts by continuous learning, convincing, and bringing change.
• The fourth control is a “Standard” like the definition of “Done.” Any one product or system should have a definition of “Done” that is standard for any work done on it. If the definition of "Done" for an Increment is part of the conventions, standards or guidelines of the development organization, all Scrum Teams must follow it as a minimum. If there is no existing definition of "Done," the Development Team of the Scrum Team must define a definition of “Done” appropriate for the product.
