Your team's Product Owner approaches you for a word in private. She expresses some concerns she has about the team'scommitment and productivity. She has noticed that comparable teams within the development organization have a higheraverage velocity. How would you handle this situation?
정답:
When a Product Owner raises concerns about the team's commitment and productivity based on comparisons ofvelocitywith other teams, this signals a need for coaching onempiricism, transparency, and appropriate use of Scrum metrics. As a Scrum Master, my response would focus on reframing the discussion fromoutput comparisontovalue delivery and continuous improvement. First, I would explain thatvelocity is a team-specific, contextual measure. Velocity reflects how much work a specific team completes within a given context, using its own Definition of Done, skills, tooling, and domain complexity. The Scrum Guide does not define velocity as a performance or comparison metric. Comparing velocity across teams is misleading and risks encouraging dysfunctional behavior, such as inflating estimates, cutting quality, or gaming the system. Therefore, a higher velocity does not automatically indicate higher productivity, commitment, or value delivery. Second, I would explore the Product Owner's underlying concern rather than focusing on velocity itself. Often, concerns about velocity are proxies for deeper issues such as: * Missed Sprint Goals, * Unmet stakeholder expectations, * Slow value delivery, * Quality problems or unpredictability. As a Scrum Master, I would help the Product Owner articulatewhat outcome they are truly worried about, and then guide the discussion toward metrics and observations that better reflect those concerns, such as progress toward Product Goals, customer feedback, Increment quality, or predictability over time. Third, I would reinforce the importance ofempiricism and transparency. If there are genuine concerns about commitment or effectiveness, these should be inspected using transparent evidence within the team's own context. The Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective provide structured opportunities to inspect outcomes and ways of working. Rather than privately judging the team based on external comparisons, these concerns should be addressed openly and constructively with the Scrum Team. Fourth, I would coach the Product Owner onScrum Values, particularlyRespect and Openness. Assuming lower commitment based on velocity comparisons risks undermining trust and psychological safety. Scrum encourages respecting the team as capable professionals and being open to learning what is actually limiting their effectiveness. Blame-oriented comparisons reduce the likelihood of honest inspection and improvement. Finally, if improvement is needed, the Scrum Master should support the Scrum Team inidentifying and addressing impediments. This may involve examining workload, technical debt, unclear backlog items, excessive dependencies, or organizational constraints. The focus should be on enabling the team to improve sustainably, not on pushing them to match another team's numbers.
문제 2
Every Sprint has a Sprint Review. What is the purpose and result of this event?
정답:
TheSprint Reviewis a formal Scrum Event held at the end of each Sprint toinspect the outcome of the Sprint andadapt the Product Backlogif needed. Its primary purpose is to enable empirical decision-making by involving both theScrum Team and stakeholdersin inspecting the product and determining what to do next. Purpose of the Sprint Review The main purpose of the Sprint Review is toinspect the "Done" Product Incrementin the context of overall product progress. During this event: * The Scrum Team presents the Increment that meets the Definition of Done. * The Developers explain what was delivered, what was not delivered, and the challenges encountered. * Stakeholders activelyinspect the product, often by using it, rather than reviewing documents or reports. This inspection provides real, hands-on feedback and creates a shared understanding of the current state of the product and its direction. Result of the Sprint Review The Sprint Review results inheightened transparencyfor all participants. By jointly inspecting the Increment, new insights emerge about customer needs, market conditions, risks, and opportunities. These insights inform conversations aboutwhat is needed next. Based on this shared understanding: * TheProduct Owner collaborates with stakeholders and the Scrum Teamto adapt and update the Product Backlog. * Completed work is accepted or further work is identified. * New Product Backlog Items may be added, reordered, or refined to reflect the latest understanding of the product. The Sprint Review does not aim to approve or reject work formally, but to enable learning and adaptation.
문제 3
One of the Scrum events is the Sprint Review. How does the Sprint Review enable empiricism? What would the impact be if some members of the development team were not present?
정답:
TheSprint Reviewis a key Scrum Event that directly enablesempiricism, which is the foundation of Scrum. Empiricism is based on making decisions using what is known, observed, and learned, supported by the pillars oftransparency, inspection, and adaptation. The Sprint Review operationalizes these pillars at the product level. How the Sprint Review Enables Empiricism First, the Sprint Review createstransparencyby making the current state of the product visible. During the event, the Scrum Team presents a"Done" Product Incrementthat meets the Definition of Done. Stakeholders can see and often use the actual product rather than relying on reports or assumptions. This shared visibility ensures that discussions are grounded in reality. Second, the Sprint Review enablesinspection. The Scrum Team and stakeholders jointly inspect the Increment and assess progress toward product goals. The Developers provide context about what was delivered, what was not, and what challenges were encountered. This inspection is focused on outcomes and value, not individual performance. Third, the Sprint Review supportsadaptation. Based on the inspection and feedback, new insights emerge about customer needs, market conditions, risks, and opportunities. The Product Owner uses this information to adapt the Product Backlog, reordering items, adding new work, or refining existing items. This completes the empirical feedback loop by ensuring future decisions are based on the latest evidence. Impact of Development Team Members Not Attending the Sprint Review If some Developers are not present at the Sprint Review, empiricism is weakened. First,transparency decreases. Developers possess critical, first-hand knowledge about implementation details, technical trade-offs, constraints, and risks. Without their presence, stakeholders receive an incomplete picture of the Increment and its implications. Second,inspection becomes less effective. Stakeholders may ask questions about behavior, limitations, or quality that only Developers can accurately answer. The absence of Developers limits meaningful dialogue and reduces the quality of inspection. Third,adaptation suffers. Decisions about what to do next-such as changes to scope, priorities, or technical direction-depend on accurate understanding. Without Developers participating, adaptations to the Product Backlog may be based on assumptions rather than evidence, increasing the risk of poor decisions. Finally, excluding Developers underminesScrum Values, particularlyRespect and Openness, by treating the Sprint Review as a reporting event rather than a collaborative working session. This can lead to disengagement and reduced shared ownership of product outcomes.
문제 4
A Scrum Master is working with a Development Team that has members in different physical locations. Development Team meets in a variety of meeting rooms and has much to do logistically (for example, setup conference calls) before the Daily Scrum. What action should be Scrum Master take?
정답:
When a Development Team is distributed across different physical locations and faces logistical overhead just to start theDaily Scrum, this situation represents animpediment to effective inspection and adaptation. As a Scrum Master, the appropriate action is toenable the team to inspect and adapt more effectively, not to control or manage logistics on their behalf. 1. Help the Team Establish a Stable and Simple Daily Scrum Setup The Scrum Master should work with the Development Team toinspect and improve how the Daily Scrum is conducted. This may include: * Agreeing on afixed time and virtual location, * Standardizing tools (e.g., always the same conferencing solution), * Reducing setup effort so the event can start on time and remain within its 15-minute timebox. This supports transparency and reduces unnecessary waste. 2. Remove or Reduce Organizational and Technical Impediments If logistical difficulties stem from organizational constraints-such as lack of proper tooling, inadequate rooms, or unreliable communication infrastructure-the Scrum Master shouldaddress these as impediments. This may involve working with IT or management to provide stable tools that enable smooth collaboration. 3. Coach the Team Toward Self-Management Rather than running the Daily Scrum or handling logistics personally, the Scrum Master shouldcoach the Developers to self-managehow they organize the event. The goal is for the team to own and continuously improve the Daily Scrum in a way that fits their distributed context.
문제 5
How does the Cone of Uncertainty influence the work being done by a development team during a product's development lifetime?
정답:
TheCone of Uncertaintydescribes how the level of uncertainty in a product's requirements, technology, and value is highest at the beginning of a product's lifetime and gradually decreases as knowledge is gained. This concept strongly influences the type of work a development team performs throughout the product's development lifecycle and aligns well with Scrum's empirical approach. Early Stage: High Uncertainty and Discovery Work At the start of a product's development lifetime, manyunknownsexist. These may relate to customer needs, technical feasibility, usability, or business value. According to Scrum's empirical nature, teams should not assume certainty where it does not exist. Therefore, early development work focuses primarily ondiscovery. During this stage, the Development Team works to reduce uncertainty by: * Conducting research and experiments, * Building prototypes or spikes, * Testing assumptions with users, * Validating technical and business hypotheses. This type of work helps the team learn quickly and avoid premature commitment to detailed solutions. The goal is not maximizing feature output, butmaximizing learningand reducing risk. Middle Stage: Reduced Uncertainty and Feature Development As important unknowns are discovered and addressed, the Cone of Uncertainty narrows. The team gains confidence in what to build and how to build it. At this point, work increasingly shifts toward delivering functional stories and featuresthat provide direct value to users. Development during this phase focuses on: * Building usable, integrated product increments, * Expanding functionality based on validated learning, * Refining features through feedback and inspection. Scrum supports this transition by enabling frequent inspection and adaptation through Sprints, ensuring that learning continues while value delivery accelerates. Late Stage: Low Uncertainty and Operational Work Toward the end of a product's development lifetime, most significant uncertainties have been resolved. According toEvidence-Based Management (EBM),Unrealized Value becomes low, whileCurrent Value is high. At this stage, the volume of new feature development typically decreases. The team's work becomes moreoperationalin nature, such as: * Maintenance and optimization, * Improving performance or stability, * Addressing technical debt, * Supporting existing users. Investment decisions increasingly focus on sustaining value rather than discovering new opportunities.