A. Developers collaboratively select and re-plan their work during the Sprint. This situation demonstrates that the Scrum Team is self-managing, as it shows that the Developers have the autonomy and authority to decide how to best accomplish their work, without being directed by others outside the team. The Developers can also adapt their plan based on new insights, feedback, or impediments that arise during the Sprint.

C. The Developers create their own Sprint Backlog, reflecting all work that is part of the Definition of Done. This situation also demonstrates that the Scrum Team is self-managing, as it shows that the Developers have the responsibility and accountability to create a realistic and achievable plan for the Sprint, based on their understanding of the Sprint Goal and the Product Backlog items. The Developers also ensure that their work meets the quality standards defined by the Definition of Done.

References:

The Scrum Guide, section 2.3 (The Scrum Team), page 7

The Scrum Guide, section 3.2 (The Daily Scrum), page 9

The Scrum Guide, section 3.5 (The Sprint Planning), page 10

The Scrum Guide, section 3.6 (The Sprint Review), page 11

The Scrum Master Learning Path, module 2 (The Scrum Framework), lesson 2 (The Sprint), lesson 3 (The Sprint Goal), lesson 4 (Sprint Planning) and lesson 5 (The Sprint Review)

The Professional Scrum Master II (PSM II) Assessment, question 39

B: Developers can artificially increase velocity by incurring technical debt. This is a true statement, as some Developers may choose to take shortcuts or compromise on quality in order to deliver more work in a Sprint. However, this is not a sustainable or ethical practice, as it will create more problems and costs in the future. The Scrum Master can help the Developers to avoid this temptation and focus on delivering value and quality instead.

D: Velocity may unexpectedly drop when the Developers run into technical debt while attempting to complete new Product Backlog items. This is a true statement, as technical debt can act as a drag on the productivity and progress of the Developers. Technical debt can make the work more difficult, complex, or risky, and may require more time and effort to fix or refactor. The Scrum Master can help the Developers to identify and manage technical debt, and communicate its impact to the Product Owner and the stakeholders.

References:

How Technical Debt Affects Your Velocity 1

Understanding the impact of technical debt on the capacity and velocity 2

 As the Scrum Master, your role is to serve the Scrum Team by helping them to work effectively and deliver value. You are not responsible for managing the work or assigning tasks to the Developers. You should respect the self-organization and autonomy of the Developers, and support them in finding their own solutions to the problem. You should also facilitate collaboration and communication among the Developers and with other stakeholders, such as Phil and the Product Owner.

Some reasons why the other options are not correct are:

A: Preparing the Sprint Backlogs each day for the teams so Phil can spend some time in each team. This option is not correct because it violates the Scrum framework and the Scrum Master role. The Sprint Backlog is owned and managed by the Developers, not by the Scrum Master. The Scrum Master should not interfere with or dictate how the Developers plan and execute their work. The Scrum Master should also not impose a solution that may not be optimal or feasible for the teams or for Phil.

B: Allocate Phil to one team per Sprint, so that over four Sprints every team will have had the support it requires. This option is not correct because it violates the Scrum framework and the Scrum Master role. The Scrum Master should not allocate resources or assign tasks to the teams or to Phil. The Scrum Master should also not impose a solution that may not be aligned with the Product Owner’s priorities or the teams’ needs.

D: Ask Phil for a plan to hire and train additional people in his domain, and in the meantime work with the Product Owner and Developers to re-prioritize the work so that tasks not depending on Phil can be done first. This option is not correct because it violates the Scrum framework and the Scrum Master role. The Scrum Master should not ask Phil to do something that may be beyond his authority or responsibility. The Scrum Master should also not work with the Product Owner and Developers to re-prioritize the work, as this is the Product Owner’s accountability. The Scrum Master should respect the Product Owner’s decisions on what is valuable and what is not, and support the Developers in delivering that value.

References:

What is a Scrum Master? | Scrum.org

What is a Sprint Backlog? | Scrum.org

Who is responsible for dependency management? | Scrum.org

[Managing Dependencies in Scrum - Scrum Alliance]

 When multiple Scrum Teams work on the same product, they share one Product Backlog that contains all the requirements for the product. The Product Owner is responsible for ordering and refining the Product Backlog items, but does not assign them to specific teams. Instead, the Scrum Teams pull in work from the Product Backlog in agreement with the Product Owner and the other teams, based on their capacity, skills, dependencies, and Sprint Goals. This way, the Scrum Teams can self-organize and collaborate to deliver a coherent and valuable product Increment.

References:

The Scrum Guide , November 2020, p. 7-8

Can two teams work on one product backlog? , Scrum.org, January 6, 2020

C: Velocity has no direct relationship with value. This is a true statement, as velocity is a measure of the amount of work done by a Scrum Team in a Sprint, not the value or quality of that work. Velocity can vary depending on many factors, such as the size, complexity, and priority of the Product Backlog items, the skills and experience of the Developers, the Definition of Done, and the Sprint length. Therefore, velocity is not a reliable indicator of value creation or team performance.

D: Velocity is the amount of business functionality that a Scrum Team creates in a Sprint. It is unique to that team and used as an input to Sprint Planning. This is a true statement, as velocity is a team-specific metric that reflects how much business functionality the Scrum Team can deliver in a Sprint. Velocity can help the Scrum Team to forecast how many Product Backlog items they can select for the next Sprint, based on their past performance and current capacity. However, velocity is not a goal or a target for the Scrum Team, and it should not be compared across teams.

References:

Professional Scrum Master II Course, page 15: “Velocity is a measure of how much work a team can complete in a given time period. It is usually expressed in terms of story points or function points per Sprint.”

Professional Scrum Master II Course, page 16: “Velocity is not a measure of value or quality. It does not tell us anything about the usefulness, usability, or desirability of the product increment.”

Professional Scrum Master II Course, page 17: “Velocity is unique to each team and depends on many factors, such as the size and complexity of the work items, the skills and experience of the team members, the definition of done, and the length of the Sprint.”

Professional Scrum Master II Course, page 18: “Velocity can be used as an input for Sprint Planning, to help the team forecast how much work they can realistically accomplish in the next Sprint. However, velocity is not a goal or a target for the team, and it should not be used to compare or evaluate teams.”

A. The stakeholders have not been using the Sprint Reviews to actively engage, and inspect and evaluate progress. This is a possible factor that may have led to the disappointment and anger of the stakeholders. The Sprint Review is an event where the Scrum Team and the stakeholders collaborate to inspect the product Increment and adapt the Product Backlog based on feedback and new insights. If the stakeholders do not participate actively in the Sprint Review, they may miss the opportunity to provide input, voice their concerns, and influence the direction of the product development.

D. The Scrum Master has not ensured transparency. This is another possible factor that may have led to the disappointment and anger of the stakeholders. The Scrum Master is accountable for establishing and promoting transparency among the Scrum Team and the stakeholders, by ensuring that everyone has a clear and common understanding of the product vision, the Product Goal, the Product Backlog, the Sprint Goal, the Sprint Backlog, and the Definition of Done. Without transparency, there may be misalignment, confusion, or unrealistic expectations among the stakeholders regarding the product being built.

E. The Product Owner has not been interacting frequently with the stakeholders and kept them aware of the progress of the project. This is also a possible factor that may have led to the disappointment and anger of the stakeholders. The Product Owner is responsible for engaging with the stakeholders regularly and communicating the value, scope, and status of the product development. The Product Owner should also seek feedback from the stakeholders and incorporate it into the Product Backlog refinement and ordering. If the Product Owner does not interact frequently with the stakeholders, they may feel disconnected, ignored, or dissatisfied with the product being built.

References:

The Scrum Guide, section 2.3 (The Scrum Team), page 7

The Scrum Guide, section 3.6 (The Sprint Review), page 11

The Scrum Guide, section 4.1 (The Product Backlog), page 11

The Scrum Master Learning Path, module 2 (The Scrum Framework), lesson 5 (The Sprint Review) and lesson 6 (The Sprint Retrospective)

A: Opportunities to inspect and adapt the Sprint Backlog are reduced. Re-aligning is bound to become even more difficult. This is a valid concern, as the Daily Scrum is an event where the Developers can inspect the progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog accordingly. If the Daily Scrum is held less frequently, the Developers may miss some opportunities to adjust their plan and collaborate effectively.

C: Less progress information will be shared, causing the plan for the Sprint to become inaccurate and transparency over progress toward the Sprint Goal is reduced. This is a valid concern, as the Daily Scrum is an event where the Developers can share their work status, challenges, and dependencies with each other. If the Daily Scrum is held less frequently, the Developers may have less visibility and awareness of what is going on in the Sprint, and may face more surprises or risks.

D: Impediments are raised and resolved more slowly which might impact productivity and progress. This is a valid concern, as the Daily Scrum is an event where the Developers can identify and communicate any impediments or issues that hinder their work. If the Daily Scrum is held less frequently, the Developers may have to wait longer to get help or support from their peers or the Scrum Master, and may lose some momentum or efficiency.

References:

Scrum Guide 2020, page 11: “The purpose of the Daily Scrum is to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog as necessary, adjusting the upcoming planned work.”

Scrum Guide 2020, page 12: “The Developers can select whatever structure and techniques they want, as long as their Daily Scrum focuses on progress toward the Sprint Goal and produces an actionable plan for the next day of work.”

Professional Scrum Master II Course, page 14: “The Daily Scrum is a key opportunity for inspection and adaptation at the team level. It helps the team to synchronize their work, identify impediments, and collaborate on solutions.”

According to the Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) framework, one of the principles for scaling agile development is to descale the organization, which means simplifying the structure and reducing dependencies and handoffs. A well-structured Product Backlog can help achieve this by enabling feature teams, which are cross-functional and cross-component teams that can deliver a complete customer-centric feature. Feature teams minimize and often eliminate Developers working on multiple Scrum Teams during a Sprint, as they can focus on one Product Backlog item at a time. This also improves productivity, quality, and learning, as Developers can avoid context switching and multitasking, which are known to reduce efficiency and effectiveness. A person working on multiple Scrum Teams at the same time is often less productive than when that person can focus on the Sprint Backlog of a single Scrum Team.

The Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) framework also states that Scrum does not change when scaling up to multiple teams. The core Scrum framework remains intact, with one Product Owner, one Product Backlog, and potentially releasable Increments every Sprint. The only changes are adding a few coordination practices to cope with the increased complexity and interdependencies. Therefore, changes to the core Scrum framework are not needed to be successful with Scrum at large scale.

Scrum Team members do not have to be working full time on a team, as long as they are committed to the Sprint Goal and deliver a Done Increment every Sprint. However, it is recommended that they spend as much time as possible with their team, as this fosters collaboration, communication, and alignment.

References:

The Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) framework | Atlassian , accessed on September 30, 2023

Overview - Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) , accessed on September 30, 2023

Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Large, Multisite, and Offshore Product Development with Large-Scale Scrum , Craig Larman and Bas Vodde, 2010

Leading Large Scale Product Development with Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) , Kamlesh Ravlani, 2015

When scaling Scrum, it is important to have multiple Scrum Teams working from one Product Backlog, because this ensures that they are aligned on the same product vision, goal, and value 1 2 .  Having one Product Backlog also helps to reduce duplication, inconsistency, and waste, and to optimize the flow of work and feedback 1 2 .  The Product Owner is accountable for managing the Product Backlog and ensuring that it is transparent, ordered, and refined for the multiple Scrum Teams 3  .  The Scrum Teams collaborate with the Product Owner and each other to deliver a single integrated product Increment every Sprint 3  .

References:   1 :  What is Scaling Scrum? | Scrum.org   2 :  Scaling Scrum with Nexus | Scrum.org   3 : Scrum Guide | Scrum Guides : The Nexus Framework for Scaling Scrum: Continuously Delivering an Integrated Product with Multiple Scrum Teams

 The most effective way to recover is to restore transparency and trust by informing the Product Owner that the progress she has perceived to date is not correct.  The Increment is not releasable because it does not meet the Definition of Done 1 2 , which is a shared understanding of what it means for work to be complete 1 2 . The Developers should give the Product Owner their estimate of the effort it would take to get the past work done, and suggest doing that work first before proceeding with new features.  This way, the Developers can ensure that they deliver a valuable, useful, and potentially releasable Increment every Sprint 1 2 . The Developers should also re-estimate the effort to complete the remaining backlog, including all testing, and communicate any changes or risks to the Product Owner.  In the end, it is the Product Owner’s call to continue the project or to cancel it, based on the value and feasibility of the product 1 2 .

Some reasons why the other options are not correct are:

A: The Developers set the open work aside to be performed in one or more release Sprints. They remind Marian to find funding for enough Release Sprints in which this remaining work can be done. This option is not correct because it violates the Scrum framework and the Scrum values.  The Scrum framework does not prescribe any release Sprints or separate phases for testing or integration 1 2 .  The Scrum values include commitment, focus, openness, respect, and courage 1 2 . The Developers should commit to delivering a potentially releasable Increment every Sprint, not postpone or hide their undone work. The Developers should focus on creating value for the customers and users, not on meeting artificial deadlines or metrics. The Developers should be open and honest about their progress and challenges, not mislead or deceive the Product Owner.  The Developers should respect the Product Owner’s authority and accountability for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Developers 1 2 , not shift the responsibility or blame to them. The Developers should have the courage to face their problems and seek help, not avoid or ignore them.

B: Transparency needs to be restored by adding the undone work to the Product Backlog. The Developers must figure out a way to deliver in the upcoming Sprints a velocity of not only 13 units of new work, but also two additional points to catch up undone work. It is the Scrum Master’s duty to assess whether such repair is possible. If not, the Scrum Master initiates a restart with a more reliable team or cancels the project. The Scrum Master will have to inform Product Owner and the stakeholders. This option is not correct because it violates the Scrum framework and the Scrum roles.  The Scrum framework does not prescribe any velocity or points as measures of progress or success 1 2 .  The Scrum roles include Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers 1 2 .  The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Developers 1 2 , not for tracking or controlling their velocity or points.  The Scrum Master is accountable for establishing Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide 1 , causing change that increases the productivity of the Scrum Team 1 , and working with other Scrum Masters to increase the effectiveness of the application of Scrum in the organization 1 , not for assessing or judging the performance of the Developers or initiating a restart or cancellation of the project.  The Developers are accountable for creating a valuable, useful, and potentially releasable Increment every Sprint 1 2 , not for meeting a predetermined velocity or points target.

C: In the next Sprints, the Developers keep making sure that all of the selected scope per Sprint is as done as possible, at least at the past level of 90%. In every Sprint the undone work of the previous Sprint is estimated and added to the Sprint Backlog. It comes on top of the expected forecast of 13 units, so it does not mess up progress on the product Backlog. This option is not correct because it violates the Scrum framework and the Scrum values.  The Scrum framework requires that each Sprint delivers a potentially releasable Increment that meets the Definition of Done 1 2 , not a partially done or incomplete product that accumulates technical debt or quality issues.  The Scrum values include commitment, focus, openness, respect, and courage 1 2 . The Developers should commit to delivering a potentially releasable Increment every Sprint, not compromise on quality or value. The Developers should focus on creating value for the customers and users, not on meeting artificial deadlines or metrics. The Developers should be open and honest about their progress and challenges, not hide or ignore their undone work.  The Developers should respect the Product Owner’s authority and accountability for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Developers 1 2 , not burden them with additional work or risk. The Developers should have the courage to face their problems and seek help, not avoid or ignore them.

References:

What is an Increment? | Scrum.org

What is a Product Increment? | Scrum.org