Scrum is a very popular and well-known framework for agile software development. A few years ago the Scrum added 5 values to the framework that each member of the team uses to guide his decision making. Not a lot of people know and understand these values, but they are critical to the successful implementation of scrum, deserving elaboration for the meaning of them here.
The Scrum Values
So what are the Scrum values? The diagram below depicts the 5 values:
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The Scrum Team members have the courage to do the right thing and work on tough problems. The team members support each other in doing the right thing and in taking informed risks so that we may learn and improve along our path to greatness including:
Admitting that nobody is perfect
Delivering undone versions of product
Sharing all possible information to help the team and the organization
Admitting there are no perfect requirement capturing and facing fast changes is the reality
Focus
Everyone focuses on the work of the Sprint and the goals of the Scrum Team. When we are dealing with complexity and unpredictability, focus is essential in order to get anything meaningful done. Because we focus on only a few things at a time, we deliver the most valuable items sooner. The Scrum framework includes elements that help promote focus.
The team should focus on having a “Done Increment” at least by the end of every Sprint.
Each scrum role has a distinct accountability which helps individuals know what to focus on as their priority. That ultimately contributes to team outcomes.
The scrum team focuses on a Sprint Goal to guide the team in what to deliver
The product backlog is a prioritized order, and that creates focus on what is most important thing to do next.
Time-boxed sprint events create a sense of urgency and help us focus on the purpose of the event.
The Scrum events and artifacts help create focus on inspecting progress and new information, so the team can adapt at frequent enough intervals.
Commitment
Scrum team members must be committed to success and be willing to create realistic goals and stick to them. Every scrum role commit to the success of the team, not just caring about our individual achievements, that creates an environment of trust, productive problem solving, and high team standards by:
The Product Owner demonstrates commitment by making the best decisions to optimize the value of the product, not simply trying to please every stakeholder.
The Scrum Master demonstrates commitment by upholding the Scrum Framework, which means we don’t extend the Sprint or other time-boxes under pressure to get to “Done.”
The Scrum Master demonstrates commitment by removing impediments that the Scrum Team cannot resolve themselves, rather than tolerating the status quo in the organization.
The Development Team demonstrates commitment by creating an Increment that meets their definition of “Done,” not something that is almost done.
Respect
As self-organizing teams, we cannot do without respect for each other, so that we will cultivate an engaged, productive, and humane environment for all. The Scrum framework includes elements that help promote respect.
The Development Team is cross-functional, which means as a whole it has all of the skills necessary to deliver a “Done” product Increment. This promotes respect for everyone’s experiences, skills, and ideas. This also promotes learning and growth.
The Sprint Backlog is owned by the Development Team. Since they are the ones doing the work, they decide how much they can do in a Sprint and how to do the work. This demonstrates respect for their knowledge and skills, as well as a respect for working at a sustainable pace.
By only reviewing “Done” product in a Sprint Review, we bring transparency to our true progress. This demonstrates respect for our stakeholders.
A Product Owner seeks input from, collaborates with, and sets realistic expectations for stakeholders. This is another demonstration of respect for stakeholders.
The Scrum Master’s focus is on the health of the Scrum Team and the effective use of Scrum. Having a role that focuses on teaching, facilitating, and coaching demonstrates a respect for people and teams and their capacity for growth.
Scrum’s focus on delivering value shows respect to our organization by not spending money on low value features or things that may never be used.
Having a potentially releasable Increment by the end of the Sprint shows respect to our organization by not forcing more investment to realize value. It gives the organization the flexibility to make investment decisions.
Openness
The empiricism of Scrum requires transparency, openness by making known the arrangement of our work, our progress, our learning and our problems. The team should open to collaborate across disciplines and skills, to collaborate with stakeholders and the wider environment, to share feedback and learn from one another. The Scrum framework includes elements that help promote openness.
Limiting a Sprint to 30 days or less promotes an openness to changing direction base on new information.
The Sprint Goal is fixed and provides guidance, but the plan for meeting the Sprint Goal is open to change based on what the Development Team is learning.
A transparent Product Backlog demonstrates openness with our stakeholders about what is planned for the product (and what is not planned) and what is likely to be next.
The Sprint Retrospective’s focus on continuous improvement of our team’s interactions, processes, and tools invites an openness to feedback, reflection, and changing how we work.
The Sprint Review demonstrates openness to sharing progress with our stakeholders, as well as openness to feedback and collaboration with them.
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Visual Paradigm help organizations stay competitive and responsive to change faster and better in today’s fast changing environment. Our award-winning products are trusted by over 320,000 users in companies ranging from small business, consultants, to blue chip organizations, universities and government units across the globe. It enables organizations to improve business and IT agility and foster innovation through popular open standards and process frameworks.Visual Paradigm, a killer Agile feature in 2018, introduced Scrum Process Canvas for automating the way a Scrum team to create, manage and deploy software application that empowers the team to continuously improve their performance at unprecedented speed and scale.
