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Clear and Shared Goals

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Having Clear and Shared Goals is necessary for a cross-functional Scrum team's success. It's vital that every team member understands what the team is striving to achieve and are all aimed towards that objective. The vision of the product or the iteration should be clearly stated and communicated across the team. Shared goals foster a collective sense of responsibility and keep everyone aligned with the project's purpose. This improves coordination, reduces conflicts and results in high-quality, efficient outcomes.

Guide: Clear and Shared Goals in Cross-Functional Teams in Scrum

What it is:
Clear and shared goals refer to the unified objectives of a cross-functional team in Scrum. These goals guide every member towards the same endpoint, ensuring everyone's efforts are aligned. They consolidate diverse skillsets and roles towards achieving a common target.

Why it's important:
Clear and shared goals maximize team synergy, help manage uncertainties, and mitigate goal-related conflicts. This is crucial in Scrum, where self-organization and collaboration are key. Shared goals provide a sense of direction and purpose, foster collaboration, and create a sense of accountability.

How it works:
All team members contribute their expertise during sprint planning to set realistic, mutually agreed-upon goals. These are often expressed in the form of a Sprint Goal. Similarly, Product Goals align the entire Scrum Team over a longer timespan (several Sprints).

Exam Tips - Answering Questions on Clear and Shared Goals:
1. Understand the concept thoroughly. You need to grasp the importance of clear and shared goals in a Scrum environment, how it enhances productivity, and encourages team collaboration.
2. Draw on practical examples to illustrate the theory in your answers.
3. Remember key terms like Sprint Goal, Product Goal, and how they contribute to clear and shared goals.
4. Distinguish between individual work and collective outcome - shared goals focus on the latter.
5. If a question pertains to goal-setting in cross-functional teams, always highlight the importance of everyone's input in the process. Be sure to mention the reduction in misunderstandings, miscommunications, and goal-related conflicts.

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CSM - Cross-functional Teams in Scrum Example Questions

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Question 1

A team member has come up with a great idea, but it doesn't align with the current goal. What should be your approach as a Scrum Master?

Correct Answer: Suggest to keep the idea in the product backlog for future consideration

As a Scrum Master, your approach to handling a great idea that does not align with the current goal should be to suggest keeping the idea in the product backlog for future consideration. This approach is in line with Scrum values and principles, which foster a dynamic and responsive environment, rather than disregarding potential innovation. It's crucial to ensure that the team's focus remains on the current sprint and goal, but at the same time, it's equally important to capture and value every great idea, which can be potentially useful in future sprints. The other answers are wrong because they either disregard the value of the idea (discourage the team member from giving ideas), disrupt the team's focus on the current goal (implement the idea immediately), or are overly drastic (ask the team member to start a new project).

Question 2

As a Scrum Master, you notice the team seems unclear about the goal of the current sprint. What should you do?

Correct Answer: Arrange a meeting with product owner to clarify the goal and communicate it back to the team.

As a Scrum Master, it's important to ensure that the team is aligned on the goal of the sprint. If the team seems unclear, it's not advisable to ignore the situation, change the goal without consultation or halt the work until the next sprint. Instead, the best action to take is to arrange a meeting with the product owner to clarify the goal. The product owner is responsible for setting the goal of the sprint and communicating it to the team, often during sprint planning meetings. Therefore, a meeting with the product owner will allow the Scrum Master to gain clarity about the goal and communicate it back to the team, ensuring everyone is on the same page.

Question 3

The team have finished the sprint backlog items but they seem not aligned with the sprint goal. What should be your approach as a Scrum Master?

Correct Answer: Discuss with the Product Owner about modification of the Sprint goal or scope.

The responsibility of a Scrum Master is to ensure that the Scrum Team follows the practices and rules. If the completed Sprint items are not in alignment with the Sprint goal, the Scrum Master should foster communication and collaboration, not simply alter the goal unilaterally or reprimand the team. Ignoring the situation is also not effective since it could lead to the same issue in upcoming sprints. Therefore, the best action would be to discuss with the Product Owner about the possible modification of the Sprint goal or scope, ensuring that the team understand the project's objectives, that those align with their work, and that the work aligns with the business value.

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