Product Increment

5 minutes 5 Questions

A Product Increment is the sum of all product backlog items completed during a sprint and the value of the increments of all previous Sprint. At the end of a Sprint, the new Increment must be in a useable condition, regardless of whether the Product Owner decides to release it. An increment is a sp…

Guide: Understanding the Product Increment concept in CSM Release Planning

The Product Increment is a fundamental concept within Certified Scrum Master(CSM) release planning.

What is a Product Increment?
In Scrum, a product increment is the output that gets delivered at the end of each sprint. This output is termed as the 'Increment'. It includes all the product backlog items completed during the sprint and all previous sprints.

Why is it important?
The importance of a product increment lies in the fact that it has to be a complete, usable, and potentially releasable product functionality. It brings transparency to the state of the product, helps in gaining early feedback, minimizes the risks, and delivers value to customers regularly.

How does it work?
At the beginning of the sprint, product backlog items selected for the sprint are worked upon, resulting in a product increment by the end of the sprint. All increments should be defined with clear acceptance criteria, ensuring the product or feature is fully functional and meeting the customers' requirements.

Exam tips: Answering Questions on Product Increment

Understand the definition and importance of the product increment.
Remember that increments should be usable and potentially releasable.
Understand how a product increment works in relation to product backlog items and the sprint.
When answering questions on increments, always keep in mind their primary goal in delivering value and obtaining feedback.

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CSM - Product Increment Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Product Increment

Question 1

The Development Team has completed a Product Increment but there are doubts about its quality and completeness. What is the best course of action for the Scrum Master?

Instruct the Development Team to proceed with the planning of the next Sprint without addressing the quality concerns. Arrange a separate meeting with the stakeholders to decide how to proceed without involving the Development Team initially. Encourage the team to review the Definition of Done and product quality metrics together to identify any gaps or improvements needed. Suggest conducting a Sprint Review with a selected group of stakeholders to gather feedback on the increment before making any changes. This review should be longer and more detailed, involving in-depth discussions on every aspect of the product increment to ensure all quality concerns are appropriately addressed before deciding on the next steps.

Correct Answer: Encourage the team to review the Definition of Done and product quality metrics together to identify any gaps or improvements needed.

As a Scrum Master, facilitating transparency and continuous improvement is key. The correct answer promotes addressing quality concerns directly by leveraging Scrum artifacts (Definition of Done) and encouraging team collaboration. The wrong answers either sidestep involving the entire Scrum Team in the decision-making process, ignore the issue, or propose actions that don't directly address the problem of ensuring product quality and completeness according to Scrum principles.

Question 2

The current product increment is facing legal issues due to non-compliance with certain regulations. As a Scrum Master, what should be the course of action?

Advise the team to consult with the company's legal department immediately for a detailed compliance analysis and halt all further sprints until clearance is received. Recommend that the Development Team proceeds with a Sprint Review to gather user feedback on the increment despite the known legal issues. Coordinate a Risk Assessment meeting with stakeholders to evaluate the impact of continuing development without addressing the compliance issues. Work with the Product Owner to prioritize the resolution of legal issues within the Product Backlog.

Correct Answer: Work with the Product Owner to prioritize the resolution of legal issues within the Product Backlog.

While it's crucial to address legal compliance issues promptly, the Scrum Master should work collaboratively with the Product Owner to ensure these matters are adequately prioritized within the Product Backlog. This approach maintains the principle of backlog management and ensures that the team addresses significant risks and impediments effectively. Having the team halt all operations or ignoring the issues does not align with Agile principles of continuous feedback and improvement. Coordinating a Risk Assessment meeting is a reactive approach that doesn’t directly solve the problem but can be part of the overall strategy. Consulting with a legal department doesn't fall directly under the Scrum Master's responsibilities and halting sprints goes against Agile's principle of continuous delivery.

Question 3

The Product Owner deprioritizes a feature within a product increment due to a change in business strategy. However, the Development Team already started working on it. As a Scrum Master, what should be your action?

Advise the Development Team to complete the feature in progress despite the Product Owner's decision to ensure that effort already expended is not wasted. Immediately instruct the Development Team to stop all ongoing work on the feature and delete any related code without consulting the Product Owner. Encourage the Development Team to propose alternative features to the Product Owner that align with the new business strategy, thus bypassing the deprioritized feature's importance. Consult with the Product Owner on the importance of the change and the impact on the work already started, then help the Development Team adjust their work accordingly.

Correct Answer: Consult with the Product Owner on the importance of the change and the impact on the work already started, then help the Development Team adjust their work accordingly.

The correct answer emphasizes collaboration between the Product Owner and the Development Team with the Scrum Master facilitating as needed. This approach is aligned with the principles of Scrum, which prioritize flexibility and adaptability. The wrong answers, although related to the scenario, suggest actions that could undermine the Scrum values of respect, openness, and courage by ignoring the roles and responsibilities within the Scrum framework.

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