Velocity Calculation

Correct Answer: Advise against it. Increasing velocity can lead to quality compromise and team burnout.

The ScrumMaster should always ensure the well-being of the team, maintaining sustainable work practices and not pushing for an increase in velocity that can lead to quality compromises and team burnout. This approach is consistent with the principles of Agile and Scrum methodologies. The other answers are incorrect because: 'Agree and push the team to work harder.' isn't sustainable and could lead to burnout, potentially decreasing overall productivity. 'Suggest adding more team members to increase velocity.' contradicts the idea of a stable, self-organised team as prescribed by Scrum. Besides, adding more people does not necessarily speed up the work due to the potential 'cost' of communication and coordination. 'Suggest extending the duration of sprints to allow for more work to be done.' is also incorrect, as changing the sprint length can disrupt the rhythm and predictability of delivery, which is one of the purposes of having fixed sprint lengths in Scrum.

Correct Answer: Use a rolling average from the latest sprints to calculate velocity.

The best answer is 'Use a rolling average from the latest sprints to calculate velocity.' This is because velocity in Scrum is the measure of the average amount of work a Scrum team can complete during a sprint, and it should be based on the data from earlier sprints rather than on conjecture. A rolling average helps neutralize variances in team performance and provides a more accurate representation of their real capacity. Now let's consider the other answers: 'Increase the sprint duration to accommodate more story points.' This is not a beneficial solution. This may lead to fatigue and decreased productivity. In Scrum, it's better to keep sprint length consistent to maintain a steady rhythm and enable predictability 'Subtract the number of underestimated points from the upcoming sprint's velocity.' This is incorrect. Velocity is a metric from the past and is only used to inform future planning. It should not be manipulated based on future expectations 'Add more members to the team to increase velocity.' This follows the fallacy that more team members will increase productivity, which is not always the case. Adding new team members might affect team dynamics and lead to reduced productivity initially due to the increased need for coordination and communication (known as Brooks's law in software engineering).

Correct Answer: Stick with the average velocity of 35 as this is a more sustainable pace.

The best way to consider the velocity in Scrum methodology is to stick with the average velocity of 35. This approach is more sustainable and it accounts for the team's long term performance, providing a more realistic estimation. Setting the velocity to 40 for the next sprint based on a short burst of overtime can lead to unrealistic future estimations and unsustainable work pace, therefore it is not advisable. Basing the velocity solely on the latest sprint, which is 30, would disregard the average performance of the team over the previous sprints, hence not recommended. Finally, calculating the velocity as the average of the last sprint and the commitment, which would be 35, can overestimate the team's capacity and lead to an unsustainable pace. Therefore, the most reliable and sustainable approach is to stick with the average velocity of previous sprints.