Scrum Artifacts

5 minutes 5 Questions

Scrum Artifacts represent work in various stages of development or value. They include the Product Backlog, the Sprint Backlog, and the Product Increment. Artifacts are designed to maximize transparency of key information. They give everyone a shared understanding of everything involved in deliveri…

Guide: Understanding the Importance of Scrum Artifacts

Importance:
Scrum Artifacts are essential tools within the Scrum framework as they provide clarity, transparency and visibility to all team members about the product’s progress, obstacles encountered, and the work that still needs to be done.

What is it:
Scrum artifacts are specific tools used in Scrum, which act as key information sources enhancing transparency. Principal Scrum artifacts include: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog and Increment.

How it works:
The Product Backlog is a prioritized list of everything that needs to be done within the project. The Sprint Backlog is a list of tasks identified by the Scrum Team to be completed during the current sprint. The Increment is the sum of all the Product Backlog items completed during a Sprint.

Exam Tips:
Opinions can vary, but generally, Answering Questions on Scrum Artifacts in an exam, the following tips can be helpful:

Understand the individual roles of each artifact and how they interact with each other.
Focus on practical application of Scrum artifacts in real life project scenarios to address questions based on practical understanding.
Be familiar with terms associated with each artifact.

Test mode:

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PMI-ACP - Scrum Artifacts Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Scrum Artifacts

Question 1

You are a Scrum Master. Your team has been focused on developing new features to satisfy Stakeholder demands and has lost focus on the product architecture sustainability. What could be the best way to address this issue?

Encourage the Developers and the Product Owner to refine the Product Backlog focusing on technical sustainability along with new features. Propose to management to create a new role focused solely on architectural integrity, thus segregating duties from the Development Team. Organize a separate meeting exclusively for the Development Team to redefine the product architecture without involving the Product Owner. Direct the Development Team to allocate a fixed percentage of their Sprint capacity to address technical debt and architectural improvements.

Correct Answer: Encourage the Developers and the Product Owner to refine the Product Backlog focusing on technical sustainability along with new features.

The correct answer emphasizes collaboration and balance between the Development Team and the Product Owner, ensuring both technical sustainability and new feature development are considered in the Product Backlog. The first wrong answer suggests working in silos, which goes against Agile principles of collaboration. The second wrong answer tries to solve the problem by imposing a fixed solution that might not be flexible or adaptable to the team's needs. The third wrong answer introduces unnecessary complexity and role segregation that could hinder Agile and Scrum principles of cross-functionality and self-management.

Question 2

You are a Scrum Master. The development team has been doing well so far, but recently, some team members appear to be struggling with maintaining the Increment. How would you handle this situation?

Suggest pausing the current Sprint to provide additional training on Increment maintenance. Propose to reallocate team resources and possibly replace struggling members to ensure Sprint objectives are met. Encourage the Development Team to identify impediments during the Daily Scrum and offer help in removing them. Recommend the Product Owner adjust the Product Backlog to accommodate the team's current capabilities, which includes modifying the definition of 'Done' for the Increment.

Correct Answer: Encourage the Development Team to identify impediments during the Daily Scrum and offer help in removing them.

The correct answer emphasizes the Scrum Master's role in fostering a self-organizing team environment where team members are encouraged to communicate openly about their struggles and work together to find solutions, consistent with Scrum principles. The wrong answers, although related to managing team performance and project progression, either undermine the Scrum values of respect, courage, and openness by suggesting the replacement of team members, interrupt the flow of work unnecessarily, or involve inappropriate adjustments to key Scrum artifacts that could compromise the product quality or team integrity.

Question 3

You are the Scrum Master. Your client complains about a drop in the quality of deliverables. During your investigation, you discover that the team isn't updating the Sprint Backlog as new details emerge. What might be the best approach to handle this situation?

Immediately escalate the situation to upper management to apply pressure on the team to comply with Scrum practices. Organize a team training session on advanced Scrum principles without addressing the specific issue of updating the Sprint Backlog. Encourage the team to self-manage and take collective responsibility for updating the Sprint Backlog to reflect real-time changes. Introduce a new Scrum tool that automatically updates the Sprint Backlog based on daily stand-up meetings, without needing input from the team members. Although this solution sounds innovative and automated, it removes the essential element of team engagement and fails to address the core issue of team accountability and ownership.

Correct Answer: Encourage the team to self-manage and take collective responsibility for updating the Sprint Backlog to reflect real-time changes.

The correct answer promotes the principle of self-organization, a core aspect of the Scrum framework. The team is encouraged to take collective responsibility for their work, including maintaining the Sprint Backlog. This approach is both empowering and effective in promoting team accountability and improving project deliverables. The wrong answers either bypass the team's autonomy (escalating to management, introducing automatic tools) or fail to target the problem directly (generic training sessions), which could lead to a lack of engagement or understanding of Scrum principles.

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