Bucket System

Correct Answer: Evaluate and reassess the type of buckets. If a bucket remains empty, it might be a good idea to remove or repurpose it.

In the Bucket System, tasks are categorized into different buckets based on their priorities or types. If a particular bucket consistently remains empty, it means that no tasks of that particular category or priority are appearing. Therefore, the most logical action to take would be to evaluate and reassess this type of bucket. If a bucket remains empty, it might be a good decision to remove or repurpose it to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the system. The other answers are inappropriate for the following reasons: Leaving the bucket as it is, even though it is consistently empty, does not improve the system's efficiency or effectiveness. Randomly assigning tasks to the empty bucket may cause confusion and mismanagement because the tasks might not belong to that category or priority level. Lastly, making it a mandatory rule that every bucket must contain some tasks does not solve the problem; instead, it forces the situation and can lead to misplacement of tasks.

Correct Answer: Re-evaluate the priorities together with product owner and stakeholders and adjust the backlog as needed.

In a Scrum framework, the product backlog is a living document, and priorities can shift. The correct course of action when faced with an influx of high-priority tasks is for the Scrum Master to work with the product owner (PO) and stakeholders to revisit and adjust the priorities in the backlog accordingly. This ensures that the team is always working on the most valuable tasks. The wrong answers involve actions that either bypass necessary communication and collaborative prioritization steps, disregard the adaptive planning principles of Scrum, or propose solutions that are not sustainable or practical given the principles of Scrum, such as rapidly changing team size or skipping the critical step of backlog refinement and prioritization.

Correct Answer: Guide the team in establishing a definition of ready for tasks to ensure clarity on when a task can be picked.

Encouraging the team to establish a definition of ready ensures that all tasks are clear and actionable before being selected for work, fostering team autonomy and minimizing confusion. The wrong answers, while related to task management, do not directly address the issue of task clarity and selection from a bucket system in a manner that promotes team self-organization and efficiency.