Shared Skills

5 minutes 5 Questions

In Scrum, team members aim to have a wide range of overlapping skills, complementing each other in order to perform every aspect of the project. This reduces the dependency on specific team members and ensures the progress of a project does not stall when any team member is not available. This encourages learning and up-skilling within the team, fostering an environment of continuous learning and development.

Guide: Shared Skills in Cross-Functional Teams

What it is: Shared Skills refers to the idea in Scrum that every team member has some competence in every skill necessary to complete the work. It doesn't mean everyone must be experts in all areas, rather, everyone should have some knowledge in all areas. For instance, while one person might major in testing and another in development, each team member should ideally have basic testing and development skills. In other words, they should be 'T-shaped' professionals.

Importance: Shared Skills is crucial for cross-functional teams as it promotes self-organization, enhances team flexibility, and helps manage risks associated with personnel changes. It means that if a person is unable to continue with their day's work for any reason, the team as a whole can still proceed with little to no interruption.

How it works: Maximizing shared skills starts from recruitment and continues with ongoing learning and development. Periodic training and workshops, pairing, and rotating assignments are some of the ways to promote shared skills.

Exam Tips: In an exam about Scrum and shared skills, remember to mention the T-shaped professional, importance of shared skills in handling risks and promoting self-organization, and ways to develop shared skills in a team.
Answering Questions on Shared Skills: Understand the context of the question. If it's about importance, write about self-organization, risk management, and flexibility. If it's about implementation, mention recruitment, regular training, rotating assignments, etc. Apply real-world examples for better illustration. Ensure your understanding of shared skills is complete and wholesome to effectively answer related questions.
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PSM I - Shared Skills Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Shared Skills

Question 1

In a Scrum Team, there are members who are hogging limelight due to excellent technical skills but are poor collaborators, which is affecting team harmony. As a Scrum Master, how would you handle this situation?

Correct Answer: Promote shared skills and the collaborative nature of the team and ensure that every member's contribution is valued.

The best possible answer is 'Promote shared skills and the collaborative nature of the team and ensure that every member's contribution is valued.' A Scrum Master's role is to foster collaboration and ensure value is being delivered, irrespective of individual prowess. This approach can also help the team members learn from each other, and the talented individuals can help uplift the skills of the entire team.
In contrast, the other options are not viable solutions. Asking skillful members to lessen their participation is not fair and does not encourage collaboration or learning. Encouraging other team members to try to match the skills of the more adept team members can lead to an unhealthy competitive environment and not every individual may have the capacity to match up. Advising less skillful members to find another team does not promote growth, learning or teamwork which are key aspects of a Scrum environment.

Question 2

In your Agile Scrum team, one member is extremely good at testing and bug finding, but he does not share his knowledge with other members. How should you encourage this team member to share his skills?

Correct Answer: Highlight the value of collective ownership during Sprint Reviews and encourage the team member to mentor others in testing techniques.

In Scrum, fostering a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration is key to developing cross-functional teams. The correct approach encourages sharing of skills in a supportive, group setting, reinforcing the Agile values of collaboration and continuous improvement. The wrong answers, though related to improving team skills or efficiency, either single out the individual, divide the team, or add unnecessary documentation work, all of which might hinder the spirit of collaboration and collective ownership essential in Agile environments.

Question 3

A new member has joined the Scrum Team who is not comfortable in participating in the cross-training sessions due to worry over job security. As a Scrum Master, how would you address this?

Correct Answer: Assure them that cross-training is about building resilient teams and diversifying skill sets and not a means for replacement.

As per Scrum Guide, Scrum Master's role is to facilitate and foster an environment where a Scrum Team can work effectively. The best approach would be to assure the new member that cross-training is not about replacement but building resilient and self-organized teams and diversifying skill sets - understanding, experience and abilities that can be contributed to the team's goals. This will build trust and reduce the team member's insecurities. The answer to ignore the member's concern and mandate cross-training is wrong because it goes against the principles of Scrum and can lead to a disengaged team member. The idea to ask the member to leave if they are not comfortable is also incorrect because it can affect the team morale negatively and does not solve the core issue. Instead, Scrum Master should facilitate open communication and understanding. While giving them time to adjust is important, not insisting on their participation in cross-training may not encourage essential growth and learning within the team.

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Other Cross Functional Teams in Scrum concepts

Autonomous Decision-MakingCollaboration and CommunicationCollective Code OwnershipConsensus-DrivenContinuous Learning and ImprovementCustomer-CentricEmergent ArchitectureFull End to End functionalityRespect for PeopleRole FlexibilitySingle ObjectiveT-shaped Skills
All Cross Functional Teams in Scrum questions · PSM I practice test