Adaptation

5 minutes 5 Questions

Adaptation is one of the three pillars of Scrum, along with Transparency and Inspection. In the context of the daily scrum, adaptation refers to the process of adjusting the Sprint Backlog and its items as needed. If inspection reveals that a task isn’t panning out as planned, team members can adap…

Guide for PSM I - Adaptation in Daily Scrum Practices

What is Adaptation?
Adaptation in Scrum is about adjusting the product, process, or team behavior based on the learning from the inspected outputs. This largely falls under the umbrella of Scrum's 'Inspect and Adapt' mantra.

Why is it Important?
Adaptation is crucial as it allows teams to continually improve, responding to changes and enhancing their capabilities to deliver valuable outputs. It can help ensure product relevance, process efficiency, and optimum team engagement.

How does it Work?
Adaptation takes place by regularly checking the defined process, delivered outcome, team behavior, etc., and implementing improvements as necessary. This includes responding proactively to the outcome of Sprint Reviews, Retrospectives, and other events.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Adaptation
1. Do understand that 'Inspect and Adapt' is a core concept of Scrum.
2. Be aware that adaptation can happen at any time, not only at prospective meetings.
3. Know that all three roles (Scrum Master, Product Owner & Development Team) are involved in adaptation.
4. Remember that adaptation needs actionable improvements and is not simple problem identification.
5. Understand that resisting change contradicts Scrum's principle of adaptation.

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PSM I - Adaptation Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Adaptation

Question 1

During a sprint, the team discovers that they are working on a less efficient technology. As a ScrumMaster, how do you handle this situation?

Change the technology immediately without discussing with the Product Owner. Instruct the team to continue with the current technology to avoid disruption. Ignore the issue and address it after the sprint. Facilitate a meeting with the Product Owner to discuss the impact on the Product Backlog and potentially adjust priorities.

Correct Answer: Facilitate a meeting with the Product Owner to discuss the impact on the Product Backlog and potentially adjust priorities.

The best course of action for a ScrumMaster in this situation is to facilitate a meeting with the Product Owner to discuss the impact on the Product Backlog and potentially adjust priorities. This approach ensures that all stakeholders are aware of the issue and can collaboratively decide the best way forward. Scrum values openness, transparency and adaptation, which allows for adjustments mid-project if they're beneficial. The other actions are not advisable, because instructing the team to continue with the less efficient technology may result in wastage of resources and sub-optimal products, changing the technology immediately without discussing with the Product Owner may disrupt the development process and cause misalignment between business and technical objectives, and ignoring the issue and addressing it only after the sprint may result in the build-up of technical debt and missed business opportunities.

Question 2

The Scrum team discovers that a recently integrated software tool is causing workflow issues and slowing down work. As a ScrumMaster, what is your course of action?

Force the team to adapt to the software tool. Ignore the issue hoping it will resolve on its own. Suggest the team to discuss the problem in the Daily Scrum and find a solution as per Scrum values and principles. Immediately remove the software tool without consulting with the team.

Correct Answer: Suggest the team to discuss the problem in the Daily Scrum and find a solution as per Scrum values and principles.

The best course of action is for the ScrumMaster to suggest the team to discuss the problem in the Daily Scrum and find a solution as per Scrum values and principles. This is because Scrum promotes self-organizing teams where team members collectively decide on how to solve problems and deliver high-quality work. Importantly, the Daily Scrum is a key event for inspective and adapting the workflow. The other answers propose either unilateral decision making, ignoring the problem, or forcing the team to adapt to the problematic tool. These approaches contradict the Scrum values of openness, respect, and collaborative problem solving.

Question 3

In the middle of a Sprint, a team member leaves the company. The team's velocity will be affected. What should the ScrumMaster do?

Discuss the situation with the team, Product Owner and adjust the Sprint backlog if necessary Hire a new team member immediately Cancel the current Sprint and start again Insist the team maintains the same velocity

Correct Answer: Discuss the situation with the team, Product Owner and adjust the Sprint backlog if necessary

The best course of action for a ScrumMaster when a team member leaves is to discuss the situation with the team and Product Owner, and adjust the Sprint backlog if necessary. This is because the departure of a team member can significantly affect the team's velocity and overall productivity, and the most effective way to address this change is to reassess and reprioritize the tasks within the Sprint backlog. The second answer suggests hiring a new team member immediately. While this might be beneficial in the long run, hiring and onboarding a new member takes time and might not address the immediate shortfalls caused by a member's departure. The third answer is incorrect because insisting the team maintains the same velocity ignores the fact that the team's capacity has reduced and might result in quality issues or burnout. The fourth answer, to cancel the current Sprint and start again, could be disruptive, unnecessary and not address the complexity of the problem of losing a team member.

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