Three Questions

5 minutes 5 Questions

In the Daily Scrum Meeting, each team member usually answers three questions: What did you do yesterday? What will you do today? Are there any impediments in your way? This is an effective way to communicate to the team each member's individual progress and any obstacles they are facing, fostering …

Guide: Three Questions in Daily Scrum Practices

Importance:
The Three Questions framework in Scrum is vital because it promotes transparency and collaboration in a team. It allows the team to assess the work done, identify any obstacles, and prepare for the future tasks, driving productivity and ensuring effective workflow.

What is it:
The Three Questions are a key part of the daily stand-up meetings in Scrum, where each team member answers the following:
1. What did I complete yesterday that contributed to the team meeting the sprint goal?
2. What do I plan to complete today to contribute to the team meeting the sprint goal?
3. Do I see any impediment that prevents me or the team from meeting the sprint goal?

How it Works:
During the daily Scrum meeting, each team member takes turns to answer the Three Questions. This allows the team to understand individual contributions, keep track of the sprint's progress, and identify any roadblocks.

Answering Questions in an Exam:
When answering questions regarding the Three Questions in an exam, remember the purpose and the structure of each question. Tailor your responses according to what each question aims to achieve i.e., understanding past contribution, future plans, and existing impediments.

Exam Tips:
Remember to focus on team collaboration and transparency when explaining the importance of the Three Questions. Use real-world examples if possible to demonstrate how these questions aid in problem-solving and sprint planning.

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PSM I - Three Questions Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Three Questions

Question 1

In a Daily Scrum session, a team member routinely provides very detailed answers to 'What did I do yesterday?', leaving little time for others. As a Scrum Master, how do you respond?

Suggest that the team allocates additional time after the Daily Scrum for members to discuss specific technical challenges or solutions in detail, ensuring the Daily Scrum focuses on synchronization and planning for the next 24 hours. Encourage the team to switch to written updates submitted before the Daily Scrum to save time during the meeting. Introduce a strict time limit for each team member’s update, ensuring that each individual only has exactly one minute to speak. Coach the team member on how to keep their updates concise, focusing on progress and impediments related to their Sprint Goals.

Correct Answer: Coach the team member on how to keep their updates concise, focusing on progress and impediments related to their Sprint Goals.

As a Scrum Master, coaching team members on effective communication during the Daily Scrum helps improve team efficiency and collaboration. By guiding the team member to keep their updates concise and focused on progress and impediments related to the Sprint Goals, you address the root cause of the issue and foster a supportive environment for continuous improvement. This approach aligns with the Scrum Master's role in facilitating team dynamics and ensuring the Daily Scrum remains a time-boxed event for synchronization and planning. Introducing strict time limits for each team member may impose unnecessary rigidity and could hinder open communication. Encouraging written updates shifts the focus away from the interactive nature of the Daily Scrum. Suggesting additional discussions after the meeting is helpful but doesn't directly address the behavior impacting the Daily Scrum's effectiveness.

Question 2

One of the team members is regularly unable to answer the 'Are there any obstacles in my way?' question confidently or clearly during the daily scrum. As a Scrum Master, how should you approach this situation?

Talk privately with the team member to understand if they are facing any issues that they are not comfortable sharing in the daily scrum or if they need help articulating their thoughts. Encourage the team to adopt a more detailed task breakdown in the sprint backlog, believing it will help the team member articulate obstacles more clearly. Organize a team-building activity aimed at improving communication skills, with the assumption that it will help the team member to be more articulate during the daily scrum. Introduce an anonymous feedback mechanism for the team to report obstacles, hoping the team member in question will utilize it.

Correct Answer: Talk privately with the team member to understand if they are facing any issues that they are not comfortable sharing in the daily scrum or if they need help articulating their thoughts.

While other options might indirectly address communication issues within the team, the most effective and direct action a Scrum Master can take when a team member is unable to articulate obstacles during the daily scrum is to have a private conversation with them. This approach allows the Scrum Master to understand the underlying issues and provide targeted support without putting the team member on the spot in front of their peers. The other alternatives, despite being related to team dynamics and efficiency, do not directly address the immediate issue of helping the team member communicate obstacles during the daily scrum.

Question 3

During a daily Scrum, the team has started to skip the question 'Are there any obstacles in my way?' and jump straight to solutions. As a Scrum Master, how should you readdress this?

Advise the team to allocate time at the end of the Daily Scrum specifically for solution discussions, ensuring a clear separation. Propose to introduce a new meeting entirely dedicated to identifying and discussing obstacles, to keep the Daily Scrum focused on updates. Gently guide the team to refocus on sharing obstacles without going into problem-solving during the Daily Scrum. Suggest the team to replace the standard Daily Scrum questions with a single roundtable discussion on current work status and obstacles, promoting more open dialogue and less structure.

Correct Answer: Gently guide the team to refocus on sharing obstacles without going into problem-solving during the Daily Scrum.

The goal of the Daily Scrum is to inspect progress towards the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint backlog as necessary, primarily by discussing what was done the previous day, what is planned today, and identifying any impediments. While it’s important to identify obstacles, solving these challenges is not the purpose of this meeting and should be addressed outside of the Daily Scrum to keep it within its timebox. The correct answer encourages focusing on this goal without introducing significant changes to the Scrum framework or the purpose of the Daily Scrum. The wrong answers either blur the lines of the Daily Scrum's intended structure or suggest adding processes that could complicate or extend the Scrum framework unnecessarily.

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