Scrum Rules

5 minutes 5 Questions

Scrum Rules are guidelines that govern the application and execution of Scrum. This is essential to understanding the practices, roles, events and artifacts. The rules of Scrum bind these elements together and promote redundancy in the framework. The rules of Scrum also include the principles and v…

Guide: Scrum Rules - Exam Tips and Explanations

Scrum rules are integral components of the Scrum framework, which define procedures, responsibilities, and interactions required to deliver a product or service effectively using Scrum.

Importance:
Understanding Scrum rules is essential for several reasons. They foster collaboration, create transparency, and help manage complex tasks. Moreover, profound knowledge of Scrum rules can significantly contribute to passing the PSM I exam.

What it is:
Scrum Rules refer to the principles that guide the Scrum Team's decisions, actions and procedures. These rules revolve around five Scrum events including Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective, and the Sprint itself.

How it Works:
The Scrum rules create a framework that helps teams manage their work by breaking it down into manageable chunks, enabling iterative and continuous improvement. These rules are enforced by the Scrum Master, who ensures the team adheres to Scrum theory, practices, and rules.

Exam Tips - Answering Questions on Scrum Rules:
1. Understand the Scrum Guide thoroughly, especially the parts related to Scrum events.
2. Practice as many exam simulator questions as possible to familiarize yourself with the scenario-based questions.
3. Keep the three pillars of Scrum - transparency, inspection, and adaptation at the core of understanding the rules.
4. Deepen your understanding of the respective roles and responsibilities of the Scrum Team members. Remember, any deviation from these can be a potential red flag in a question.
5. Reviewing real-world examples of Scrum application can help build a comprehensive understanding of Scrum rules.

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PSM I - Scrum Rules Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Scrum Rules

Question 1

During a regular review of the backlog, it is noticed that a few items have been sitting for a while. As a Scrum Master, how would you manage these stale items?

Push the development team to work on them immediately. Discuss these items with the Product Owner and development team for better clarity and decision on their need in product backlog. Rework these items yourself without notifying the team. Remove these items without discussing with the team.

Correct Answer: Discuss these items with the Product Owner and development team for better clarity and decision on their need in product backlog.

As a Scrum Master, the best way to manage stale items in a backlog is to discuss them with both the Product Owner and the development team. This decision provides a chance to get a better understanding of why these items haven't been addressed and whether they are still needed in the product backlog The option to 'Remove these items without discussing with the team' is incorrect because it does not involve the team or the Product Owner in the decision-making process. Unilateral decisions can lead to miscommunication, missed opportunities, or conflicts within the team. The suggestion to 'Push the development team to work on them immediately' is not a practical solution either. The development team should ideally work on items based on priority, not based on their age in the backlog. Also, pushing the team may create unnecessary pressure and decrease productivity. Lastly, the option to 'Rework these items yourself without notifying the team' is incorrect as reworking items alone could lead to misunderstandings and not align with the team's goals or understandings of the task. As a Scrum Master, collaboration and communication are key, thus all decisions made should involve the respective team and the Product Owner.

Question 2

The Scrum Team has been working on a project for 3 Sprints and they've noticed a consistent issue with meeting the Sprint Goals. As the Scrum Master, what should be your course of action?

Increase the frequency of the Daily Scrum meetings to twice a day to ensure more touchpoints for progress tracking. Redefine the Sprint Goals at the beginning of each Sprint to ensure alignment with the team's capacity and the product backlog, even if this means lowering the ambition level to guarantee achievement. Conduct a Sprint Retrospective focused solely on understanding the challenges faced in meeting Sprint Goals and collaboratively devising strategies for improvement. Adjust the team's definition of 'Done' to decrease the scope of work within each Sprint.

Correct Answer: Conduct a Sprint Retrospective focused solely on understanding the challenges faced in meeting Sprint Goals and collaboratively devising strategies for improvement.

The correct course of action for a Scrum Master noticing consistent issues with meeting Sprint Goals is to address the problem directly by engaging the team in a focused discussion on the matter during a Sprint Retrospective. This allows the team to inspect how they work and adapt their process, planning, and execution in order to overcome the impediments. Adjusting the definition of 'Done', increasing the frequency of Daily Scrum meetings, or lowering the ambition of Sprint Goals do not address the root cause of the problem and may lead to decreased product quality, reduce transparency, and hinder the team's ability to deliver value.

Question 3

On reviewing the Sprint Burndown Chart, the development team identifies they are lagging far behind the target. As the Scrum Master, how would you address this issue?

Alter the Burndown Chart to show the team is on track and avoid any possible critique from stakeholders. Ask the Product Owner to reduce the scope of the Sprint to match the progress of the team. Instruct the team to put in extra hours to meet the Sprint Goal without delay. Facilitate a meeting with the team to identify potential impediments and work on ways to mitigate them.

Correct Answer: Facilitate a meeting with the team to identify potential impediments and work on ways to mitigate them.

As the Scrum Master, your role is to facilitate and remove any obstacles for the team. If the team is lagging behind, the best course of action would be to have a frank conversation with the team to identify any impediments that are slowing progress and to work together to strategize on ways to overcome these. Instructing the team to put in extra hours could lead to burnout and lower morale. Asking the Product Owner to reduce the scope is not addressing the problem, but rather adjusting the goal to accommodate the problem. Respect for the process is an important aspect of Scrum, altering any artifact, including the Burndown Chart, to distort reality, goes against the principles of transparency and adaptation, and can eventually harm the trust of the stakeholders and within the team.

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