Velocity in Scrum

Correct Answer: Shift the team's focus from velocity to value delivery by reassessing the product backlog with the Product Owner to ensure it aligns with customer needs.

The primary role of the Scrum Master in this scenario is to help the team and the Product Owner refocus on delivering value, rather than purely tracking velocity, which is just a measure of output, not outcome or value. Implementing strict time-tracking or setting a higher baseline for velocity does not directly address the issue of value delivery. While enhancing sprint review meetings is beneficial for receiving feedback, making it significantly longer for detailed discussions could burden the stakeholders and divert from the goal of quick, iterative feedback. Therefore, reassessing the product backlog for better alignment with customer needs is the most directly impactful approach.

Correct Answer: Discuss the possibility of burnout during the next retrospective meeting

The best approach mentioned here is to 'Discuss the possibility of burnout during the next retrospective meeting'. As a Scrum Master, the priority should be the wellbeing of the team and to ensure a sustainable pace of work. Burnout can lead to a decrease in productivity which might be the reason for the observed patterns in the velocity of the team. The retrospective meeting is a perfect platform to discuss this so that the team can come up with strategies to prevent burnout. Reducing the number of story points without discussing with the team may lead to further demotivation and misunderstanding among the members. Decisions like these should be made with team consensus. Similarly, increasing the sprint length suddenly can disrupt the rhythm of the team. This is also not an effective way to manage workload as it may lead to decreased efficiency. Lastly, while rewarding the team might seem like a good idea, it does not address the root cause and is not a long-term solution for the problem that's been building up over several sprints.

Correct Answer: Encourage the team to reflect on their Sprint practices and how they can improve their work efficiency.

The correct approach is to facilitate self-improvement within the team by encouraging them to reflect on their practices and look for ways to enhance efficiency. The wrong answers either bypass the team's autonomy and learning opportunity (e.g., adding more resources or simplifying the definition of done) or misinterpret the cause of low velocity (e.g., blaming it on product backlog complexity).