Scrum Values form the foundational pillars that guide how Scrum Teams work together effectively. These five core values - Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage - create the cultural framework necessary for Scrum to succeed.
Commitment means team members personally dedicate themselves t…Scrum Values form the foundational pillars that guide how Scrum Teams work together effectively. These five core values - Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage - create the cultural framework necessary for Scrum to succeed.
Commitment means team members personally dedicate themselves to achieving the goals of the Scrum Team. Each person commits to doing their best work and supporting their teammates in delivering value. This creates accountability and drives the team toward their Sprint Goal.
Focus ensures the Scrum Team concentrates on the work of the Sprint and the goals they have set. By limiting work in progress and maintaining clear priorities, teams avoid distractions and deliver meaningful increments. The Product Owner plays a crucial role in helping maintain this focus through effective Product Backlog management.
Openness requires the Scrum Team and stakeholders to be transparent about their work and the challenges they face. This value supports the empirical nature of Scrum by ensuring information flows freely, enabling better inspection and adaptation. Teams share progress, obstacles, and learnings openly.
Respect acknowledges that Scrum Team members are capable, independent people who bring unique skills and perspectives. Team members respect each other's expertise, opinions, and contributions. This mutual respect creates psychological safety and enables collaboration.
Courage empowers Scrum Team members to do the right thing and tackle difficult problems. Teams need courage to have honest conversations, address impediments, challenge assumptions, and adapt when things aren't working. Courage enables teams to experiment and innovate.
When these values are embodied by the Scrum Team, they build trust among team members and stakeholders. Trust enables the transparency, inspection, and adaptation that make Scrum effective. As a Product Owner, understanding and modeling these values helps create an environment where the team can maximize the value they deliver to customers and the organization.
Scrum Values Overview: A Complete Guide for PSPO-I Exam Success
Why Scrum Values Are Important
Scrum Values form the ethical and behavioral foundation of the Scrum framework. They guide how team members interact, make decisions, and approach their work. When Scrum Values are embraced and lived by the Scrum Team, the empirical pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life, building trust among all stakeholders.
What Are the Five Scrum Values?
The five Scrum Values are:
1. Commitment The Scrum Team commits to achieving its goals and supporting each other. This means dedicating themselves to the Sprint Goal and doing everything possible to deliver value.
2. Focus Everyone focuses on the work of the Sprint and the goals of the Scrum Team. By concentrating on a limited amount of work at a time, teams can deliver higher quality outcomes.
3. Openness The Scrum Team and stakeholders are open about the work and challenges. This transparency enables honest conversations and better decision-making.
4. Respect Scrum Team members respect each other as capable, independent professionals. They also respect stakeholders, customers, and the broader organization.
5. Courage Scrum Team members have the courage to do the right thing and work on tough problems. This includes being honest about impediments and challenging the status quo when necessary.
How Scrum Values Work in Practice
Scrum Values are not rules to follow but behaviors to embody. They work together synergistically:
- Commitment enables Focus by ensuring everyone is dedicated to shared goals - Openness requires Courage to share difficult truths - Respect creates psychological safety that enables Openness - Courage is strengthened when team members feel Respected
When these values are present, the team can truly embrace empiricism and self-management.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Scrum Values
Tip 1: Memorize all five values Know them by heart: Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage. Questions may ask you to identify which value is missing from a list.
Tip 2: Understand the connection to empiricism Remember that Scrum Values support the three pillars of empiricism (transparency, inspection, adaptation). If a question discusses trust or transparency issues, think about which value applies.
Tip 3: Recognize values in scenarios Exam questions often present situations where you must identify which value is being demonstrated or violated. For example, a team member hiding problems indicates a lack of Openness and Courage.
Tip 4: Values apply to everyone All Scrum Team members must embody these values, not just specific roles. Questions may try to trick you into thinking values apply differently to different roles.
Tip 5: Values are not optional The Scrum Guide states that successful use of Scrum depends on people becoming more proficient in living these values. They are essential, not supplementary.
Tip 6: Look for behavioral indicators When a question describes team dysfunction, identify which value is absent. Poor collaboration often indicates missing Respect; hidden impediments suggest lack of Openness or Courage.
Common Exam Question Patterns
- Identifying the correct value from a scenario description - Selecting all five values from a longer list of options - Understanding how values support self-management - Recognizing when values are being violated in team interactions - Connecting values to improved team performance and trust