Learn Scrum Ceremonies (CSM) with Interactive Flashcards

Master key concepts in Scrum Ceremonies through our interactive flashcard system. Click on each card to reveal detailed explanations and enhance your understanding.

Backlog Refinement

Backlog Refinement, also known as Backlog Grooming, is when the Product Owner and the Development Team review items on the Product Backlog to ensure that they are appropriately prepared and ordered in a way that makes them clear and executable for the upcoming sprints. This includes detailed requirements, splitting large stories, estimation, and priority clarification. It keeps the backlog clean, ordered, and ready for the next Sprint Planning.

Daily Standup

The Daily Standup, or Daily Scrum, is a short meeting that the scrum team has every day. This 15-minute meeting is meant to sync the team on what was done the previous day, what is planned for today, and any blockers that may be impeding progress. The aim is to keep everyone in the loop, address potential roadblocks and allow for course corrections as early as possible. It is not meant as a problem-solving or issue-resolution meeting. If any such discussions arise, they are parked for resolution after the Standup.

Scrum Sprint Planning

Scrum Sprint Planning is a meeting where the team determines what they will work on during the upcoming sprint and turns items from the product backlog into the sprint backlog. It's split into two parts. Part one is about what to deliver, and it's attended by the Product Owner and the Scrum Team. The Product Owner presents what needs doing, the team then decides what they can deliver during the next sprint. Part two is about how to deliver. The Scrum Team creates a plan for delivering the increment. The outcome of Sprint Planning is the Sprint Goal and a Sprint backlog. It is in this meeting where complexity and risks of the work are discussed.

Scrum Review Meeting

Scrum Review Meeting, also known as Sprint Review, is held at the end of each sprint. The Scrum Team and stakeholders attend this meeting. The purpose is to inspect the Increment and adapt the product backlog if needed. It's not for stakeholder feedback or acceptance of the work; that's ongoing throughout the sprint. It's an opportunity for the Scrum Team and stakeholders together to collaborate about what was done in the Sprint, what's up next, and how the marketplace and potential use of the product may have changed.

Scrum Sprint

A Scrum Sprint is a time-boxed iteration of a continuous development cycle. The Scrum Team commits to complete a set of items (selected during Sprint Planning) from a backlog. Sprints can last from 1 week to 4 weeks long (commonly 2 weeks). At the end of the Sprint, the team should produce a potentially shippable increment of software, regardless of how many backlog items were completed. The idea is to incrementally create working software that adds value, instead of delivering it all at once at the end.

Scrum Retrospective

The Scrum Retrospective is the final ceremony in a Scrum Sprint cycle. It is a post-mortem meeting where the team looks back on the completed Sprint and assesses their successes and areas for improvement. The aim is to continuously improve and adjust the process in the subsequent Sprints. The Retrospective is facilitated by the Scrum Master and each member’s input is crucial in identifying potential improvement opportunities. These learnings are documented and action steps are outlined to implement the changes. The goal is to make the process more efficient and effective in the upcoming Sprints.

Scrum Master Servant Leadership

The concept of the Scrum Master as a Servant Leader underlines the role of the Scrum Master in supporting the development team. Rather than being a traditional manager who directs the team, the Scrum Master acts as a facilitator, aiding the team in ensuring they understand and uphold the principles and values of Scrum. They remove any obstacles the team may encounter, and help them reach consensus during decision-making processes. The Scrum Master also fosters a collaborative environment and encourages self-organization within the team.

Scrum Artifacts Transparency

Scrum Artifacts Transparency refers to the idea that all Scrum Artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment) should be visible, accessible, and clear to all team members and stakeholders. This transparency is crucial for trust, collaboration, and ensuring everyone has a clear understanding of what is being built and why. Visibility of the artifacts, progress, and changes helps to mitigate risks, resolve issues more effectively, and improve decision-making processes.

Sprint Zero

Sprint Zero, also known as the Inception or Discovery Sprint, is performed before the first Scrum Sprint begins. This period is used by the Scrum Team to perform some preliminary work such as conducting project background research, setting up development environment, preparing the Product and Sprint Backlog, and more. This initial phase lays the foundation for the rest of the project and the team can hit the ground running when Sprint one starts. It's worth noting that not all Scrum Teams use a Sprint Zero and it is not formally a part of the Scrum Guide.

Scrum Retrospective Meeting

The Scrum Retrospective is the final ceremony in a sprint. This is a meeting where the Scrum team comes together to reflect on the sprint that has just finished and suggests improvements for the future. The purpose of this ceremony is to make continuous process improvements by examining what worked well and what didn’t. It’s structured in a way to allow open, constructive, and objective discussions about the team’s process. Topics such as team communication, tools, quality, scope management, and deadline issues are often discussed. The Scrum master plays a facilitating role here, addressing any negative issues raised and promoting positive interaction to help the team improve moving forward.

Definition of Done (DoD)

The Definition of Done (DoD) is a shared understanding within the Scrum Team on the technical and quality aspects that need to be met for a product to be considered 'done'. It plays a crucial role in managing the increment of potentially shippable functionalities that constitute a Sprint. The DoD assists teams in establishing the conditions for user stories and ensuring the development matches expected criteria, thus promoting transparency, and reducing rework and technical debt.

Scrum Sprint Review

Scrum Sprint Review is a critical step in the Scrum framework. It takes place at the end of every sprint, usually lasting for an hour for each week of the sprint. It is an informal meeting in which the Scrum Team presents the work they have completed and the work they did not finish during the sprint to the stakeholders. The primary goal is to elicit feedback and foster collaboration regarding what was done during the sprint. This meeting enables the Product Owner to adjust the Product Backlog based on the review and ensure the product remains value-oriented.

Scrum Product Owner Role

In Scrum, the Product Owner Role is imperative, serving as a bridge between the Scrum Team and the stakeholders. This individual owns the Product Backlog and is responsible for maximizing the value of the product and the work performed by the Development Team. They are accountable for defining and prioritizing the items in the backlog, considering business needs, customer feedback, and market conditions. They also convey a clear vision of the product and its features to the team.

Scrum Team Role

The Scrum Team Role encompasses the group of individuals working together in delivering high-value, usable increments of a product. Apart from the Product Owner and the Scrum Master, the team mostly consists of developers with varying skills necessary for the project. This multifunctional, self-organizing team works together during the sprint—with no external intervention—to deliver the potentially shippable increment by the end of the sprint.

Sprint Backlog

The Sprint Backlog is a subset of the Product Backlog that includes items chosen for the current Sprint. It is developed during the Sprint Planning meeting. Based on priorities set by the Product Owner, team members select items from the Product Backlog to work on during the Sprint. The Sprint Backlog is a forecast by the development team about what functionality will be made available in the next increment. The team manages and updates it during the Daily Standup meeting through consistent transparency, inspection, and adaptation.

Time-Boxing

Time-Boxing is a fundamental concept in Scrum that refers to limiting the amount of time allowed for an event or process to occur. Each event (or ceremony) in Scrum (like Sprint Planning, Daily Standup, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective) is time-boxed to ensure it does not exceed a fixed duration, allowing the team to stay focused, thus providing a continuous and predictable rhythm. It also helps to prevent process-related work from overtaking actual product development. Time-Boxing forces decisions, thus promoting progress.

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