Hello,
Please enjoy my somewhat long list of questions. Or don't, it's a free forum.
Background: I’ve read the Scrum Guide, “Scrum - A Pocket Guide”, and the Management Plaza Manual -- hereafter abbreviated SG, SAPG, and MP respectively. I understand SG is always the source of truth, and MP is known to have issues. That said, I have the following questions. Please let me know your thoughts, thanks!
1. SG says: “If the Development Team determines it has too much or too little work, it may renegotiate the selected Product Backlog items with the Product Owner.”
a. MP says “items (stories) in the Sprint Backlog cannot be added or removed during the Sprint.”? Is MP statement correct, and if so, please me understand what the outcome of SG’s “renegotiate the selected Product Backlog items” might be if not adding/removing PBIs? E.g. is it to increase/decrease the scope of PBIs, without adding/removing any?
2. SG says: “The number of items selected from the Product Backlog for the Sprint is solely up to the Development Team” and also that the Sprint Backlog “belongs solely to the Development Team.”
a. MP says the Product Owner “decides on the contents of the Sprint Backlog.” Is MP correct that the DT, not the PO, decides what goes into the Sprint Backlog? If yes, is there a mechanism (other than common sense) to stop the DT from putting items into the Sprint Backlog that the PO values low in the Product Backlog?
3. SG says: "enough work is planned during Sprint Planning for the Development Team to forecast what it believes it can do in the upcoming Sprint.”
a. Would it be correct to replace the word “upcoming” with “this”? For example, suppose we’re now in Sprint Planning of sprint 1. The word “upcoming” makes it seem that we are currently forecasting for sprint 2, but I’m thinking really we’re forecasting for sprint 1.
4. SAPG says in 3.7.2 Multiple Scrum Teams that “Each Scrum Team has a Product Owner, Development Team, and Scrum Master”
a. Does this mean you may have two Product Owners and one Product Backlog? My intuition says no, as does MP, which says multiple teams on a single product “should have one Product Backlog and one Product Owner."
5. SG says: “When a Product Backlog item or an Increment is described as “Done”, everyone must understand what “Done” means.”
a. Might a given team have multiple DoDs at a given time, for example 1 DoD for a PBI item, and 1 DoD for the Increment? (I read two other DoD threads here, but don’t think either addressed this specifically)
6. SG says: "Inspections are most beneficial when diligently performed by skilled inspectors at the point of work.
a. Just in case I'm misunderstanding "point of work". I’m thinking this statement is saying inspection should be done while working on a given item, not after building the item. Is that correct?
7. This might be more of a suggestion than a question, but suppose we had a way to collaboratively make questions/comments directly on the text of the SG. I think that would allow questions to be more effectively addressed in their context, and it could be easier for scrum learners to get their questions answered as they read, reducing things like repeat threads (there's probably a scrum principle or two in that). Something along the lines of what genius.com does for some texts. Curious if that’s been considered?
Eric
Please enjoy my somewhat long list of questions. Or don't, it's a free forum.
Background: I’ve read the Scrum Guide, “Scrum - A Pocket Guide”, and the Management Plaza Manual -- hereafter abbreviated SG, SAPG, and MP respectively. I understand SG is always the source of truth, and MP is known to have issues. That said, I have the following questions. Please let me know your thoughts, thanks!
1. SG says: “If the Development Team determines it has too much or too little work, it may renegotiate the selected Product Backlog items with the Product Owner.”
a. MP says “items (stories) in the Sprint Backlog cannot be added or removed during the Sprint.”? Is MP statement correct, and if so, please me understand what the outcome of SG’s “renegotiate the selected Product Backlog items” might be if not adding/removing PBIs? E.g. is it to increase/decrease the scope of PBIs, without adding/removing any?
2. SG says: “The number of items selected from the Product Backlog for the Sprint is solely up to the Development Team” and also that the Sprint Backlog “belongs solely to the Development Team.”
a. MP says the Product Owner “decides on the contents of the Sprint Backlog.” Is MP correct that the DT, not the PO, decides what goes into the Sprint Backlog? If yes, is there a mechanism (other than common sense) to stop the DT from putting items into the Sprint Backlog that the PO values low in the Product Backlog?
3. SG says: "enough work is planned during Sprint Planning for the Development Team to forecast what it believes it can do in the upcoming Sprint.”
a. Would it be correct to replace the word “upcoming” with “this”? For example, suppose we’re now in Sprint Planning of sprint 1. The word “upcoming” makes it seem that we are currently forecasting for sprint 2, but I’m thinking really we’re forecasting for sprint 1.
4. SAPG says in 3.7.2 Multiple Scrum Teams that “Each Scrum Team has a Product Owner, Development Team, and Scrum Master”
a. Does this mean you may have two Product Owners and one Product Backlog? My intuition says no, as does MP, which says multiple teams on a single product “should have one Product Backlog and one Product Owner."
5. SG says: “When a Product Backlog item or an Increment is described as “Done”, everyone must understand what “Done” means.”
a. Might a given team have multiple DoDs at a given time, for example 1 DoD for a PBI item, and 1 DoD for the Increment? (I read two other DoD threads here, but don’t think either addressed this specifically)
6. SG says: "Inspections are most beneficial when diligently performed by skilled inspectors at the point of work.
a. Just in case I'm misunderstanding "point of work". I’m thinking this statement is saying inspection should be done while working on a given item, not after building the item. Is that correct?
7. This might be more of a suggestion than a question, but suppose we had a way to collaboratively make questions/comments directly on the text of the SG. I think that would allow questions to be more effectively addressed in their context, and it could be easier for scrum learners to get their questions answered as they read, reducing things like repeat threads (there's probably a scrum principle or two in that). Something along the lines of what genius.com does for some texts. Curious if that’s been considered?
Eric