I often get asked questions about Scrum from contacts via email. I am always keen and happy to help advise people as best I can. It’s my duty as a Professional Scrum Trainer @ Scrum.org. Plus I am passionate about helping people deal effectively with the many challenges that come with developing complex software. Easing the pain that some people experience in their working environments is what motivates me.
To help as many people as possible in future I will be sharing the questions I am posed and the answers I provide. I hope you will find them useful.
This first batch is a mixed selection with questions on Sprint Backlogs and scaling. Here we go:
1) Can a Sprint Backlog be changed during a Sprint?
Yes. it can and it will likely change mid-Sprint. It is the type of change that you need to be aware of though. It is typically not about increasing the scope of the work. The relevant passage from the Scrum Guide:
The Developers modify the Sprint Backlog throughout the Sprint, and the Sprint Backlog emerges during the Sprint. This emergence occurs as the Developers work through the plan and learns more about the work needed to achieve the Sprint Goal.
As new work is required, the Developers add it to the Sprint Backlog. As work is performed or completed, the estimated remaining work is updated. When elements of the plan are deemed unnecessary, they are removed. Only the Developers can change their Sprint Backlog during a Sprint.
2) How does one arrange 100 Developers?
This is a big question with a lot of possibilities and so more than can be covered here. Have a look at Scrum.org’s Nexus framework for some further guidance on what the end result may look like. To form the teams, consider aiming for feature-based teams, formed using bottom-up intelligence and self-organisation with facilitation.
3) Who adds new work to the Sprint Backlog during the Sprint?
See answer 1. Only the Developers can add new items to their Sprint Backlog as they discover the need for additional work to meet the Sprint Goal and forecast. Stakeholders and/or the Product Owner should not “push” more work onto the Developers.
4) What happens if the Developers cannot complete its work by the end of the Sprint?
The Developers inform the Product Owner. The Scrum Team should then inspect & adapt to prevent this in future if it is a problem. Understanding why this has happened will be critical.
5) If there are 6 products, how many Product Owners and Scrum Masters should be selected?
According to Scrum, 6 Product Owners and 6 Scrum Masters. However, a person may be a Product Owner or Scrum Master for more than one team depending on your unique circumstances.
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Great short article Simon!
Thanks for sharing.
Regarding Q1, I was wondering if it would be useful to mention that while the Sprint Backlog can emerge at the discretion of Dev Team, this is not the case for Sprint Goal.
Here, the stable part is the Sprint Goal and the variable part is Sprint Backlog.
If a circumstance forces to reconsider Sprint Goal, then, that is the authority of the PO.
Regarding Q6, I would clarify the answer with also size of the people. If you have 10 people working on 6 products, most likely you have one or two teams, each having a PO and SM.
So, not only the number of products dictate the number of PO and SM, but the overall number of people as well.
All good points Joseph. To be clear regarding Q6, a rule of Scrum is that each product has 1 and only 1 Product Owner.