The Scrum Guide - Audio Version - 2020

welcome back everyone today i'm going to be doing an audio version of the scrum guide where i'm just going to be reading the scrum guide to you and so whether you're reading for a test or you just want to memorize it more and get more out of what the changes have been you can listen to it here now please remember that there are going to be links in the description below to the different bookmarks and different sections within the guide as well as there are youtube controls if i'm speaking too slowly for some of you

or if i'm speaking too fast you can slow it down there using the audio controls uh please of course we'd love if you like and subscribe to the channel and uh if you would love to support the channel there's going to be options in the below in the description to do so without further ado though let's get started ken schwaber and jeff sutherland the scrum guide the definitive guide to scrum the rules of the game released on november 2020 purpose of the scrum guide we developed scrum in the early 1990s we wrote the first version

of the scrum guide in 2010 to help people worldwide understand scrum we have evolved the guide since then through small functional updates together we stand behind it the scrum guide contains the definition of scrum each element of the framework serves a specific purpose that is essential to overall value and results realized with scrum changing the core design or ideas of scrum leaving out elements or not following the rules of scrum covers up problems and limits the benefits of scrum potentially even rendering it useless we follow the growing use of scrum within an ever-growing complex world

we are humbled to see scrum being adopted in many domains holding essentially complex work beyond software product development where scrum has its roots as scrum's use spreads developers researchers analysts scientists and other specialists do the work we use the word developers in scrum not to exclude but to simplify if you get value from scrum consider yourself included as scrum is being used patterns processes and insights that fit the scrum framework as described in this document may be found applied and devised their description is beyond the purpose of the scrum guide because they are context sensitive

and differ wildly between scrum uses such tactics for using within the scrum framework vary wildly and are described elsewhere ken schwaber and jeff sutherland november 2020 scrum definition scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people teams and organizations to generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems in a nutshell scrum requires a scrum master to foster an environment where 1. a product owner orders the work for a complex problem into a product backlog 2. the scrum team turns a selection of the work into an increment of value during a sprint 3. the scrum team and

its stakeholders inspect the results and adjust for the next sprint 4. repeat scrum is simple try it as is and determine if its philosophy theory and structure help to achieve goals and create value the scrum framework is purposefully incomplete only defining the parts required to implement scrum theory scrum is built upon the collective intelligence of the people using it rather than provide people with detailed instructions the rules of scrum guide their relationships and interactions various processes techniques and methods can be employed within the framework scrum wraps around existing practices or renders them unnecessary scrum makes

visible the relative efficacy of current management environment and work techniques so that improvements can be made scrum theory scrum is founded upon empiricism and lean thinking empiricism asserts that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is observed lean thinking reduces waste and focuses on the essentials scrum employs an iterative incremental approach to optimize predictability and to control risk scrum engages groups of people who collectively have all the skills and expertise to do the work and share or acquire such skills as needed scrum combines four formal events for inspection and adaptation within a

containing event the sprint these events work because they implement the empirical scrum pillars of transparency inspection and adaptation transparency the emergent process and work must be visible to those performing the work as well as those receiving the work with scrum important decisions are based on the perceived state of its three formal artifacts artifacts that have low transparency can lead to decisions that diminish value and increase risk transparency enables inspection inspection without transparency is misleading and wasteful inspection the scrum artifacts and the progress toward agreed goals must be inspected frequently and diligently to detect potential undesirable

variances or problems to help with inspection scrum provides a cadence in the form of its five events inspection enables adaptation inspection without adaptation is considered pointless scrum events are designed to provoke change adaptation if any aspects of a process deviate outside of acceptable limits or if the resulting product is unacceptable the process being applied or the materials being produced must be adjusted the adjustment must be made as soon as possible to minimize further deviation adaptation becomes more difficult when the people involved are not empowered or self-managing a scrum team is expected to adapt at the

moment it learns anything new through inspection scrum values successful use of scrum depends upon people becoming more proficient in living five values commitment focus openness respect and courage the scrum team commits to achieving its goals and supporting each other their primary focus is on the work of the sprint to make the best possible progress toward these goals the scrum team and its stakeholders are open about the work and the challenges scrum team members respect each other to be capable independent people and are respected as such by the people with whom they work the scrum team

members have the courage to do the right thing to work on tough problems these values give direction to the scrum team with regard to their work actions and behavior the decisions that are made the steps taken and the way scrum is used should reinforce these values not diminish or undermine them the scrum team members learn and explore the values as they work with the scrum events and artifacts when these values are embodied by the scrum team and the people they work with the empirical scrum pillars of transparency inspection and adaptation come to life building trust

scrum team the fundamental unit of scrum is a small team of people a scrum team the scrum team consists of one scrum master one product owner and developers within a scrum team there are no sub teams or hierarchies it is a cohesive unit of professionals focused on one objective at a time the product goal scrum teams are cross-functional meaning the members have all the skills necessary to create value each sprint they are also self-managing meaning they internally decide who does what when and how the scrum team is small enough to remain nimble and large enough

to complete significant work within a sprint typically 10 or fewer people in general we have found that smaller teams communicate better and are more productive if scrum teams become too large they should consider reorganizing into multiple cohesive scrum teams each focused on the same product therefore they should share the same product goal product backlog and product owner the scrum team is responsible for all product related activities from stakeholder collaboration verification maintenance operation experimentation research and development and anything else that might be required they are structured and empowered by the organization to manage their own work

working in sprints at a sustainable pace improves the scrum team's focus and consistency the entire scrum team is accountable for creating a valuable useful increment every sprint scrum defines three specific accountabilities within the scrum team the developers the product owner and the scrum master developers developers are the people in the scrum team that are committed to creating any aspect of a usable increment each sprint the specific skills needed by the developers are often broad and will vary with the domain of work however the developers are always accountable for creating a plan for the sprint the

sprint backlog instilling quality by adhering to a definition of done adapting their plan each day toward the sprint goal and holding each other accountable as professionals product owner the product owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the scrum team how this is done may vary wildly across organizations scrum teams and individuals the product owner is also accountable for effective product backlog management which includes developing and explicitly communicating the product goal creating and clearly communicating product backlog items ordering product backlog items and ensuring that the product backlog is

transparent visible and understood the product owner may do the above work or may delegate the responsibility to others regardless the product owner remains accountable for the product owners to succeed the entire organization must respect their decisions these decisions are visible in the content and ordering of the product backlog and through the inspectable increment at the sprint review the product owner is one person not a committee the product owner may represent the needs of many stakeholders in the product backlog those wanting to change the product backlog can do so by trying to convince the product owner

scrum master the scrum master is accountable for establishing scrum as defined in the scrum guide they do this by helping everyone understand scrum theory and practice both within the scrum team and the organization the scrum master is accountable for the scrum team's effectiveness they do this by enabling the scrum team to improve its practices within the scrum framework scrum masters are true leaders who serve the scrum team and the larger organization scrum masters serve the scrum team in several ways including coaching the team members and self-management and cross-functionality helping the scrum team focus on creating

high value increments that meet the definition of done causing the removal of impediments to the scrum team's progress and ensuring that all scrum events take place and are positive productive and kept within the time box the scrum master serves the product owner in several ways including helping find techniques for effective product goal definition and product backlog management helping the scrum team understand the need for clear and concise product backlog items helping establish empirical product planning for a complex environment and facilitating stakeholder collaboration as requested or needed the scrum master serves the organization in several ways

including leading training and coaching the organization in ed scrum adoption planning and advising the scrum implementations within the organization helping employees and stakeholders understand and enact an empirical approach for complex work and removing barriers between stakeholders and scrum teams scrum events the sprint is a container for all other events each event in scrum is a formal opportunity to inspect and adapt scrum artifacts these events are specifically designed to enable the transparency required failure to operate any events as prescribed results in lost opportunities to inspect and adapt events are used in scrum to create regularity and

to minimize the need for meetings not defined in scrum optimally all events are held at the same time and place to reduce complexity the sprint sprints are the heartbeat of scrum where ideas are turned into value they are fixed length events of one month or less to create consistency a new sprint starts immediately after the conclusion of the previous sprint all the work necessary to achieve the product goal including sprint planning daily scrums sprint review and sprint retrospective will happen within sprints during the sprint no changes are made that would endanger the sprint goal quality

does not decrease the product backlog is refined as needed and scope may be clarified and renegotiated with the product owner as more is learned sprints enable predictability by ensuring inspection and adaptation of progress toward a product goal at least every calendar month when a sprint's horizon is too long the sprint goal may become invalid complexity may rise and risk may increase shorter sprints can be employed to generate more learning cycles and limit risk of cost and effort to a smaller time frame each sprint may be considered a short project various practices exist to forecast progress

like burn downs burn ups or cumulative flows while proven useful these do not replace the importance of empiricism in complex environments what will happen is unknown only what has already happened may be used for forward-looking decision making a sprint could be cancelled if the sprint goal becomes obsolete only the product owner has the authority to cancel the sprint sprint planning sprint planning initiates the sprint by laying out the work to be performed for the sprint this resulting plan is created by the collaborative work of the entire scrum team the product owner ensures that attendees are

prepared to discuss the most important product backlog items and how they map to the product goal the scrum team may also invite other people to attend sprint planning to provide advice sprint planning addresses the following topics topic one why is the sprint valuable the product owner proposes how the product could increase its value and utility in the current sprint the whole scrum team then collaborates to define a sprint goal that communicates why the sprint is valuable to stakeholders the sprint goal must be finalized prior to the end of the sprint planning topic 2 what can

be done this sprint through discussion with the product owner the developers select items from the product backlog to include in the current sprint the scrum team may refine these items during this process which increases understanding and confidence selecting how much can be completed within a sprint may be challenging however the more developers know about their past performance their upcoming capacity and their definition of done the more confident they will be in their sprint forecasts topic 3 how will the chosen work get done for each selected product backlog item the developers plan the work necessary to

create an increment that meets the definition of done this is often done by decomposing product backlog items into smaller work items of one day or less how this is done is at the sole discretion of the developers no one tells them how to turn product backlog items into increments of value the sprint goal the product backlog item selected for the sprint plus the plan for delivering them are together referred to as the sprint backlog sprint planning is time boxed to a maximum of eight hours for a one month sprint for shorter sprints the event is

usually shorter daily scrum the purpose of the daily scrum is to inspect progress towards the sprint goal and adapt the sprint backlog as necessary adjusting the upcoming plan work the daily scrum is a 15-minute event for the developers of the scrum team to reduce complexity it is held at the same time and place every work day of the sprint if the product owner or scrum master are actively working on items in the sprint backlog they participate as developers the developers can select whatever structure and techniques they want as long as their daily scrum focuses on

progress towards the sprint goal and produces an actionable plan for the next day of work this creates focus and improves self-management daily scrums improve communications identify impediments promote quick decision making and consequently eliminate the need for other meetings the daily scrum is not the only time developers are allowed to adjust their plan they often meet throughout the day for more detailed discussion about adapting or replanning the rest of the sprint's work sprint review the purpose of the sprint review is to inspect the outcome of the sprint and determine future adaptations the scrum team presents the

results of their work to key stakeholders and progress toward the product goal is discussed during the event the scrum team and stakeholders review what was accomplished in the sprint and what has changed in their environment based on this information attendees collaborate on what to do next the product backlog may also be adjusted to meet new opportunities the sprint review is a working session and the scrum team should avoid limiting it to a presentation the sprint review is the second to last event of the sprint and is time boxed to a maximum of four hours for

a one month sprint for shorter sprints the event is usually shorter sprint retrospective the purpose of the sprint retrospective is to plan ways to increase quality and effectiveness the scrum team inspects how the last sprint went with regards to individuals interactions processes tools and their definition of done inspected elements often vary with the domain of work assumptions that led them astray are identified and their origins explored the scrum team discusses what went well during the sprint what problems it encountered and how those problems were or were not solved the scrum team identifies the most helpful

changes to improve its effectiveness the most impactful improvements are addressed as soon as possible they may even be added to the sprint backlog for the next sprint the sprint retrospective concludes the sprint it is time boxed to a maximum of three hours for a one month sprint for shorter sprints the event is usually shorter scrum artifacts scrum's artifacts represent work or value they are designed to maximize transparency of key information thus everyone inspecting them has the same basis for adaptation each artifact contains a commitment to ensure it provides information that enhances transparency and focus against

which progress can be measured for the product backlog it is the product goal for the sprint backlog it is the sprint goal for the increment it is the definition of done these commitments exist to reinforce empiricism and the scrum values for the scrum team and their stakeholders product backlog the product backlog is an emergent ordered list of what is needed to improve the product it is the single source of work undertaken by the scrum team product backlog items that can be done by the scrum team within one sprint are deemed ready for selection in the

sprint planning event they usually acquire this degree of transparency after refining activities product backlog refinement is the act of breaking down and further defining product backlog items into smaller more precise items this is an ongoing activity to add details such as a description order and size attributes often vary with the domain of work the developers who will be doing the work are responsible for the sizing the product owner may influence the developers by helping them understand and select trade-offs commitment product goal the product goal describes a future state of the product which can serve as

a target for the scrum team to plan against the product goal is in the product backlog the rest of the product backlog emerges to define what will fulfill the product goal a product is a vehicle to deliver value it has a clear boundary known stakeholders well-defined users or customers a product could be a service a physical product or something more abstract the product goal is the long-term objective for the scrum team they must fulfill or abandon one objective before taking on the next sprint backlog the sprint backlog is composed of the sprint goal why the

set of product backlog items selected for the sprint what as well as an actionable plan for delivering the increment how the sprint backlog is a plan by and for the developers it is a highly visible real-time picture of the work that the developers planned to accomplish during the sprint in order to achieve the sprint goal consequently the sprint backlog is updated throughout the sprint as more is learned it should have enough detail that they can inspect their own progress in the daily scrum commitment sprint goal the sprint goal is the single objective for the sprint

although the sprint goal is a commitment by the developers it provides flexibility in terms of the exact work needed to achieve it the sprint goal also creates coherence and focus encouraging the scrum team to work together rather than on separate initiatives the sprint goal is created during the sprint planning event and then added to the sprint backlog as the developers work during the sprint they keep the sprint goal in mind if the work turns out to be different than they expected they collaborate with the product owner to negotiate the scope of the sprint backlog within

the sprint without affecting the sprint goal increment an increment is a concentrated stepping stone toward the product goal each increment is additive to all prior increments and thoroughly verified ensuring that all increments work together in order to provide value the increment must be usable multiple increments may be created within a sprint the sum of the increments is presented at the sprint review thus supporting empiricism however an increment may be delivered to stakeholders prior to the end of the sprint the sprint review should never be considered a gate to releasing value work cannot be considered part

of an increment unless it meets the definition of done commitment definition of done the definition of done is a formal description of the state of the increment when it meets the quality measures required for the product the moment a product backlog item meets the definition of done an increment is born the definition of done creates transparency by providing everyone a shared understanding of what work was completed as part of the increment if a product backlog item does not meet the definition of done it cannot be released or even presented at the sprint review instead it

returns to the product backlog for future consideration if the definition of done for an increment is part of the standards of the organization all scrum teams must follow it as a minimum if it is not an organizational standard the scrum team must create a definition of done appropriate for the product the developers are required to conform to the definition of done if there are multiple scrum teams working together on a product they must mutually define and comply with the same definition of done endnote scrum is free and offered in this guide the scrum framework as

outlined herein is immutable while implementing only parts of scrum is possible the result is not scrum scrum exists only in its entirety and functions well as a container for other techniques methodologies and practices acknowledgments people and this is where i get off guys i am going to stop here because a it's getting late tonight and b because i'm probably going to end up horribly messing up someone's name here and i don't want that all over youtube for them and me but we definitely appreciate everyone involved in creating the scrum guide obviously hope you enjoyed this

video i'm not going to be reading the scrum guide history either but it is there on the screen if you're going if would like to pause the video and read it there will also be a link in the description to the scrum guide itself make sure to like and subscribe if this helped you and you feel like supporting the channel of course that's always loved as well thank you guys for watching make sure to share with friends and as always keep on learning