👉 The more people become proficient in living the Scrum values, the more successful the use of Scrum will be.
When the Scrum values are embodied by the Scrum Team and the people they work with, the empirical Scrum pillars come to life, building trust.
Reminder: the Scrum Values are Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage.
Is there any impact of living (or not) the Scrum Values on the Artifacts...? And if so what would this impact possibly be...? Let's have a look at the Increment.
- The ScrumGuide states that each artifact contains a commitment to ensure it provides information that enhances transparency and focus against which progress can be measure d. For the Increment this commitment is the Definition of Done (DoD).
This implies that the Scrum Team Commits to put their efforts in reaching the required quality level for the product, Sprint after Sprint. This will bring transparency to all stakeholders in that sense that they can count on it that the product has reached the quality levels as defined in the DoD. - Openness and Respect will support bringing this transparency. Being open to share within the team if certain aspects of quality are not yet reached. Being open with the colleagues when shortcuts have been taken to reach the Sprint Goal, yet that can undermine quality in the longer run. Respecting that sometimes things do take longer in order to reach the needed quality levels for the Increment.
- Technical Debt will exist. Question is when the team needs to pay it back. Having the Courage to address technical debt so that the product's quality levels can be maintained in the future. It is probably not a lot of fun to deal with a legacy. Collect your courage and address it anyway.
- Just as the Sprint Goal is a Focus for the team, so is the quality. A Sprint Goal cannot be reached of the quality is not adequate. Focus also on this team goal.
These are only one example of how each Scrum Value supports delivering a better Increment and making it more Transparent.
Summary:
Using the Scrum Values as a guide for the Scrum Team how to behave during the entire Sprint will support raising transparency, which is the purpose of the Artifacts. For the Increment this means raising the transparency on the quality of the product. The expected quality goals are described in the Definition of Done.
The more the team becomes skilled in living the Scrum Values, the more transparent the Increment will be.
Prompt
Together with your Scrum Team, evaluate how living the Scrum Values can still improve Increment Transparency.
How do you see that the values of Commitment, Courage, Focus, Openness and Respect are lived? What can you do to make the Scrum Team live these even better?
I hope you find value in these short posts and if you are looking for more clarifications, feel free to take contact.
If you want to take a deeper dive into the core concepts we are covering in this blog series, then surely check out our Professional Scrum MasterY workshop. We have some scheduled in the coming period.
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