We started this Scrum foundation series explaining we see four underlying concepts of the Scrum framework. In the past series of blog posts we covered the three pillars of Empiricism, and we covered the Scrum Values.
Now that we understand that we need trust, which is built up by living the Scrum Values, to bring transparency and as such have a good basis to inspect and adapt, we can have a look at the self-managing aspect of the Scrum Team.
👉 Self-managing, meaning the team internally decides who does what, when, and how.
Allowing to take more decisions = more mandate = more autonomy = higher motivation = higher effectivity.
In order to make good decisions, information needs to be readily available. This is where the transparency of the different Scrum Artifacts plays an important role.
Let’s take a look at the Increment.
The Increment is a stepping stone towards the Product Goal, and as such provides a common understanding about the current state of the product.
- Asking a question to the stakeholders what would be most beneficial to them now that they know the current state provides new insights in the importance from a customer/user perspective. This is important input for ordering the Product Backlog.
And so the Increment supports deciding on what and when.
- Current usage data provides significant information on where things go wrong. What approaches seem to work? What approaches seem to miss their target? This provides useful insights into how approaching certain challenges.
And so the Increment supports deciding on how.
Given the Increment provides a common understanding about the current status of the product, any decisions about what, when, and how, are typically supported by information about the Increment.
Summary:
Self-managing is about having a mandate to take decisions.
The Increment brings transparency on the current status of the product, and as such supports the Scrum Team when it comes to making decisions about what, when, and how.
Note: without a clear (Product, Sprint and Quality) goal, without clear accountabilities, and without a clear boundaries, self-management will not occur.
Prompt:
Together with your Scrum Team, evaluate how self-management can be improved by making your Increment even more transparent.
Also think about what additional insights or input the team would benefit from others outside the team about purpose and goals, the team's accountabilities and the boundaries they have to work within.
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.
Don't want to miss any of these blog posts? Have the professional Scrum foundations series weekly in your mailbox.
