Preparing for PSM1

Also, if many Scrum teams are working on the same product, should all of their increments be integrated every Sprint?, even if their work has no dependancies?

Hi,

If a new team member is not working out in a scrum team, who is responsible for taking him/her out - the dev team, the SM or HR?

There is no simple answer to this, and I would encourage the idea that removing someone from a team is the last option. It is a complex dynamic within a team, and they need to work together to figure out how to work together. When they are struggling, the Scrum Master should coach them to finding an answer, by openly discussing the issue. If it is very disruptive to the team, they are self organising and can address the problem. Often there may be an organisational impediment that requires a certain process to be followed - and depending on the country you are in there are legal steps that must be followed. You have outlined the escalation route in your question. There is also the possibility of engaging functional Managers.

In summary - resolve and coach first - it will build a stronger team and teach the team how to deal with conflict. Removal of a team member is a last resort.

What is a tester's role in scrum besides finding bugs?

They are a member of the team, so they are responsible for thinking about the product and the work required to build the increment. Engaging in reviewing the backlog (adding detail, acceptance criteria, estimating, breaking Product Backlog Items (PBIs) down), and then working as part of the team to implement. I have seen great results having QA folks pairing with coders.

Who decides how to organize Daily scrums when some team members are in different locations?

That is up to the team. The Daily Scrum must happen. Imposing a time is counter productive.

Does the Product manager decide on the estimate on PBIs in a product backlog?

The generation of the estimate is the responsibility of the development team. The Product Owner assigns Business Value. I encourage the use of a relative estimation technique - and prefer Planning Poker.

Also, if many Scrum teams are working on the same product, should all of their increments be integrated every Sprint?, even if their work has no dependancies?

If teams are working on the same product then all the work should be integrated at least once every Sprint. I encourage teams to integrate on every check in/commit to the code base. This is to increase visibility and shorten the feedback loop. If something is broken you find out as early as possible and correct the problem. There may be no obvious dependencies, and you need to know that there is no interference from one teams work on another teams work (the butterfly effect).

Hi All,
I have done some projects with Scrum, but mostly not in this clear definition as on Scrum.org, Maybe due to this I have some problems to answers a few questions. For me the questions seems not so clear as expected. I will post some question I have in the following part. Please let me know your thinking about the answers if you are totally sure about the answer. Mostly I have a opinion, but it could be that is isn't right. Therefore I will not give a hint to this.

1. Is it possible for the Dev. Team to cancel the sprint retrospective?
2. Are there User Stories, Tasks, Use Cases and tests included in the Sprint Backlog? Any, all or some?
3. Which is a Time boxes event? Sprint 0, Sprint Testing, Release Testing, Release Retrospective. Possible: One, few, All, Nothing
4. What will happen when the daily scrum end's but the scrum teams has some topics left?
5. Which of the following is a topic for the PO if the sprint is in progress? Update the Sprint burndown chart, Answer questions from the Development Team about items in the current Sprint, Working together with the stakeholder, Provide feedback.

I have some other questions but at first it will help to know the answers to the questions above.

Thank you

1) No, the Dev Team cannot cancel a retrospective.
2) Scrum does not prescribe the format of Sprint Backlog items. The Dev Team wholly own their Sprint Backlog and can have anything in it.
3) None of these are recognized Scrum events, although Sprints and Retrospectives are, and are timeboxed.
4) Those who need to continue planning *after* the daily scrum may do so, but all others are free to leave.
5) All except the first. It is not the responsibility of the PO to update a Sprint burndown, since the PO does not own the Sprint Backlog or the team's plan for translating it into a potentially releasable increment.

HI,

thank you for the fast answer, but I have some questions left to you answers.

1.) same to me.
2.) The possiblilty for the answers not to say, nothing, that is the problem. You can say, one or two of them or any or others if this could be a part of the Sprint backlog. Nothing is forbidden. :-) This is a surprise for me, but the real world. I know.
3.) same to me.
4.) Ähm, good that is not part of the answer. Please imagine that you have two possibilities: timebox could extended temporarily OR timebox holds and the dev.team should learn how to do the topics in 15 minutes.
5.) All others are right ? Like
a.) Answer questions from the Development Team about items in the current Sprint,
b.) Working with the stakeholder
c.) Give feedback?


Thank you

Thank you, I passed the PSM I today. :-)

I felt the PO's job is mainly to get the product backlog into order but I read a post by Ken Schwaber where he's not happy how the PO's role has been reduced to that of 'requirements engineer'. So how does one define the role of the PO? A person who adds value to the product, a liaison between customer and developer?

Thank you, Simon!

Hi,
the role of the PO is summed up briefly as the person who is responsible for the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and the Return on Investment (ROI) of the product. They use the Product Backlog as an instrument to do this.
They focus on ensuring that value is delivered and the product continues to delight the customers.
They are responsible for ensuring the Product Backlog is in a healthy state, and are not the sole author. They work with stakeholders to use the backlog to focus the development teams efforts.

This is a VERY brief summary!

i have a question some change emerges in the product how does it affect the product backlog. what does the product owner do ?

Hi,
All changes in the product should be as a result of the Product Backlog, and visible to everyone (especially the PO as they are ordering the Product Backlog)
The Product Backlog is dynamic, and responding to changes in business conditions, feedback from Stakeholders and customers, and a growing understanding of the Product.
Items on the Backlog may change in order, get more detail, and reflect the growth of the Product.

The SM must forward his request to the HR


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http://www.agiledistributed.com/Agile-development-methodology.html

Posted By alicemenezes on 11 Jul 2013 10:53 AM
The SM must forward his request to the HR


_____________
http://www.agiledistributed.com/Agile-development-methodology.html

Does everyone agree with this answer, it's one of the questions not explicitly answered in the Scrum Guide?

Difficult to know what to say. HR isn't a Scrum role. Scrum would never prescribe a behavior such as the Scrum Master forwarding a request to HR.

It might be a valid course of action for a Scrum Master to take, if the Scrum Team is unable to resolve its own personnel issues/impediments.