Project Manager' concerns

If the PM has concerns about progress and money spent, what the Scrum team should do?

I do not believe that this is a Scrum Team concern at all.   

If there is a Project Manager position in your organization with budget and timeline concerns, they should direct such concerns specifically to the Product Owner.   The Development Team and Scrum Master should have no need to be part of such a discussion.

From the Scrum Guide, the Product Owner:

• Is responsible for maximizing the value of the product
• Optimizes the value of the work the Development Team performs
• Ensures that the Product Backlog is visible, transparent, and clear to all

If the PM has concerns about progress and money spent, what the Scrum team should do?

I'd suggest the Scrum Master finds out why the PM has these concerns. It might be, for example, because a project manager has organizational accountabilities which, in Scrum, they should not have. There might be a coaching opportunity for Scrum to be better implemented.

The most common method I've seen is the use of burn-down/burn-up charts.  This can help show features completed since Sprint 1, as well help provide estimates as to when certain other features might be completed based on team cadence and the number/priority of outstanding backlog items.If the Project Manager wants to convert this into an EVA chart, they can do so at their own discretion.  It's not the responsibility of a Scrum team to create PM artifacts.

But I'd also point to Timothy's comment, this is really a conversation for the Product Owner and something that should involve changes to the Product Backlog.  That would be the most painless way to address schedule or budget concerns transparently without trying to directly control/manage the team.

Should they promote transparency by sharing the product backlog?

Yes.  Absolutely yes.  And at the same time, the Scrum Master should coach the Project Manager on how that Product Backlog is used to maximize the value that the Development Team produces.  The Product Owner should coach the Project Manager on how they manage the Product Backlog and their method of ordering to maximize the value the Development Team produces.  The Development Team should coach the Project Manager on how they use the Product Backlog and break down stories into deliverable increments of value in order to maximize the value that they deliver.

If the PM has concerns about progress and money spent, what the Scrum team should do?

How to see progress should fall out of the discussions around the Product Backlog. The Product Owner should also be able to elaborate on the feedback received by the stakeholders on their reception of the increments of value produced by the Development Team.  As for "money spent", that is always going to be a question for any company that is trying to stay in business.  But in agile, the money spent is less about the hours that are worked. It is more about the investment into the customer satisfaction that will in turn increase customer loyalty which in turn leads to better income.  It is a bit harder to measure but there are many places on the web where you can find suggested methods and models for it.  Find some that work for your organization and start coaching on how to use them.

Regarding this question - what is your reccommendation: which 2 options would you choose?

1. Scrum doesn’t have Project Manager so disregard
2. Share the Product Backlog and the forecast for the Sprint
3. Show the Earner Value Analysis for the last 3 Sprints
4. Share the current impediments
5. Share the last stakeholder briefing document prepared by the Product Owner

Regarding this question - which options (2) would you like to choose?

1. Scrum doesn’t have Project Manager so disregard
2. Share the Product Backlog and the forecast for the Sprint
3. Show the Earner Value Analysis for the last 3 Sprints
4. Share the current impediments
5. Share the last stakeholder briefing document prepared by the Product Owner

Ewa - why are two options needed? What is a "stakeholder briefing document"?

What about the above answers does not answer this question?

Well, this is the question I have during PSPO exam - and to be honest I am not sure which answer was correct

I'm not so sure this is from a PSPO open assessment. The wording/structure doesn't seem right - in fact, I'd say the question (which I can't see - I'm confused tbf) and the associated answers come from an external training company (not scrum.org), and I would encourage you to stop using it or have reserves towards its information and practice questions.

Have you used https://www.scrum.org/open-assessments/product-owner-open ?

Dear all,

I had this same question (only minor differences). Anyone has any idea about the answer?

Somehow people are landing here based on some (probably not scrum.org-based) PSPO training program.

This is an old thread talking about a concern that another user brought up. If you have specific training questions that you would like to discuss, please:

1) open a new topic dedicated to your question,

2) actually quote the question with it,

3) and, preferably, explain what thoughts on the question you have yourself, so others know which aspects to coach. Which is much more useful than just supplying the correct answer with the relevant scrum guide quotes :)

I have got the same question in PSPO exam. I think answer is 2 and 4 from the options given by Ewa Rek. 

This is on the PSPO I exam still, and certainly threw me a curve. Pretty sure I also picked 2 and 4 (see Ewa's comment). Definitely had to think outside the "box"

Based on my test (where I've also had this question), I believe the correct options for the answer are:

• Scrum doesn’t have Project Manager so disregard
• Share the Product Backlog and the forecast for the Sprint 

I have got the same question in PSPO exam too, not sure about the correct answer.

I do not remember any question similar to this on my PSPO exam but option 2 and 4 are the only possible options since none of the other options are part of Scrum and option 1 is just plain rude. 



While Scrum does not have a Project Manager role, organizations might. The Scrum value of transparency is to help those outside of the Scrum team understand the work being done by the team. As Product Owner it would be your responsibility to illustrate the reason and effectiveness of the team's efforts.