Scrum is founded on empirical process control, and transparency is one of the three pillars.
During each of the Scrum Events, and throughout the Sprint itself, the Scrum Team and the stakeholders need transparency so there is a common understanding.
Transparency as such is way more than bringing “visibility”. It is about reaching ”a common understanding”.
PS. Remember from earlier posts: I will repeat the above few lines in the coming blog posts: repeating = learning. ;-)
So far in earlier posts I have covered the Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Retrospective and Sprint Review.
What about the Sprint itself?
Note that each of the events is a formal opportunity to inspect and adapt.
This does immediately mean that during the entire Sprint itself there are informal opportunities to do just that.
As such I expect that the common understanding we are looking for in each of the events as covered in earlier posts is also maintained throughout the entire Sprint:
- a common understanding about the Sprint Goal,
- the selected Product Backlog Items,
- the current progress towards the Sprint Goal,
- the work remaining to achieve the Sprint Goal,
- the current state of the product,
- what we want to improve in our ways of working,
- the actions we have planned to improve,
- ...
And if, as a team, we feel this is no longer the case, we take immediate action, be it on the common understanding of the Sprint Goal, the progress towards the Sprint Goal, the state of the Product Increment or the agreed improvement actions. Anything that needs to become more transparent: act. Do not wait.
Summary:
The Scrum Events are formal opportunities to inspect and adapt. Take any other opportunity during the Sprint to raise transparency as needed and to act.
Prompt:
Have a conversation with your team about
- What does Transparency mean to you and your team?
And how do you and your team raise Transparency where it is needed during your entire Sprint; day after day?
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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