Skip to main content

Scrum: Basic Queries

Last post 02:52 pm June 29, 2015 by Ian Mitchell
3 replies
03:41 am June 28, 2015

Hi Everyone

I am a newbie here and have been extensively following and reading the Scrum and loving this entire learning experience. Would like to soon write the PSM I Assessment too.

I want to understand this statement mentioned in the Scrum Guide

"Scrum recognizes no titles for Development Team members other than Developer, regardless of the work being performed by the person; there are no exceptions to this rule;"

a. and gain insights as how practical is this for organizations implementing Scrum in Employee Retention, Employee Motivation, Growth of an Employee from a Junior level to a Senior level etc. Are there any realtime Organizational Case Studies available

b. Also would like to get inputs on how exactly skill constraints are handled in the scrum teams since it is specifically mentioned that no external help, not even Scrum Master and Product owner should be involved in Dev Teams functioning.

Thank you



11:27 am June 29, 2015

Self organizing is the heart of the dev team. Having said that the dev team can invite experts if needed to the scrum events. If you relook at the guide you will see a reference to this statement. Moreover the retrospective offers the dev team an opportunity to adapt and improve the definition of done.

Alternatively if you treat the constraints as an impediment the sm can facilitate the removal of the same


12:05 pm June 29, 2015

> So if renegotiating the scope leads to a
> situation where sprint goal cant be attained
> then canceling the sprint may be an optimal option, right? 

No. Scope should be renegotiated in order to make the Sprint Goal *more* achievable. If the Sprint Goal does not appear to be achievable at all, then the best option may be for the Product Owner to cancel the Sprint.

> But your last statement added one more
> query - if sprint is cancelled then wouldnt the
> scrum team get together for a new sprint
> planning where as the last statement says
> the remainder of the sprint timebox can be
> used to deliver as much value. So are you
> saying deliver something other than the
> sprint goal that was initially agreed?

They *might* start a new Sprint if that is the best way to deliver value to the Product Owner. However Sprint cadence would then be compromised. It could be better to make the most of the remaining timebox instead of starting a new one. This could be the case if there is an organizational release cadence to be respected, for example. In that situation the work of many teams may have to be integrated and various team events synchronized. In either case the objective should be to deliver maximum value to the PO.


02:52 pm June 29, 2015

Apologies, my last reply was to the incorrect thread.

> "Scrum recognizes no titles for Development Team members
> other than Developer, regardless of the work being performed
> by the person; there are no exceptions to this rule;"

This above statement in the Guide indicates the importance of deep organizational change when implementing Scrum. Existing roles and their associated responsibilities are likely to need revision, for example. In terms of skill constraints, a Development Team must have all of the capabilities and resources necessary to meet an appropriate Definition of Done. This should be subject to ongoing improvement whereby constraints are identified and challenged.

Scrum is certainly very "practical". However, the degree to which the implementation of the framework is "practical" may depend upon the organizational appetite for change. That in turn can hinge upon the strength of executive sponsorship for new agile ways of working...not just in IT but across the enterprise.


By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.