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PSM Question doubt

Last post 01:01 pm January 1, 2020 by Lars Devocht
6 replies
07:20 pm November 27, 2016

Hi, I am preparing for Scrum Master accreditation and found this question which I am not sue about the answer.

"A Scrum Master has a list of open impediments which is growing without proper resolutions. The Scrum Master consults with the Development Team on the problem. Is it right?.Answers: A. Yes B. No"

I am not sure if the answer should be No, as Dev Team should be self organised and maybe it should be the other way around, Dev Team ask Scrum Master.
What do you think about it? Could anyone help on this?

Thanks


05:00 pm November 30, 2016

A significant part of the Scrum Master's role is to remove impediments facing the Development Team. It isn't clear to me what the second sentence of the question implies, but whatever is needed to clear the impediments must be done, and it is the SM who leads that effort. If he or she needs to consult more with the Development Team in order to understand the impediments (or if they have involvement in clearing the impediment), then consulting with them is appropriate. However, the fact that the SM has a list that "is growing" suggests that the SM isn't keeping up with the responsibilities of the role.


05:47 pm November 30, 2016

> I am not sure if the answer should be No, as Dev Team should be self organised...

It's reasonable for a Scrum Master to collaborate with the team on removing *any* impediments that affect their ability to meet the Sprint Goal, irrespective of how many there are, or whether or not the list is growing.


09:07 am December 1, 2016

Agreed with Ian's explanation. Key here is the collaboration, SM must consult with dev team on them. If they are related to development team's "work" they must be responsible to solve them and self-organise to clear or minimize this backlog, if they are organizational (out of dev domain or team) SM can solve them without consulting the team but keeping it updated.


09:48 am December 2, 2016


Another thing - if Scrum Master has a LIST of open impediments then how does he know which one he should pick up first. It makes sense for him to consult the Dev team, get them prioritized and work accordingly.


08:55 am January 1, 2020

The Internet is full of BADLY WORDED questions on PSM1 laying around and this one is of them. 

The word which is confusing over here is "CONSULTING" which suggests that

1. Scrum Master must take advise (consult) from Dev team on resolving impediments 

From the perspective of collaboration? Seems legit.

However, this is not what is mentioned in the precept of Scrum Guide. 

Scrum Master service to development team: Removing impediments to the Development Team's progress

Which suggest SM DOES work on resolving impediments. 

 This ambiguity must be removed from question. Then can determine the right answer. 

 


01:01 pm January 1, 2020

Words are essential in the Professional Scrum context. This seems a case as in “the PO dictates the Sprint Goal”. Dictating is a command-and-control way of working.

My idea is that the real question is about “common language” and mindset. Consulting is not Scrum language nor a Scrum mindset. Coaching and facilitating are.

What do you think ?


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