Scrum Values
What should be an appropriate answer to the Question "You are the Scrum Master of a Scrum Team and noticed that they are not been trusted by management. Which Scrum value has been violated by such a lack of trust in the Scrum Team?"
The Scrum Guide says:
"When these values are embodied by the Scrum Team and the people they work with, the empirical Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life building trust."
Hence the Scrum values are all interconnected in building trust, which is something that is earned.
Trust cannot be demanded. Even "because it's in the Scrum Guide" is not an acceptable answer.
It must be earned, and those who are trusted must work hard to avoid losing it.
In your situation, the question is: why doesn't management trust the team?
Of course, it may be that the managers simply don't trust anyone and haven't understood the mindset themselves.
It may also be that the team is not transparent, which is making management uneasy about whether and what business value is being created. In that case, transparency would be the answer.
It may be that the Scrum team is not performing to the best of its ability and is sometimes taking the easy way out. In that case, commitment would be the answer.
Alternatively, suggestions from management may not be taken seriously and perceived as interference, in which case openness would be the answer.
This list could go on and on.
Before you can answer, you need to find out why management does not trust the team!
"You are the Scrum Master of a Scrum Team and noticed that they are not been trusted by management. Which Scrum value has been violated by such a lack of trust in the Scrum Team?"
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This is a very badly written loaded question, shame for the author of such a question.
They should wear a potato sack on their heads for one week. Or sth like that. OK, ~15 minutes is enough.
Scrum Master is a Scrum Project Manager (Schwaber, 2004, Agile Project Management with Scrum). Hence Scrum Master is "by management". There is no Scrum Master and management. Scrum Master is management.
Unless Mr Schwaber or I have some kind of schizophrenia or live in alternate realities, this holds true.
If this is an exam-style question, the most direct answer is Respect. That is lack of trust indicates a lack of respect for the team’s professionalism.
In a real life situation, however, distrust is often a symptom rather than the root cause. It may relate to concerns about the team’s commitment, focus, or openness, or simply to management not trusting Agile ways of working yet.
This is where the Scrum Master and team need to analyse (inspect) the situation objectively: is trust lacking because of team behaviour, or because of outdated command-and-control expectations? Scrum has evolved significantly since early interpretations, and today the Scrum Master is a leader who serves, enabling a self-managing team rather than acting as a project manager. This is an evolution Schwaber himself has acknowledged over time.
If the lack of trust sits within the “Scrum Team,” the focus should be on the team, not Scrum itself.
The real work is building relationships and shared agreements between the team and management, regardless of whether the delivery approach is Scrum, Kanban, or something else. Start by aligning expectations and establishing clear, mutual commitments on both sides.
Trust takes time to build, but if it matters, someone has to take the first step.
but if it matters
Is there an alternative to ‘it matters’?
It is the difference between a job and a career