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QA in Squad

Last post 03:51 pm September 23, 2019 by Ian Mitchell
4 replies
UILSON CLAUDIO FILHO
02:00 am September 21, 2019

I would like to know how I can introduce a QA in my sprint scrum. Because this QA is not multidisciplinary and I end up leaving my squad in cascade mode. Would anyone have any suggestions?

Steve Matthew
05:17 pm September 21, 2019

Could you elaborate what you mean by your QA is not multidisciplinary? and, what is stopping you from adding this QA to your team?

Thomas Owens
07:54 pm September 21, 2019

I'm not sure I fully understand your current and desired future state.

Consider that a cross-functional team is one that has all of the necessary skills that are necessary to create a Done Increment at the end of every Sprint. Each individual having more skills to do a broader variety of work well is better since it reduces bottlenecks on the team, it's fine for people to have expertise and strengths in certain areas, as long as you're aware of risks associated with this and are working to highlight or mitigate them as the team works.

Daniel Wilhite
03:28 pm September 23, 2019

Multidisciplinary and cross functional are two completely different things.  And in the case of Scrum, the Scrum Team is cross functional not the people. For example, the Product Owner and Scrum Master are part of the Scrum Team but they are likely not to have any development skills.  The goal is to have a team of people where every skill needed to produce the work necessary for the product is represented in some form or fashion. 

Before I give you my suggestions I am going to ask why the QA is not considered part of the team?  Is their skill set seen as needed and necessary by the rest of the team? 

Would anyone have any suggestion?

  1. Ask the Scrum Team the question you asked us and let them decide.
  2. The Scrum Team starts to include this individual as a team member.  The individual starts to contribute to the team's work and goals by using their skill sets to benefit the team.  

Remember that as a Scrum Master you do not tell people what to do.  You facilitate the team in arriving at their own conclusions. 

Ian Mitchell
03:51 pm September 23, 2019

I would like to know how I can introduce a QA in my sprint scrum. Because this QA is not multidisciplinary and I end up leaving my squad in cascade mode. Would anyone have any suggestions?

Is "cascade mode" something which the team -- including the QA -- recognize to be a problem?

If so, do they acknowledge the need to resolve it themselves?

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