Establishing a "Common Language" on a Scrum Team

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Words matter, especially when working in any team setting. Words that are spoken or written by one person can have different meanings when read or heard by another. Scrum Teams have multiple members, which means the interpretation of words used in the team setting increases with each member. The chances of misinterpretation also increases. Shared understanding among members is needed to reduce complexity and provide greater clarity. So the need for a "common language" becomes critical to produce value every Sprint.

Create your own playbook to help your teams and organization develop their "common language". In this Scrum Pulse webinar, Professional Scrum Trainer John Riley  demonstrates some theory and components behind a "common language". Words and phrases become less about jargon and more about shared understanding. You will also see some techniques to use in developing a team's common language, and how this language helps a team create artifacts. Some of these artifacts include Product Goals, team agreements, and Product Backlog Items.