The most discussed topic in the agile circle in the last two days should be the latest version of the scrum guide. I also hope to make an unprofessional interpretation of the new content of the guide through such an article.
Introduction to scrum guide conference
At 11:00 p.m. on November 18, 2020, Beijing time, scrum founder Jeff Sutherland&ken schwaber released the 2020 version of the scrum guide through an online press conference, which is also celebrating the 25th anniversary of scrum (time flies);
Since it is a new version, there must be some changes. I hope my interpretation will be helpful to you. If you want to view the Chinese and English versions of the scrum guide, you can follow the official account to reply to the keyword download:
Reply to the "scrum guide" on the official account homepage to get the original English version
Reply to the "scrum guide Chinese version" on the official account homepage to get the simplified Chinese version
Scrum guide changes
1, scope changes
In the latest version of the scrum guide, the scope of application of scrum is clearly described, and IT industry-related terms are removed, which means that the scope of application of scrum covers non-IT areas, although in actual use, scrum It has been applied to various industries and fields, but this is the first time that the guide clearly states that such changes may accelerate the development of scrum in other industries and fields.
2. Regarding product goals , the concept of product goals is introduced in the new version of the guide. Although the sprint goals and DOD have been described in the previous version, the addition of product goals this time has improved the relationship between the three artifacts of scrum. Clear description and commitment:
For Product Backlog (product backlog), it is Product Goal;
For Sprint Backlog (iteration to-do list), it is Sprint Goal;
For Increment (product increment), it is Definition of Done.
This means that the three artifacts are complementary to each other. When the product increment meets the DOD standard, it means that the sprint Goal is gradually being reached, and it also means that the prodct Goal is one step closer.
And there is such a description in the guide:
This explains a misunderstanding that an iteration is only a R&D rhythm, not a release window. An iteration may produce multiple product increments, or multiple releases can be made in the iteration as needed, that is, "according to the rhythm Development, release on demand" concept.
3. Don’t worry about zombie stand-up meetings. The old version of the guide has a clear description of the stand-up meetings. Three questions need to be communicated at the stand-up meetings: What did I do yesterday? What I plan to do today and whether I have encountered obstacles. At the stand-up, everyone bowed their heads and answered three questions rigidly. It looked like a group of walking dead, numb and lacking vitality, and this description was deleted in the latest guide. , Which means that the constraints on the stand-up meetings are reduced, avoiding the team from falling into an anti-pattern because of these three problems, and expecting the team to communicate in a more relaxed atmosphere. 4. Clarification of team members
I remember that I wrote an article some time ago, which mentioned a problem about many organizations will have a so-called agent (BA/SA/XA) as the communication bridge between PO and Team, which increases the complexity of communication and also makes The PO and the team cannot have the most direct face-to-face communication. The quality needs to be more dependent on the level of the agent. The latest description of the guide also emphasizes the composition of the team members. The roles are very clear, and there should be no so-called agents. exist.
On the other hand, now that the development team in the old version is changed to developers, and to remove the statement about development team, I hope to clarify that there is only one team, so that developers will not be confused about whether it belongs to the scrum team or the development team.
5. Regarding True Leader, do
you still remember that there was the concept of Servant Leader in the old version of the guide, which is what we often say about service-oriented leadership, but in the latest version, you don’t see this word anymore. Instead, it’s True Leader. I think This is more to emphasize that the scrum master should have more leadership. In many organizations, the scrum master who is only responsible for arranging meeting rooms, writing minutes, pouring coffee, and writing reports may not meet the standards required by the official scrum. The scrum master should Have basic soft skills and hard skills, be able to lead the team forward, lead by example, not only can serve the team, but also have certain abilities including Leading, training, coaching, helping and so on.
6. About self-management
If some friends have participated in my sharing activities, they should have an impression. In my sharing and training activities, there will always be a page of PPT describing that many teams have become "unorganized and undisciplined" in the process of self-organization. In the new version of the guide, self-organization is replaced with self-management. The ideal state of self-organization cannot be achieved with a single order. It is more of a "herding sheep" state, and in this process In fact, China needs more basic management constraints and management awareness.
