Facilitating Professional Scrum Teams

Foreword by Sam Kaner xix

Foreword by Dave West xxvii

Preface xxxi



Introduction 1

Purpose of This Book 2

Facilitation as a Complementary Practice to Scrum 2

Who Should Read This Book 3

How This Book Is Organized 4

How to Read This Book 5



Chapter 1: Facilitating Alignment 7

The Scrum Team Figuring Out How They Want to Work Together 8

The Scrum Team That Aligns with Its Stakeholders to Deliver Value 16

The Scrum Team Aligning on a Vision 25

Keys to Facilitating Alignment 34

Conclusion 36



Chapter 2: Facilitating Sprint Planning 37

The Scrum Team Struggling to Agree to a Single Sprint Goal 38

The Team Member Who Pushes the Team to Overcommit 46

The Team Members Who Don't Know Where to Start 52

Keys to Facilitating an Effective Sprint Planning 54

Conclusion 58



Chapter 3: Facilitating the Daily Scrum 61

The Daily Scrum Where Everyone Provides a Status Update 62

The Daily Scrum Where Developers Dive into Problem-Solving Mode 67

The Scrum Team Acting as a Group of Individuals 70

Absentees or Late Comers to the Daily Scrum 73

Keys to Facilitating an Effective Daily Scrum 77

Conclusion 81



Chapter 4: Facilitating Team Dynamics 83

The Scrum Team Members Stuck on Their Own Ideas 84

The Scrum Team with Growing Conflict Between Two Team Members 94

The Scrum Team with Weak Decision-Making 107

Keys to Facilitating Team Dynamics 116

Conclusion 118



Chapter 5: Facilitating Product Backlog Refinement 119

The Scrum Team Experimenting with Daily Product Backlog Refinement 120

The Stakeholders Who Want It All 125

When the User Experience Is Forgotten 132

The Scrum Team That Is Obsessed with Estimating 138

Keys to Facilitating Effective Product Backlog Refinement 142

Conclusion 145



Chapter 6: Facilitating the Sprint Review 147

The Sprint Review with Little Stakeholder Participation 148

The Sprint Review Where Nothing Is Done 159

Keys to Facilitating an Effective Sprint Review 164

Conclusion 168



Chapter 7: Facilitating the Sprint Retrospective 171

The Scrum Team Playing the Blame Game 172

The Team Members Who Believe Nothing Will Change 178

The Scrum Team That Thinks There's Nothing Left for Them to Improve 185

The Scrum Team Dealing with a Major Change 192

The Scrum Master Focusing the Retrospective on Fun 201

Keys to Facilitating an Effective Sprint Retrospective 205

Conclusion 209



Chapter 8: Facilitating Beyond a Single Scrum Team 211

The Scrum Teams Whose Members Could Be Sharing Knowledge 212

The Scrum Teams Without a Say on Their Team Membership 215

The Chaotic Customer Review 221

Keys to Facilitating beyond a Single Scrum Team 228

Conclusion 232



Conclusion: Moving Forward 233

Getting Started 234

Watching for Common Facilitation Mistakes 235

Navigating Group Dynamics 237

Improving as a Facilitator 238



Appendix A: Facilitation Principles 239

Participative 239

Purposeful 240

Process 240

Transparency 241

Healthy 242



Appendix B: Adapting for Virtual 243

Communication and Collaboration Tools 244

Consider Having a Cohost 245

Virtual Meeting Etiquette 245

Be Inclusive and Respectful of Individuals' Needs 246

Minimizing Virtual Meeting Fatigue Caused by Cameras Being On 246

Keep Sessions Short 248

Break Down Content and Activities 249

Take Regular Breaks 249

Respect People's Time 249

Create Space for Connection 250

Sharing with the Whole Group 250

Making Decisions Virtually 250

The Power of Silence 251

Take It to the Team! 252

Hybrid Facilitation 252



Appendix C: Facilitation Checklist 253

Preparation 253

Follow-Up 258



Index 259