The Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide: Challenges Every Scrum Team Faces and How to Overcome Them
Description
Unlock Scrum success for beginners and experts alike with The Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide , your key to understanding and elevating Scrum practices.
Scrum is simple to understand but difficult to master. As a framework, Scrum is particularly challenging as there is no formal education tailored to these roles and no comprehensive set of practices readily available to those interested in applying it. The Scrum Guide 2020 describes its underlying principles only in the broadest strokes--from applying Scrum to complex adaptive problems to embracing self-management--but the Scrum Guide is not at all prescriptive about how Scrum Teams work.
The Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide compiles the most common challenges that every Scrum Team faces and how to remedy them. Stefan Wolpers uses the Scrum Guide as a template to structure the content, thus supporting the junior practitioners Scrum discovery journey (categorized by roles, events, artifacts, and commitments) while allowing the more experienced reader to use the book to reference individual problems or situations.
- Addresses Scrum anti-patterns for both novices and experienced practitioners
- Offers actionable insights into why Scrum implementations fall short and how to improve
- Covers real-time course corrections and improvements in Scrum practice
Maximize Scrum success with this quick reference to the most common Scrum anti-patterns and how to resolve them.
"Stefan Wolpers has a remarkable ability to highlight underlying traps and issues for stakeholders, teams, and process. Wolpers documents sources of waste and frustration, an amazing compendium of typical ways progress becomes blocked. Depressing! He doesnt leave us there though. He also recommends insightful remedies. Uplifting!"
-- Diana Larsen , speaker, advisor, author, and co-developer of the Agile Fluency ® Model
Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Stefan Wolpers is a Professional Scrum Trainer at Scrum.org, Agile Coach, and Scrum Master, specializing in guiding agile transformations through practices like Scrum, LeSS, Kanban, Lean Startup, and professional product management. Hes a licensed Agile Fluency Team Diagnostic facilitator with a history of senior leadership roles. His agile coaching focuses on scaling product delivery for fast-growing, venture-capital-backed startups as well as transitioning existing teams in established enterprises. Stefan curates the widely-followed "Food for Agile Thought" newsletter, engaging 50,000+ global Agile enthusiasts. He shares insights on Age-of-Product.com, hosts a vibrant Slack community of 18,000+ agile practitioners, and has authored e-books on agile themes, garnering over 100,000 downloads.
Content
Foreword by Dave West xv
Foreword by Janna Bastow xvii
Preface xix
Introduction xxv
Chapter 1. Scrum Master Anti-Patterns 1
Introduction 1
The Scrum Master According to the Scrum Guide 2
Possible Reasons Why Scrum Masters Leave the Path 2
Anti-Patterns from Acting as an Agile (Line) Manager 5
Scrum Master Anti-Patterns by Scrum Events 15
The Sprint Planning 15
The Sprint 17
The Daily Scrum 20
The Retrospective 22
Food for Thought 26
Conclusion 26
Chapter 2. Product Owner Anti-Patterns 29
Introduction 29
The Role of the Product Owner According to the Scrum Guide 30
Product Backlog and Refinement Anti-Patterns 31
Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns 40
Sprint Anti-Patterns 42
Product Owner Anti-Patterns during the Daily Scrum 46
Sprint Review Anti-Patterns 50
Food for Thought 52
Conclusion 52
Chapter 3. Scrum Developer Anti-Patterns 55
Introduction 55
The Role of the Developers in Scrum 56
Developer Anti-Patterns by Scrum Events 56
Sprint Anti-Patterns 56
Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns of the Developers 66
Anti-Patterns during the Daily Scrum 68
Developer Anti-Patterns Concerning the Sprint Review 75
Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns of Developers 76
Anti-Patterns at the Product Backlog Level 77
Food for Thought 81
Conclusion 81
Chapter 4. Scrum Stakeholder Anti-Patterns 83
Introduction 83
Common Scrum Stakeholder Anti-Patterns 84
Scrum Stakeholder Anti-Patterns at the Organizational Level 84
Sprint Anti-Patterns of the IT Management 96
Incentivized Scrum Stakeholder Anti-Patterns 98
Stakeholder Anti-Patterns at Scrum Event Level 104
Product Backlog and Refinement Anti-Patterns 105
The Daily Scrum 105
Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns of Stakeholders 106
The Sprint Review 106
The Sprint Retrospective 107
Food for Thought 108
Conclusion 108
Chapter 5. Sprint Anti-Patterns 109
Introduction 109
The Purpose of the Sprint 109
Sprint Anti-Patterns 111
Sprint Anti-Patterns of the Product Owner 111
Sprint Anti-Patterns of the Developers 112
Sprint Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Master 113
Sprint Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Team 113
Sprint Anti-Patterns of the IT Management 118
Sprint Review Anti-Patterns of Stakeholders 121
Food for Thought 123
Conclusion 124
Chapter 6. Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns 125
Introduction 125
Preparing the Sprint Planning 127
Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns 127
Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns of the Developers 127
Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns of the Product Owner 132
Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Team 134
Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Master 138
Food for Thought 139
Conclusion 140
Chapter 7. Daily Scrum Anti-Patterns 141
Introduction 141
The Purpose of the Daily Scrum According to the Scrum Guide 142
Daily Scrum Anti-Patterns 143
Daily Scrum Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Team 143
Daily Scrum Anti-Patterns of the Developers 146
Daily Scrum Anti-Patterns of the Product Owner 150
Daily Scrum Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Master 150
Daily Scrum Anti-Patterns of the Stakeholders 151
Food for Thought 154
Conclusion 155
Chapter 8. Sprint Review Anti-Patterns 157
Introduction 157
The Scrum Guide on the Sprint Review 158
Sprint Review Anti-Patterns 159
Sprint Review Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Team 159
Sprint Review Anti-Patterns of the Product Owner 162
Sprint Review Anti-Patterns of the Developers 165
Sprint Review Anti-Patterns of the Stakeholders 167
Food for Thought 174
Conclusion 175
Chapter 9. Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns 177
Introduction 177
The Scrum Guide on the Sprint Retrospective 178
Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns 179
Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Team 179
Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Master 187
Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns of the Organization 191
Food for Thought 194
Conclusion 195
Chapter 10. Product Backlog and Refinement Anti-Patterns 197
Introduction 197
The Product Backlog According to the Scrum Guide 198
Common Product Backlog Anti-Patterns 200
General Product Backlog Anti-Patterns 200
Product Backlog Anti-Patterns of the Product Owner 207
Product Backlog Anti-Patterns of the Developers 209
Product Backlog Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Team 211
Food for Thought 212
Conclusion 213
Chapter 11. Sprint Backlog Anti-Patterns 215
Introduction 215
Sprint Backlog Anti-Patterns 216
Sprint Backlog Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Team 217
Sprint Backlog Anti-Patterns of the Developers 220
Sprint Backlog Anti-Patterns of the Product Owner 225
Food for Thought 228
Conclusion 228
Chapter 12. Increment Anti-Patterns 229
Introduction 229
The Purpose of the Increment According to the Scrum Guide 230
Increment Anti-Patterns 231
Increment Anti-Patterns by the Scrum Team 231
Increment Anti-Patterns of the Stakeholders or the Organization 240
Food for Thought 242
Conclusion 242
Chapter 13. Product Goal Anti-Patterns 245
Introduction 245
The Purpose of the Product Goal According to the Scrum Guide 246
Product Goal Anti-Patterns 247
Product Goal Anti-Patterns of the Product Owner 247
Product Goal Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Team 251
Product Goal Anti-Patterns of the Organization 254
Food for Thought 257
Conclusion 257
Chapter 14. Sprint Goal Anti-Patterns 259
Introduction 259
How to Create Sprint Goals 260
Sprint Goal Anti-Patterns 261
Sprint Goal Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Team 262
Sprint Goal Anti-Patterns Induced by the Organization 267
Sprint Goal Anti-Patterns by the Developers 269
Sprint Goal Anti-Patterns by the Product Owner 271
Food for Thought 272
Conclusion 272
Chapter 15. Definition of Done Anti-Patterns 273
Introduction 273
Creating a Successful Definition of Done 275
Definition of Done Anti-Patterns 277
Definition of Done Anti-Patterns of the Developers 278
Definition of Done Anti-Patterns of the Scrum Team 281
Definition of Done Anti-Patterns of the Organization 289
Definition of Done Anti-Patterns of the Product Owner 290
Food for Thought 291
Conclusion 291
Appendix A. How to Sabotage Scrum Masters and Product Owners at an Organizational Level 293
Appendix B. Toolbox 305
Index 369