Already back in 2007, I was a scrummaster of what was then called one large team, with four subteams (I would now call it four teams) I started using Scrum of Scrums to enhance the communication between these (sub) teams. Much in the same way that a standup enhanced communication in one team.
Rule one of a standup and thus also SOS: always do the SOS at the same place and time, never ever change the time. Having a fixed time, creates a habit and helps people to value it. If you change the time because of another meeting, you tell everyone, you don’t value a SOS yourself.
F ex I once worked with different teams work in different places of a building. (Part of the problem) This had as an effect that the SoS always started late.
One team member took charge and started to gather everyone at the start.
Although it only removed a symptom, it worked.
(I support idea’s from teams to encourage them to come up with more idea’s.)
And then that person moved to another part of the company. (For reasons not related to the SoS)
Now the SoS started even later. I once waited longer than the time it took to hold the SoS.
The next one I canceled after waiting for 5 minutes.
I had a mail in my drafts for a few weeks explaining What is a Scrum of Scrum etc…
I did not send it as I did not like the patronizing message it would send.
I do not like mail, yet because of the distributed way of teams, mail was a good way to distribute the message.
Than a team member send a remark about the SoS. That triggered some questions in me.
And then I realized I had been planning to create a large agile quiz, to use with this team. And I had been postponing it.
Combining two challenges into one solution, I created a small quiz about Scrum of Scrums.
This is the quiz. (multiple answers possible)
Please answer in the comments. I will publish my answers later, together with a few links.
The idea is to create discussions.
What is the purpose of a Scrum Of Scrums
A) Allows clusters of teams to discuss their work
B) Informing other teams what is slowing your team down
C) Informing other teams about team decisions
D) Report progress to management about the project
E) Give management time & place to put pressure on the teams
F) Inform other teams when you will be put something in their way
Who attends the Scrum Of Scrums
A) Scrum master of every team
B) All team members of every team
C) One designated person of every team
D) A rotating role within every team
E) Product Owner of every team
F) R & D manager
What is for you the purpose of a standup:
A) Report to management
B) Inform your co-workers what you are working on
C) Ask for help when you are stuck
D) Take decisions on issues
E) Know what your co-workers are working on
F) Have a time to chat with eachother
What is the role of a ScrumMaster
A) The manager of the team
B) Teaches the teams about agile (scrum)
C) The secretary of the team
D) Removes impediments for the team
E) Facilitates meetings
F) Is responsible for teams commitments
I plan to publish one small quiz about every week called Agile Thursday Quiz
9 comments on “Agile Thursday Quiz: Scrum Of Scrum”
Yves
there are a few mistakes in the answers. 1 F is really hard to understand (though I can guess what you want to say with it)
1 B should be: Informing other teams what slowing your team down
3 D should be: Take decisions on issues
And here are my answers:
1: B, C, F
2: A, C, D, E But not neccessarily all of them 😉 There are good reasons why the POs of the teams should speak to each other. Same is true for Scrum Masters. Let them coordinate on impediment removal for example. To coordinate the work between the teams I think it would be best to have people from the team as representatives. And while this could always be the same person I like the idea of rotating this role within the team. It creates a stronger bond between the teams because different people are interacting from sprint to sprint.
3: B, C, D, E
4: B, D, E
Waiting impatiently to see your answers 😉
Hi Irene,
I fixed the 2 errors. (I guessed what you ment with 1B as you wrote the same thing as I did…)
I will publish my answers next monday…
I understand your answer for 2, but I think that for some people we have other things then a ScrumOfScrums.
y
I’ve never had any Scrum training, but based on my experience on Scrum teams I will try to answer…
1. B ( would think it can be others too, but the only Scrum of Scrums I was on, it was impediments only).
2. A
3. B, C, E
4 D, E, potentially B
My answers below:
1 B, C, F
2 A (but would be also to have C)
3 B C D E (ad E actually you should already know what they are doing… but…)
4 B D E (sometimes C if that’s an impediment 😉 )
1. B (A,C, F if team structure is not optimal for Scrum (i.e. lots of dependencies))
2. C or D or a mix of them
3. B,C, E
4. B and E as needed (others can pitch in too), facilitating D (not doing all the work himself)
1)F 2)AE 3)BE 4)DEF
1.B, C, F
2 D or C depending on the team
3. B, C, E
4. D, E – and is the sheperd of scrum not sure if that is the same as B 🙂