Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I)People & TeamsMedium
A Scrum Team has been consistently struggling with Sprint Planning, often overcommitting and failing to deliver the forecasted work. The Scrum Master observes that the Developers are reluctant to challenge the Product Owner's ambitious goals. What is the most appropriate initial action for the Scrum Master to take to support the team in becoming more self-managing in this context?
- AReport the Developers' reluctance to management, asking them to enforce better commitment from the team.
- BMandate that the Product Owner reduce the number of items proposed for the Sprint to a more realistic level.
- CFacilitate a discussion during Sprint Planning to help Developers understand their right to negotiate and refine the Sprint Goal.
- DTake over the role of creating the Sprint Goal and selecting Product Backlog Items for the Developers.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Facilitate a discussion during Sprint Planning to help Developers understand their right to negotiate and refine the Sprint Goal.
Self-managing teams make their own decisions about how to accomplish the work. The Scrum Master's role is to guide them towards this autonomy, not to dictate or solve problems for them. Facilitating a discussion empowers the Developers to take ownership of their commitments.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. This undermines trust within the team and is an escalation that avoids fostering self-management.
- B. This dictates a solution rather than empowering the team to make their own decisions and negotiate.
- D. This removes self-management from the Developers and is contrary to the Scrum Master's role.
Self-managing Teams (Scrum)
Self-managing teams in Scrum choose how best to accomplish their work, rather than being directed by others outside the team. They decide who does what, when, and how, focusing on achieving the Sprint Goal.
- Responsible for planning, executing, and inspecting their work.
- Decide on the best way to achieve the Sprint Goal.
- Empowered to make decisions within their accountability.
Memory trick: Give them the rudder, not the destination for 'self-management'.