Book Image

The Professional ScrumMaster's Handbook

By : Stacia Viscardi
Book Image

The Professional ScrumMaster's Handbook

By: Stacia Viscardi

Overview of this book

A natural and difficult tension exists between a project team (supply) and its customer (demand); a professional ScrumMaster relaxes this tension using the Scrum framework so that the team arrives at the best possible outcome."The Professional ScrumMaster's Handbook" is a practical, no-nonsense guide to helping you become an inspiring and effective ScrumMaster known for getting results.This book goes into great detail about why it seems like you're fighting traditional management culture every step of the way. You will explore the three roles of Scrum and how, working in harmony, they can deliver a product in the leanest way possible. You'll understand that even though there is no room for a project manager in Scrum, there are certain “management” aspects you should be familiar with to help you along the way. Getting a team to manage itself and take responsibility is no easy feat; this book will show you how to earn trust by displaying it and inspiring courage in a team every day."The Professional ScrumMaster's Handbook" will challenge you to dig deep within yourself to improve your mindset, practices, and values in order to build and support the very best agile teams.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
The Professional ScrumMaster's Handbook
Credits
Foreword
About the Author
Acknowledgment
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Preparing for sprint planning


If you're new at facilitating meetings, preparation, especially in the beginning, is extensive and burdensome. It will be, simply, trial and error until you figure out what works best for you and your team, in your unique environment. You should be your own worst critic; make observations and notes about what is and isn't working during your meetings, and ask the team members for their feedback as well. Meeting results are directly proportional to your preparation and your overall facilitation experience.

High-octane stories

The product backlog powers sprint planning. Just as engines run more efficiently with high-octane fuel, teams can plan more efficiently with well-prepared product backlog items.

I've found Bill Wake's INVEST acronym to be the best readiness litmus test for PBIs coming into sprint planning. INVEST stands for Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimatable, Small, and Testable:

  • Independent: Stories' boundaries are explicit so that the team can...