Published by Addison-Wesley Professional (February 1, 2024) © 2024
Patricia Kong | Glaudia Califano | David SpinksUnlock the true power of collaboration within Scrum Teams and beyond with this practical guide packed with tips, tools, and real-life scenarios to elevate your facilitation skills.
Scrum requires healthy collaboration, not just between the members of the Scrum Team, but also between the Scrum Team and its stakeholders to gather feedback and input. Collaboration is the heart of thriving Scrum Teams, but most available resources on collaboration focus solely on meeting formats and neglect to show how Scrum Teams truly harmonize their efforts and make informed decisions effectively.
This book bridges the gap by not only providing effective facilitation techniques but also delving into the how and why of facilitation--all geared toward improving effectiveness, achieving impactful outcomes, and helping Scrum Teams work through challenges.
- Obtain tools and insights for Scrum Teams to better facilitate team interactions to leverage group diversity.
- Learn from real-world scenarios that illustrate common Scrum Team challenges and how they can be overcome with effective and timely facilitation.
- Discover comprehensive facilitation approaches accompanied with effective guidance on when to use them, how they can be combined, and how they can help to achieve desired outcomes.
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