Scrum Guide 2020 is live!

Three years after its last release Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland have announced the next iteration of The Scrum Guide. What are the key changes? And how can you align your work with the newest guidelines? Marcin Stępniak, 10C Senior Agile Project Manager summarises the key takeaways from the official Launch Event.

It’s been 25 years since the first description of Scrum was officially published.

It’s been 25 years since the first description of Scrum was officially published. Since then, its authors have collaborated with Scrum practitioners to improve and adjust its content to the wide spectrum of industries and work environments which it covers. Based on their feedback the Scrum Guide is adjusted every few years.

So what’s new in Scrum Guide 2020?

• Less is more - The authors continue to condense the guide's content to make it less prescriptive and more broadly applicable to many fields and industries. The current version is just 13 pages, 6 less than the previous one.
• Product Goal - The guide explains what should be achieved by our product - this is defined by the Product Owner. The goal gives the Scrum Team clear direction and helps them to navigate. The Scrum Team can be engaged to deliver only one Product Goal at a time. It can be either fulfilled or abandoned before a new goal is taken on. Importantly, the Product Goal is more than a Product Vision - the vision may be vague while the goal must be specific enough to become a commitment.

The goal gives the Scrum Team clear direction and helps them to navigate.

• Artifacts contain commitments - Each Artifact (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment) has its own commitment. The product backlog is a commitment to achieve the Product Goal, the Sprint Backlog - to achieve the Sprint Goal, the Increment - to fulfill the Definition of Done. According to this structure it becomes clear that you achieve the Increment whenever the team meets the Definition of Done. Once this is completed, you can release, even if it means several releases during the Sprint.
• No more Development Team - The term Development Team was completely removed from the 2020 version of guide. The practice showed that the previous description led to the setup “we” vs. “them” between the Product Owner and the Development Team. Now it’s clearly defined - there is one Scrum Team focused on one Product. The Scrum Team contains Developers, Product Owner(s) and Scrum Master(s).
• Ask “Why?” during your Sprint Planning - On top of the previously required questions “What?” and “How?” the Scrum Team should focus on the reason “Why?” This raises the team's awareness and shifts the desired approach from self-organising to self-management.

Want to learn more? You can do so here.

Looking for an experienced team to bring your digital product to life?

Get in touch for a free consultation on hello@10Clouds.com. Our friendly team will get back to you within one working day!