Basic Terms (Simple Explanations)

Question 1

Burndown Charts

Answer 1

Burndown charts show work remaining over time.

Question 2

Daily Scrum Meeting

Answer 2

A fifteen-minute daily meeting for each team member to report on what they did yesterday, what they plan to do today and impediments hampering their work.

Question 3

Impediments

Answer 3

Anything that prevents a team member from performing work as efficiently as possible.

Question 4

Product Backlog

Answer 4

The features of a system, product or service, e.g., a wish list.

Question 5

Product Backlog Item

Answer 5

A unit of work small enough to be completed by a team in one Sprint iteration. Backlog items are decomposed into one or more tasks.

Question 6

Product Backlog Item Effort

Answer 6

A rough guess concerning how much effort it will take to complete the work.

Question 7

Product Burndown Chart

Answer 7

A “big picture” view of a project’s progress. It shows how much work was left to do at the beginning of each sprint.

Question 8

Product Owner Role

Answer 8

Represents the customer’s interest in prioritizing backlog items.

Question 9

Release

Answer 9

An increment of potentially shippable product from the Scrum team.

Question 10

Release Burndown Chart

Answer 10

The release burndown chart is a “big picture” view of a release’s progress.

Question 11

Scrum Roles

Answer 11

There are three essential roles in any Scrum project: Product Owner, ScrumMaster, Scrum Team

Question 12

ScrumMaster Role

Answer 12

A facilitator for the team and product owner, rather than managing the team, the ScrumMaster works to assist both the team and product owner.

Question 13

Sprint

Answer 13

An iteration of work during which an increment of product functionality is implemented, e.g., two weeks.

Question 14

Sprint Backlog

Answer 14

Defines the work for a sprint, represented by the set of tasks that must be completed to realize the sprint’s goals, and selected set of product backlog items.

Question 15

Sprint Burndown Chart

Answer 15

A visual measurement tool that shows the completed work per day

Question 16

Sprint Goals

Answer 16

Sprint goals are the result of a negotiation between the product owner and the development team. Scrum focuses on goals that result in demonstrable product.

Question 17

Sprint Planning Meeting

Answer 17

The Sprint planning meeting is a negotiation between the team and the product owner about what the team will do during the next sprint.

Question 18

Sprint Retrospective Meeting

Answer 18

The sprint retrospective meeting is held at the end of every sprint after the sprint review meeting. The team and ScrumMaster meet to discuss what went well and what to improve in the next sprint.

Question 19

Sprint Task

Answer 19

A unit of work generally less than 12 hours. Team members volunteer for tasks.

Question 20

Team

Answer 20

A team (or “Scrum team”) is optimally comprised of 7, plus or minus 2 people. It is cross-functional and self-organizes.

Question 21

Team Member

Answer 21

Anyone working on sprint tasks toward the sprint goal.

Question 22

Velocity

Answer 22

How much product backlog effort a team can handle in one sprint.