Scrum Primer

Question 1

Burn Down

Answer 1

The trend of work remaining across time in a Sprint, a Release, or a Product. The source of the raw data is the Sprint Backlog and the Product Backlog, with work remaining tracked on the vertical axis and the time periods (days of a Sprint, or Sprints) tracked on the horizontal axis.

Question 2

Chicken

Answer 2

Someone who is interested in the project but does not have formal Scrum responsibilities and accountabilities (Team, Product Owner, ScrumMaster).

Question 3

Daily Scrum

Answer 3

A short meeting held daily by each Team during which the Team members inspect their work, synchronize their work and progress and report and impediments to the ScrumMaster for removal. Follow-on meetings to adapt upcoming work to optimize the Sprint may occur after the Daily Scrum meetings.

Question 4

Done

Answer 4

Complete as mutually agreed to by all parties and that conforms to an organization’s standards, conventions, and guidelines. When something is reported as done at the Sprint Review meeting, it must conform to this agreed definition.

Question 5

Estimated Work Remaining (Sprint Backlog items)

Answer 5

The number of hours that a Team member estimates remain to be worked on any task. This estimate is updated at the end of every day when the Sprint Backlog task is worked on. The estimate is the total estimated hours remaining, regardless of the number of people that perform the work.

Question 6

Increment

Answer 6

Product functionality that is developed by the Team during each Sprint that is potentially shippable or of use to the Product Owner’s stakeholders.

Question 7

Increment of Potentially Shippable Product Functionality

Answer 7

A complete slice of the overall product or system that could be used by the Product Owner or stakeholders if they chose to implement it.

Question 8

Sprint

Answer 8

An iteration, or one repeating cycle of similar work, that produces increment of product or system. No longer than one month and usually more than one week. The duration is fixed throughout the overall work and all teams working on the same system or product use the same length cycle.

Question 9

Pig

Answer 9

Someone exercising one of the three Scrum roles (Team, Product Owner, ScrumMaster) who has made a commitment and has the authority to fulfill it.

Question 10

Product Backlog

Answer 10

A prioritized list of requirements with estimated times to turn them into completed product functionality. Estimates are more precise the higher an item is in the Product Backlog priority. The list emerges, changing as business conditions or technology changes.

Question 11

Product Backlog Item

Answer 11

Functional requirements, non-functional requirements, and issues, prioritized in order of importance to the business and dependencies and estimated. The precision of the estimate depends on the priority and granularity of the Product Backlog item, with the highest priority items that may be selected in the next Sprint being very granular and precise.

Question 12

Product Owner

Answer 12

The person responsible for managing the Product Backlog so as to maximize the value of the project. The Product Owner is responsible for representing the interests of everyone with a stake in the project and its resulting product.

Question 13

Scrum

Answer 13

Not an acronym, but mechanisms in the game of rugby for getting an out-of-play ball back into play.

Question 14

ScrumMaster

Answer 14

The person responsible for the Scrum process, its correct implementation, and the maximization of its benefits.

Question 15

Sprint Backlog

Answer 15

A list of tasks that defines a Team’s work for a Sprint. The list emerges during the Sprint. Each task identifies those responsible for doing the work and the estimated amount of work remaining on the task on any given day during the Sprint.

Question 16

Sprint Backlog Task

Answer 16

One of the tasks that the Team or a Team member defines as required to turn committed Product Backlog items into system functionality.

Question 17

Sprint Planning Meeting

Answer 17

A one-day meeting time boxed to eight hours (for a four week Sprint) that initiates every Sprint. The meeting is divided into two four-hour segments, each also time boxed.. During the first four hours the Product Owner presents the highest priority Product Backlog to the team. The Team and Product Owner collaborate to help the Team determine how much Product Backlog it can turn into functionality during the upcoming Sprint. The Team commits to this at the end of the first four hours. During the second four hours of the meeting, the Team plans how it will meet this commitment by designing and then detailing its work as a plan in the Sprint Backlog.

Question 18

Sprint Retrospective meeting

Answer 18

A time boxed three-hour meeting facilitated by the ScrumMaster at which the complete Team discusses the just-concluded Sprint and determines what could be changed that might make the next Sprint more enjoyable or productive.

Question 19

Sprint Review meeting

Answer 19

A time-boxed four hour meeting at the end of every Sprint where the Team collaborates with the Product Owner and stakeholders on what just happened in the Sprint. This usually starts with a demonstration of completed Product Backlog items, a discussion of opportunities, constraints and findings, and a discussion of what might be the best things to do next (potentially resulting in Product Backlog changes). Only completed product functionality can be demonstrated.

Question 20

Stakeholder

Answer 20

Someone with an interest in the outcome of a project, either because they have funded it, will use it, or will be affected by it.

Question 21

Team

Answer 21

A cross-functional group of people that is responsible for managing themselves to develop an increment of product every Sprint.

Question 22

Time box

Answer 22

A period of time that cannot be exceeded and within which an event or meeting occurs. For example, a Daily Scrum meeting is time boxed at fifteen minutes and terminates at the end of fifteen minutes, regardless. For meetings, it might last shorter. For Sprints, it lasts exactly that length.

Question 23

git rebase –interactive

Answer 23

With git rebase –interactive you can squash any number of commits together into a single one. It’s an OCD heaven.