As a manager, what should you do?

You are a leader who has just joined an agile organization. After several Sprints, you notice that your Scrum Team is distracted by unexpected support requests from other teams during Sprints. You think these requests are the cause of the team never being able to meet its Sprint Goals.

As a manager, what should you do?
A . Define blocked working hours where the team cannot receive requests.
B. Calculate the project deviation and add the necessary sprints to complete the project because of the deviation.
C. Extend the Sprint length so the teams can also attend to the unplanned work and meet the Sprint Goal.
D. Work with the Scrum Team to understand the reason for these requests and find ways to postpone them to the next Sprint Planning or reassign unplanned work to people outside of the Scrum Team.
E. Tell the Team to ignore all requests.
F. Add buffer to the estimates of Product backlog items to include the unplanned work.

View Answer

Answer: D

Explanation:

During the Sprint:

– No changes are made that would endanger the Sprint Goal;

– Quality does not decrease;

– The Product Backlog is refined as needed; and,

– Scope may be clarified and renegotiated with the Product Owner as more is learned.

Those wanting to change the Product Backlog can do so by trying to convince the Product Owner. Therefore, the Product Owner must receive any request, add it to the Product Backlog and evaluate how they would maximize the value. If those changes need to be included in the current Sprint, the Product Owner needs to negotiate the current Scope with the Scrum Team in a way that does not affect the Sprint Goal. Ideally, the Product Owner will wait for the next Sprint and if those requests are valuable, they may suggest them during the Sprint Planning. Other teams may be stakeholders of the Product, but if the requests are not part of the Product Goal and not a responsibility of this team, those requests must be addressed outside of the Team.