Which statements are true regarding using Scrum for large-scale product delivery? (choose the best two answers)

Which statements are true regarding using Scrum for large-scale product delivery? (choose the best two answers)

A. Splitting a team member’s time between multiple Scrum Teams is often less productive than focusing that team member on a single team’s Sprint Backlog.

B. Scrum requires all team members work full time on a single team.

C. Changes to the core Scrum framework are needed to be successful with Scrum at large-scale.

D. A well-structured and refined Product Backlog can minimize and often eliminate dependencies between multiple Scrum Teams working together on a product during a Sprint.

View Answer

Answer: AD

Explanation:

The true statements regarding using Scrum for large-scale product delivery are:

A. Splitting a team member’s time between multiple Scrum Teams is often less productive than focusing that team member on a single team’s Sprint Backlog. This statement is true because splitting a team member’s time between multiple teams can cause context switching, communication overhead, coordination challenges, and reduced commitment and accountability. It can also reduce the team’s ability to self-organize and deliver a potentially releasable product increment at the end of each Sprint. Therefore, it is recommended that team members focus on one team’s Sprint Backlog and work as a cross-functional and cohesive unit 1122.

D. A well-structured and refined Product Backlog can minimize and often eliminate dependencies between multiple Scrum Teams working together on a product during a Sprint. This statement is true because a well-structured and refined Product Backlog can help the Product Owner and the Scrum Teams to identify and prioritize the most valuable and feasible work items, and to decompose them into smaller and independent pieces that can be delivered by one or more teams. This can reduce the complexity and risk of integration and dependency management, and increase the flow and quality of value delivery 3344.

The other statements are false for the following reasons:

B. Scrum requires all team members work full time on a single team. This statement is false because Scrum does not prescribe how team members allocate their time or effort. Scrum only defines the roles, events, artifacts, and rules that guide the empirical process of product development. However, as mentioned above, it is often more productive and effective for team members to focus on one team’s Sprint Backlog and avoid splitting their time between multiple teams [5].

C. Changes to the core Scrum framework are needed to be successful with Scrum at large-scale. This statement is false because Scrum is a lightweight and adaptable framework that can be applied to any complex product development context, regardless of the size or scale. Scrum does not need to be changed or modified to be successful at large-scale, but rather scaled up or down according to the needs and goals of the product organization. There are various frameworks and approaches that can help scale Scrum, such as Nexus, LeSS, SAFe, and Scrum@Scale, but they all adhere to the core principles and values of Scrum [6] [7].