Coach’s Corner

Given the importance of the Scrum values, you should make a point to coach your team on them regularly. Here are two ways you can help your team get more familiar with the Scrum values:

• During your next sprint retrospective, write each value across the top of a whiteboard. Then ask the team to come up with ways that they applied each value during the last sprint. You should also ask how the values were violated. Use the responses to generate a discussion about each value. Over time, this will create a common understanding about how each value applies to the team. If your team is struggling with embracing the Scrum values, you can perform this exercise during every retrospective. If, on the other hand, your team is consistently working well together, you may not need to perform it very often (though you should still do it occasionally, just to keep the values fresh in everyone’s minds.)

• If your team is more action-oriented, you can try framing each Scrum value as a product backlog item in the product backlog. Here is a story format you can use to get you started: “As a __, I want to ____ in order to _____.” Use this format to make these “value stories’’ actionable. For example, “As a Scrum team member, I want to show up on time to Scrum events in order to show my teammates that I respect them.”

When you decide to adopt Scrum, you accept not only the practices but also the Scrum values. Now that you understand them a bit better, you can focus on applying them to your daily activities. Over time, you should see improvements not only in the quality of the product your team is building, but also in how your team members interact with one another.

We’re ready to turn our attention to the various Scrum roles, events, and artifacts. We’re going to start with the product owner, who defines the team’s vision and validates that what the development team delivers is actually what customers and stakeholders want. This role is vital because, without a clear vision, the team will lack direction and won’t understand why they’re building their product. In the next chapter, you’ll learn how commitment and focus help a product owner determine the best direction for a product.