Coach’s Corner

During a sprint, have team members notice activities arising that aren’t Scrum events, such as extra meetings, delays, interruptions, blockers, and impediments. As these activities occur, have the team write them on sticky notes and place them in a common area. The goal is to capture as many of these activities as possible.

At the end of the sprint, preferably in the sprint retrospective, have the team sort the resulting sticky notes using the MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Won’t) method:

• Must continue - things that absolutely need to continue, or the success of the product will be threatened.

• Should continue - things that should continue and which might affect the product (negatively or positively).

• Could continue - things that we could keep doing, but that don’t affect the product.

• Won’t continue - things that are a waste and that we shouldn’t continue.

Once the sticky notes are sorted, have the team step back and consider what stood out from the activity. Ask them these questions:

• Is there anything that should be moved? If so, why should it be moved?

• Were there any major disagreements? If so, what do we do about them?

• Can we optimize the “must continue” activities?

• For the “should” and “could” activities, should any of them move to “must” or “won’t”?

• Are most of our activities in the “must” column? Are they truly things that we must continue or do we just feel like they are?

• How do we stop doing the “won’t continue” activities?

• Were there any hard decisions?

• Based on this exercise, what are the one or two items that we are going to implement in the next sprint?

• When should we revisit this list?

In the next chapter we’ll discuss sprint planning—the first Scrum event in a sprint. An effective sprint planning sets the tone for a sprint. As the Scrum master, it’s important that you have an intimate understanding of the do’s and don’ts of this event.