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29 votes
Accepted

What are developers expected to do during testing in the latter half of each Sprint?

TL; DR Your question embeds some false assumptions about the linear nature of testing within an agile process. A mature agile team with cross-functional skill sets treats development and testing as ...
Todd A. Jacobs's user avatar
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15 votes

Should the Product Owner dictate what info the UI needs to display?

My question is, to what extent should the PO describe the requirements of a UI? To the extent that the designers know what to design and the programmers know what to program. In your example, "as a ...
nvoigt's user avatar
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11 votes

What's expected from different career levels for a Scrum Master?

I think the different levels can relate to the Agile Onion as described by Simon Powers. Entry level: Can implement the tools and processes, but doesn't have a good understanding why the processes, ...
Niels van Reijmersdal's user avatar
10 votes
Accepted

What's the role of a Resource Manager in Agile?

A resource manager as a organiser of day to day productivity has no place on an agile team. We know why they don't belong, it's in your question. They're trying to optimise things that oughtn't to be ...
Nathan Cooper's user avatar
9 votes

Is Scrum Master a "management" position?

TL;DR Is the Scrum Master a "manager" in the traditional business sense of the term? No. However, the Scrum Master does in fact "manage" a number of things within the Scrum Framework. Once you ...
Todd A. Jacobs's user avatar
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9 votes
Accepted

Project Manager cancel or move daily stand-up without notice if he has conflicting meetings

I think the most useful advice can actually be found in the comment on your linked Question. My manager was absolutely shocked to find out that we still had our stand up when he canceled it (a ...
Sarov's user avatar
  • 14.8k
8 votes

What are developers expected to do during testing in the latter half of each Sprint?

They could be doing a number of things. What they should be doing depends on your organization's Scrum/XP maturity but here are some common items: QA work - yes devs can QA, whether thats writing ...
WBW's user avatar
  • 3,932
8 votes

Team member frequently disregards "small" requests

TL;DR You have one or more process problems involving communication and prioritization. You need additional information in order to inspect-and-adapt your team's process in a collaborative and ...
Todd A. Jacobs's user avatar
  • 49.8k
8 votes

How does a Scrum Team handle traditional BA responsibilities?

To answer this effectively, it is important to split roles, job titles, and skills. Scrum has absolutely nothing to say about job titles, so we can actually resolve that fairly quickly by saying: as ...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 16.9k
8 votes

What's the role of a Resource Manager in Agile?

There is no 'Resource Manager' role in Scrum The question that you are quoting has the 'scrum' and 'scrum-master' tags. How do I manage development with testing and get proper reporting in JIRA? So, ...
Ashok Ramachandran's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Can one person be both Scrum Master and Architect at the same time?

Scrum Master and Development Team Roles Can Conflict Is it OK if the Scrum Master and Architect is one person? Presumably the Architect is considered a member of the Development Team. The Scrum ...
Todd A. Jacobs's user avatar
  • 49.8k
7 votes

Can the Scrum Master role directly modify the Sprint Backlog?

The Scrum Master is not part of the Development Team. Your assessment is correct - the term "Scrum Team" refers to the Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development Team. The Development Team includes ...
Thomas Owens's user avatar
  • 18.9k
7 votes

Does a business analyst fit into the Scrum framework?

TL;DR The canonically-correct solution is to put someone with business analysis skills onto the Scrum Team in a Developer role, and then cross-train the whole Scrum Team. Cross-pollination of skills ...
Todd A. Jacobs's user avatar
  • 49.8k
7 votes

What's the role of a Resource Manager in Agile?

If the role of Resource Manager in your organization is seen as maximizing measurable activity instead of produced value, you've got a serious problem. You're going to create more waste by keeping ...
Hans-Martin Mosner's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Should there be junior and senior developers in a Scrum team, or should everyone be a developer?

A Scrum development team is self-organising and avoids the traditional hierarchical roles such as lead developer. The idea is for team members to lead by setting an example and by gaining the respect ...
Barnaby Golden's user avatar
6 votes

Can one person be both Scrum Master and Architect at the same time?

I can speak from some experience, as I'm currently both Scrum Master and development team member (such as an architect, who is 'just' a development team member in Scrum terms). Though often frowned ...
upstream's user avatar
  • 694
6 votes

How to integrate DevOps people into a Scrum Team?

There's no such thing as "DevOps people". DevOps is an organizational culture. Like how Agile brought the business and developers into a close, collaborative relationship, DevOps is about a ...
Thomas Owens's user avatar
  • 18.9k
5 votes

Can Product Owner + Scrum Master (Team/Kanban Lead) provide combined leadership for a team?

TL;DR You are the victim of legacy command-and-control thinking. The roles you describe have responsibilities, but they are not "leaders" of the team in the traditional sense either alone or in ...
Todd A. Jacobs's user avatar
  • 49.8k
5 votes
Accepted

What are the tasks that project manager should NOT do, but delegate instead?

You want to be the most efficient and effective person you can be, but you wear multiple hats. You know you need to give some up...how you decide which hats to give up? 1) Classify your Skills Write ...
mwan's user avatar
  • 866
5 votes
Accepted

Mixing organizational and Scrum roles

TL;DR Companies have many choices in project management frameworks. However, if they choose Scrum, then they have chosen to abide by the framework's methodology. This includes enforcing the Scrum ...
Todd A. Jacobs's user avatar
  • 49.8k
5 votes
Accepted

In an scaled Scrum with multiple teams, who should be responsible for writing automated system tests?

The Scrum Guide states that a Scrum team should have all the skill necessary to deliver a product increment. The idea is that a team will take one or more features and fully implement them by the end ...
Barnaby Golden's user avatar
5 votes

In an scaled Scrum with multiple teams, who should be responsible for writing automated system tests?

Each Scrum Team Tests Its Own Work A lot depends on your scaled framework, but in general the answer will be that each individual Scrum team is responsible for testing its own work. For example, when ...
Todd A. Jacobs's user avatar
  • 49.8k
5 votes

Is Scrum Master a "management" position?

Part of the problem is that "management" is vague. Does it imply formal authority? A reporting relationship? Someone who is responsible for the development of others? Responsible for the success of an ...
yitznewton's user avatar
5 votes
Accepted

What is the difference between the project manager and business analyst role?

They're just different roles. A PM is responsible for guiding the project to successful completion. A Business Analyst is typically responsible for elaborating the solution from concept to ...
DPH's user avatar
  • 489
5 votes

One of our executives wants to play programmer

TL;DR There is a lot more that's structurally wrong with your situation than you think, and based on your tone and framing you yourself appear to be part of the problem. Your company appears to have ...
Todd A. Jacobs's user avatar
  • 49.8k
5 votes

Does a business analyst fit into the Scrum framework?

There are two answers here - the Scrum answer and the my practical answer. In Scrum, there are three "accountabilities" (prior to the November 2020 revision, roles) on a Scrum Team - Scrum ...
Thomas Owens's user avatar
  • 18.9k
5 votes

Does a business analyst fit into the Scrum framework?

I have seen many business analysts work well in Scrum teams. The three biggest challenges for them are typically: Reaching a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities with the Product Owner ...
Barnaby Golden's user avatar
4 votes
Accepted

When does one develop a RASCI?

The RASCI being developed is intended to highlight the support model going forward. From my perspective a RASCI encompasses all aspects of the project including handover. It can do both, or neither. ...
mwan's user avatar
  • 866
4 votes

Tasks of a PM in a Software project?

You answered your own question: ". . . they plan, monitor, delegate, analyse risks, costs, time etc." According to PMBOK, the PM is also in charge of killing the project when it is non-viable (...
MCW's user avatar
  • 8,728
4 votes

What are developers expected to do during testing in the latter half of each Sprint?

"Typically for a team of 3 to 4 developers, there would be 1 QA resource" That's your problem there. There are three roles in Scrum, Product Owner, Scrum Master and Development Team Member. Your ...
Nathan Cooper's user avatar

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