Scrum Guide 2020 Update

The Scrum framework has been used by many organizations. The processes used in Scrum get updated at certain intervals to keep up with the recent trends in the market and relevant to the software development technologies. Scrum Guide is the direct manual through which professionals and organizations know about all the values, principles, terminologies, artifacts, etc of Scrum. The Guide serves the purpose of informing the latest trends and notifies the organizations about changes in Scrum. The new Scrum Guide was updated on November 18th, 2020. The last update was released three years ago in 2017. There have been many changes in the recent update which every professional should know and should practice while developing the product. Some significant changes in the recent 2020 update are the term “development team” has been replaced by “developers”, the three questions in Daily Scrum have been canceled, and a new concept of “Product Goal” is introduced. The Scrum Guide has become less prescriptive than before and eliminated all the guidelines and complex sentences and made it simple and easy to read. The update has also made the guide shorter as the guide is completely re-written. The Guide is reduced to 13 pages from 19 pages and this article highlights the key changes launched. 
 

Significant Scrum Guide 2020 Changes
 

1. The Three Questions of Daily Scrum is eliminated
 

The three questions of Daily Scrum are what did I do yesterday that help the team meet the Sprint Goal? What will I do today, and what are the impediments I am facing that prevent me from achieving the goal? In 2017 these three questions were made optional and in 2020 they disappeared. The motivation behind that is to keep the framework open and less prescriptive. It means that the “Developers” can propose any structure they want, provided that it focuses on the progress towards the Sprint Goal and produces a plan for the day. As those three questions were not enough to provide a context every day, the creators of Scrum decided that if the Developers can explain the course of their day in general, it would be more fruitful and productive. However, Daily Scrum remains time-boxed and the developers are supposed to say whatever could be solved as soon as possible and which is a high priority need.  
 

2. “Development Team” replaced with “Developers”
 

The Scrum creators aimed to eliminate a team within a team by removing the term development team. They believed that the whole Scrum team should consist of members having an equal hierarchy and should not be differentiated with different labels. The aim of the Scrum Team should be to deliver value and be responsible for the product as a single team. When the Developers are ranked equal to the Product Owner, it gives them the power to challenge the decisions of the PO and decide the best for the product and the customer. The important point is to not create a command-and-follow environment but to create an environment where ideas and discussions are encouraged and the best one is chosen. Also, this prevents a sense of feeling of being in a sub-team for the Developers. The goal is not to get attached to the titles in the team but is to collectively work as a team to achieve a particular goal. 
 

3. Introducing the term “Product Goal”
 

The term “Product Goal” is a new term introduced in the Scrum Guide. It is similar to the Sprint Goal which validates the Sprint Backlog. The Product Goal describes the Product backlog and gives a roadmap or direction to the Scrum Team. The goal helps the team to lead somewhere with Scrum and not practice Scrum for their own sake. The Product Goal helps the team to frame the Sprint Reviews, Sprint Goals and gives a sense of understanding of what the team is doing. The aim is to deal with one Product Goal at a time and avoid focusing on multiple goals simultaneously. The Product Goal is a commitment for the Product Backlog which shows the vision of the product. It gives an idea to team members to explore options or different ways to reach the goal of the product. 
 

4. The Three Commitments
 

In the previous version of the Scrum update, there was a mention of one commitment which was represented by one of the Scrum values. However, in the 2020 version, three commitments are derived from one of the artifacts. These commitments are:
 

• Definition of Done is the commitment for the Increment
• Sprint Goal for the Sprint Backlog
• Product Goal for the Product Backlog
   

These commitments aim to inculcate focus and transparency to each artifact and help to refresh the team member’s memory about the artifact’s value or work. Commitments are necessary for the team to become responsible and accountable. They also help the team members to not follow the command and follow method but stimulate them to challenge the changes. Commitments make the members of the team take up ownership and also guide them to the path they have to reach to make the project successful. 
 

5. Choosing Self-management over Self-organization
 

As there is no separate development team as such, the idea of self-organization by the development team is also eliminated. The Scrum update concentrates on self-management and encourages the entire Scrum team to internally decide the roles of each member. Self-management is an upgrade to self-organization as it not only organizes the work, it also develops a sense of responsibility in the Developers and relieves the burden from managers. The founder goes on to say that management is not entirely the responsibility of the manager. This update helps the members to understand their style of working and discover ways in which they can be productive and time-effective. This helps them improve their skills and in turn increases the business value of the whole organization. 
 

6. Replanning Sprint Planning
 

The Sprint planning had two parts since 2017, which were “the what” and “the how” of the Sprint. In the Scrum update, another part called “the why” of the Sprint is also added. Hence, Sprint Planning has three equally important parts to cover. 
 

• What could be done in the Sprint?- Here the teammates discuss what are the features and User Stories that could be covered in the Sprint. The Developers discuss with the Product Owner and select the items from the Product Backlog and add it to the Sprint Backlog. 
   
• How will the work be chosen to be completed?- The team discusses the ways to complete the items on the Product Backlog and break down the work items on the Sprint Backlog.
   
• Why is the current Sprint valuable- This new section makes a clear statement of why the present Sprint is valuable and how it is going to enhance the value of the product. This also includes an obligatory Sprint Goal which has to be defined by the entire Scrum team before the Sprint Planning finishes. 
   

7. Not a Servant Leader anymore
 

The Scrum Master’s role has a lot of changes and has to be looked at in detail as it affects the job description of the Scrum Master. The word accountable has been included about eight times in the new updated version, out of which the word is used two times to describe the Scrum Master. In contrast, the word appeared only once in the 2017 version, used to describe the role of the Product Owner to be accountable for the Product Backlog. In the 2020 version, the Scrum Master is accountable for establishing Scrum as given in the Scrum Guide, and also accountable for the effectiveness of the Scrum team. The Scrum Masters are the catalysts for the organizational change and need to manage up and down the performance of the Scrum team. 

The term ‘servant leader’ is no longer used to describe the role of Scrum Master as they are the ‘true leaders who serve’ and facilitate change in the organization. Scrum Masters are an important part of the team and not only help the team achieve their goal, but they also lead the team to high performance and are accountable for the productivity and process of the team. The Scrum Master has to talk to the team members and imbibe a sense of mission in them such that they understand the importance of why they are doing a specific process. The Scrum Master inspires the team and takes the blows for the team which makes the team members look up to them and follow them. Another change is that the 2017 version mentions the term “ScrumMaster” without space- ScrumMaster, however, the 2020 version mentions the term “Scrum Master” with space. 
 

8. Language simplified and Scrum open to all, and not only IT
 

The terms such as testing, system, requirement, design, etc have been tossed out of the Scrum Guide as the language of the Scrum Guide is simplified. In IT, the word developer indicates a programmer and not a quality designer or engineer. However, Scrum Guide explains that the term Developer includes everyone who develops an idea that contributes to the product. The language adapted is simply such that Scrum could be used by all the industries and fields. Scrum is not changed as such, but the founders have just found a new way to describe them so that it reaches a bigger audience. Scrum has become clearer, lighter, and more tightly coupled. 
 

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Conclusion
 

The year 2020 has brought major changes to Scrum as there are many updates when compared to the 2017 version of Scrum. The creators of Scrum updated Scrum in a simple language such that it reaches a greater audience and everyone who is involved in Scrum can clearly understand how the process works. The update also had some terms eliminated such as “servant leader” which was previously not interpreted properly by the Scrum Team. When a clear light was shed on the role of Scrum Master, the team now understands what they can expect from a Scrum Master. Breaking the hierarchy in the Scrum Team by addressing the team members as Developers also gives the team members a sense of free will and a creative yet challenging environment for them to thrive.