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Ceremonies

The single work stream Scrum Master facilitates and guides the Scrum team to ensure that each of the ceremonies is completed within the time-boxed delivery schedule that the team establishes. Each of the ceremonies adds value for the inspect and adapt principle of Agile scrum to continuously improve the delivery of required features. Larger Agile Scrum initiatives include additional ceremonies designed to enhance collaboration across the program or portfolio.

The additional value added ceremonies for larger programs are:
● A scrum of Scrums ceremonies facilitated by the Chief Scrum Master
● A separate sprint facilitated by the Scrum Masters for coordinated release management
● Coordinated risk management ceremonies to address in-depth risks that may create program tension and
● Coordination of product features among the product owners, Chief Product Owner and Chief Scrum Master.

These ceremonies are not time-boxed activities and should be used as working sessions. The Chief Scrum Master continues to facilitate and validate that Agile Scrum principles and methodologies are used. The Chief Scrum Master is also a leader in organizing the teams and keeping the work streams focused on the Definition of Done (DoD) to meet the larger goals of the sponsoring organization.

Team Structure and Roles

Single Agile scrum teams and larger program and portfolio teams display the greatest differences through the structure of the teams and the roles that are required for success.

Team Structure and Roles

Agile Scrum engages the following roles officially:

● Product Owner
● Scrum Master
● Development Team Members.

The 3 mandatory roles are core to the success of the project. There may be non-core roles as defined by an organization. It is important to not blur the lines of responsibility and negatively impact the effectiveness of the team members.

The Scrum Master is responsible for facilitating the activities of the scrum team, working with team members to validate user stories and deliverables and removes any impediments that could negatively affect the work of the Scrum team. The Scrum Master will also teach Agile scrum methodologies and continue an iterative process of improvement when required.

Larger program initiatives will add additional roles. The most common roles that are added are the Chief Product Owner and Chief Scrum Master. Additional product owners and scrum masters are generally included in large programs. These individuals are assigned to specific work streams. In some programs. Scrum teams may be defined by specialized skills. The scrum master facilitating the respective team may also require specialized skills or domain knowledge. 

Team Structure and Roles

A Chief Scrum Master will not only facilitate, teach, and remove impediments at the larger program level but, will also coordinate the efforts of all scrum masters. The Scrum of Scrum ceremonies is the most direct ceremony where this is accomplished. A strong Chief Scrum Master will also be an active communicator seeking out possible risks –technical, process, personnel and changing business priorities. While this role does not manage the people or changes required, the Chief Scrum Master will exhibit the spirit of inspecting and adapting to support the vision of the stakeholder.

The Agile Scrum framework is useful for projects of varying sizes. The focus that a scrum master has with each size of the initiative will vary according to the application of principles, ceremonies utilized and the structure and roles of team members.

Recommended Further Reading

The following materials may assist you in order to get the most out of this course:

Section 2: Using the Agile Manifesto to Deliver Change

Section 3: The 12 Agile Principles

Section 4: The Agile Fundamentals

Section 5: The Declaration of Interdependence

Section 6: Agile Development Frameworks

Section 7: Introduction to Scrum

Section 8: Scrum Projects

Section 9: Scrum Project Roles

Section 10: Meet the Scrum Team

Section 11: Building the Scrum Team

Section 12: Scrum in Projects, Programs & Portfolios

Section 13: How to Manage an Agile Project

Section 14: Leadership Styles

Section 15: The Agile Project Life-cycle

Section 16: Business Justification with Agile

Section 17: Calculating the Benefits With Agile

Section 18: Quality in Agile

Section 19: Acceptance Criteria and the Prioritised Product Backlog

Section 20: Quality Management in Scrum

Section 21: Change in Scrum

Section 22: Integrating Change in Scrum

Section 23: Managing Change in Scrum

Section 24: Risk in Scrum

Section 25: Risk Assessment Techniques

Section 26: Initiating an Agile Project

Section 27: Forming the Scrum Team

Section 28: Epics and Personas

Section 29: Creating the Prioritised Product Backlog

Section 30: Conduct Release Planning

Section 31: The Project Business Case

Section 32: Planning in Scrum

Section 33: Scrum Boards

Section 34: Sprint Planning

Section 35: User Stories

Section 36: User Stories and Tasks

Section 37: The Sprint Backlog

Section 38: Implementation of Scrum

Section 39: The Daily Scrum

Section 40: The Product Backlog

Section 41: Scrum Charts

Section 42: Review and Retrospective

Section 43: Scrum of Scrums

Section 44: Validating a Sprint

Section 45: Retrospective Sprint

Section 46: Releasing the Product

Section 47: Project Retrospective

Section 48: The Communication Plan

Section 49: Formal Business Sign-off

Section 50: Scaling Scrum

Section 51: Stakeholders

Section 52: Programs and Portfolios

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