91 thoughts on “Scrum Guide 2020”

  1. Wow, 6 pages shorter than the 2017 version. Will be interesting to see what is removed, or maybe it’s just a smaller font size 😎

    • Scrum works fine remotely now. I have been using Scrum for many years in a distributed environment. Nothing in Scrum says anything about co-location.

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  26. Will you reach out to the translator communities to release in multiple languages or first EN and then adding localisations incrementally?

  30. Looking forward to the latest revison of Scrum Guide. Considering, Scrum Framework is globally adopted agile framework, hope there isn’t drastic changes to core of Scrum Framework. Excited about Scrum Guide becoming Lean and Focused. Thank you Ken and Jeff for the Scrum Framework. Can’t wait more.. Scrum ON!

  31. As Scrum is breaking into new industries and not just IT, the vocabulary of the Scrum Guide also needs to adapt to its audience. I’m assuming the Scrum Guide is adapting so it is easier to apply towards products not relating to IT. I’m really excited to see it, absorb it, and get my Scrum on! I also may be completely wrong and it is much different than what I am anticipating 🙂

    • I’ve heard Jeff say that he was keen to change some of the terminology to emphasize the application of Scrum outside of the domain of software. I’ll be curious to see if this is one of the changes Ken and Jeff have made for the 2020 Scrum Guide update.

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  38. For the Daily Scrum section: Remove the suggested 3 questions. This is a major reason why so many teams turn the Daily Scrum into a status meeting. Instead change to “Today I will (fill in the blank) to help the team accomplish the sprint goal. I need help with (fill in the blank)”. We need more focus on the sprint goal, not reporting status of what the individual team members did yesterday, today, I have no blockers”

    • Let me see… I believe in 2017 we fixed exactly that.
      The Scrum Guide 2017

      “The Development Team uses the Daily Scrum to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and to inspect how progress is trending toward completing the work in the Sprint Backlog. The DailyScrum optimizes the probability that the Development Team will meet the Sprint Goal.”
      “What did I do yesterday that helped the Development Team meet the Sprint Goal? What will I do today to help the Development Team meet the Sprint Goal? Do I see any impediment that prevents me or the Development Team from meeting the Sprint Goal? ”

      Sprint Goal everywhere

      I don’t see that many Development Teams reading the SG anyhow. Scrum Master should help the team to understand Scrum. Pointing the team to the SG might be not a very good tactic.

      • All due respect, the 3 questions pointing to the sprint goal don’t help. It’s still a status driven format and throwing in “sprint goal” doesn’t magically make it impervious to becoming a status meeting.

    • I believe the term “master” refers to more something like (from marriam webster dictionary)
      “a worker or artisan qualified to teach apprentices”
      and not the alternative meaning
      “one having authority over another”

      • I have no doubt that you’re right about that. There are many people that don’t know and may assume otherwise, though. IMHO it’s not obvious to those uninformed. If we know that something can be misinterpreted as something that is offensive, shouldn’t we strive to provide clarity? It reminds me of when Grooming was changed to Refinement, not because it was the wrong name but because the word Grooming has an alternative, unsavoury definition.

    • What if someone feels bad about the word scrum or bed – shall we also stop using these words? I’m not trying to be mean here but the word Master in Scrum Master is as far from any negative conotation as it can be. Also these “many people that don’t know and may assume otherwise” and “those uninformed” should perpaps read about what Scrum Master is before passing judgement.

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  45. @Ken Schwaber, Whether the Professional Scrum Certification exam’s questions are going to change based on the Scrum Guide?

  50. Interesting it would be! In 19 pages also, I have seen people becoming advocate to their own assumption(ex: Artifacts definition, team size etc.) so on) even though it is “guide” and not “law”. I am really curious to know as what points were considered when this was revised.

  51. Only a few weeks left. Food for thought about the changes.

    The Scrum Guide explains the Scrum framework. Am element of framework is that it doesn’t prescribe the “how”.

    Some elements I think could be removed or altered are (without examining the current Scrum Guide):
    – all examples how something can be done (like three questions)
    – removing the part about “what to do with a PBI if Sprint is cancelled”
    – more emphasis on the entrepreneurial mindset of the PO
    – more emphasis on what Facilitate of SM means
    – either remove the DoD or upgrade it to an artifact
    – more emphasis on having a Sprint Goal for Sprint and business goal for Product Backlog
    – remove recommended dev team size
    – remove all recommended. Either make it mandatory or remove it 🙂
    – describe the link of each event more clearly to the Scrum Values and TIA

    Something like this makes sense?

  53. 2009. When there was no Scrum Guide and anyone could call any approach “Scrum.” As i remember, when I left
    Scrum Alliance and founded Scrum.org then i could develop and distribute the first definitive Scrum Guide. Life is good.

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  56. Scrum Guide too Agile and based on empiricism and inspect & adapt. I hope it will be backward compatible. What about the certifications? Do we have to do it again? Is there any changes to PSM certifications too apart from the Scrum Guide changes?

    • No you won’t have to redo certifications. The exams will absolutely change to be compatible with the updated Scrum Guide but it won’t be immediate.

    • Hi @Ken,

      The new Nexus Guide 2021 talks about the integrated increment as singular “The Scrum Teams in a Nexus produce a single Integrated Increment.” while it was mentioned in the new Scrum Guide 2020 and Kanban for Scrum Teams the need of clarification of multiple teams.
      Scrum Guide 2020: “Multiple Increments may be created within a Sprint.”
      Kanban guide for Scrum Teams 2021: “It’s a common misconception that teams can only deliver value once per Sprint.”

      As a scale practitioner I would create and deliver many integrated increments if needed, but I think this is not clear in the new Nexus Guide and will cause more misconceptions.
      Can you clarify if a Nexus can create and deliver many integrated increments per Sprint?

      Thanks,
      Ignacio

  58. What I like before I’ve been reading on word of it is that it is shorter. Stronger focus and eliminated waste. That is real agile and lean spirit. Great and Thank you. I’am very curious.

  59. Hi @kenschwaber, I really like the update to the guide. However, the new scrum definition says: “Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.” That is the only reference to the word “solutions”, while the rest of the guide just refers to the “Product”. Should the definition just say “adaptive product” instead?
    Thank you,
    Ignacio

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  62. Hi Ken,
    Although I like 2020, I am having a trouble to understand these sentences.
    “The Scrum Master is accountable for establishing Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. They do this by helping everyone understand…” Who are they? The Scrum Master is singular. Do you imply they are the Scrum Master and the rest of the Scrum team? This is simple grammar but has too much implication.

    • Hi @Ken,

      The new Nexus Guide 2021 talks about the integrated increment as singular “The Scrum Teams in a Nexus produce a single Integrated Increment.” while it was mentioned in the new Scrum Guide 2020 and Kanban for Scrum Teams the need of clarification of multiple teams.
      Scrum Guide 2020: “Multiple Increments may be created within a Sprint.”
      Kanban guide for Scrum Teams 2021: “It’s a common misconception that teams can only deliver value once per Sprint.”

      As a scale practitioner I would create and deliver many integrated increments if needed, but I think this is not clear in the new Nexus Guide and will cause more misconceptions.
      Can you clarify if a Nexus can create and deliver many integrated increments per Sprint?

      Thanks,
      Ignacio

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  65. Hi Ken,
    I’m reading in the nexus guide 2021 that a scrum master that the Scrum Master in the Nexus Integration Team can be a scrum master for one or more teams.

    my question, in nexus I understood that there is only one scrum master, one product owner and one integration team. but the above sentence tells that in nexus there can be more that one scrum master. is that correct?

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