The Latest Version of the Scrum Guide is Here!

Müge İrfanoğlu // Agile Coach - Allianz Türkiye

The Scrum Guide, one of our most critical reference points in our agile organization, has been updated after 3 years.

At Allianz Turkey, we use the Scrum framework for all our tribes and many teams in our agile organization. In determining our way of working, our reference for roles, works and activities is the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. After a 3-year hiatus, these two updated the Scrum Guide in November 2020 as a result of changing needs and feedback.

So what has changed in this update? Let's explain...

1. The Scrum Guide has been simplified. In the text, which was shortened by about 30 percent, it was returned to a less prescriptive and simpler structure without changing the essence of the text. Some parts seem to have been left out on purpose to make the text more focused and less descriptive.
2. There was a change that worked for us: Scrum's framework moved away from being software-oriented and turned into a text that focuses on "Business Agility", covering teams other than software. The wording about software has decreased, the concept of "product" has become more inclusive.
3. Changes in roles:

• The term "Developers" began to be used instead of Development Team. Thus, it refers to not only software developers, but all team members who produce output. Thus, it is aimed to eliminate the team perception within the team.
• It has been added to the guide that the Scrum team should be 10 people or less.
• The definition of "servant leader" for Scrum Masters is removed.  They are now described as the true leader who provides services to the organization.
• Teams are described as "self-managing" to emphasize the importance of autonomy.

4. Changes in events:

• The scope of the Sprint Planning event has been expanded: It aims to answer the What, How and Why questions. For example: Why is this Sprint valuable? What can be accomplished in this Sprint? How will the chosen work be done?
• The 3 questions we answered in the Dailys are no longer in the Scrum Guide 2020. These questions were: What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? Is there an obstacle in my way? But we'll keep using them for a while until we find better questions.

5. Changes made to the Artifacts section:

• What we commit for each artifact is clearly stated in the text.
• Product Goal for Product Backlog
• Sprint Goal for Sprint Backlog
• Definition of Done for Increment

6. The definition of Product Goal comes into our lives with this update. Product Goal is described in the Product Backlog as a long-term goal that shows the Scrum team the future status of the product.

7. There can now be more than one Increment in a sprint.

8. And the definition and purpose of DoD, which you can all say with your eyes closed, has been clarified.

These changes, a brief summary of which we have presented, are not big enough to shake up our system. However, it is clear that we will gradually shape our business model in line with these new principles.

Let's share our additional reading and watching suggestions for those who want to get more detailed information:

Jeff Sutherland, one of the two creators of the Scrum Guide, attended Agile Turkey Summit 2020 as a speaker in November 2020 and also talked about why they are making changes to the Scrum Guide. You can listen to the speech here.

You can reach both the English and Turkish versions of the Scrum Guide 2020 from these addresses.

2020 - English / 2020 - Türkçe 

Final Words: A reminder for those taking the Scrum.org certification exams like PSM1, PSPO1. For exams until January 9, 2021, the 2017 version will be valid. Then the final version of these exams will come into play.

P.S. You can contact us by clicking here to share your experiences and ask questions about the agile working method.