The Scrum Master’s Role to Ensure Effective Sprint Reviews

The Scrum Master at the Events, part 3

This article is part of a series of 4. All articles can be read as separate pieces.

A few weeks ago, someone asked: “Do you have specific info on the role of the Scrum Master for each of the events”? I couldn’t answer him. Because it isn’t straightforward. The Scrum Guide is the obvious source to find your answers. But then the Scrum Master journey only begins.

The Scrum Guide tells us about the accountabilities of the Scrum Master and their role to play in each event. But it is put in such a condensed way. There’s a lot beneath the surface.

My tips will not be a list of activities. Instead, I will give several important insights, coupled with desired outcomes.

Help to understand the purpose of the Scrum Master

Before doing anything that involves helping the team with the Sprint Review, the team should understand the purpose of the Scrum Master and their accountability.

The Scrum Master is:

[…] accountable for establishing Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. They do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory and practice, both within the Scrum Team and the organization. — Scrum Guide 2020

and:

[…] accountable for the Scrum Team’s effectiveness. They do this by enabling the Scrum Team to improve its practices, within the Scrum framework. — Scrum Guide 2020

There’s also a specific expectation involving the events:

[Scrum Masters are] “Ensuring that all Scrum events take place and are positive, productive, and kept within the timebox.” — Scrum Guide 2020

So, the Scrum Master helps others to understand Scrum and enables the team to improve its practices. What is interesting: they should ensure the events are effective in all kinds of ways. They are not necessarily the ones to facilitate or lead Scrum events. That’s important to keep in mind!

Help to understand the purpose of Scrum

I just discussed that a Scrum Master should help everyone to understand Scrum’s theory and practice. I learned over the years these aren’t hollow words. Only when people know why they are working with Scrum, will they be able to understand the “rules of the game” of Scrum.

Just compare it with a game of football, also called soccer. You need to know that this game is about using your feet to get the ball in the goal of the opponent more often than they do this in your goal. You don’t become a great football player by understanding every rule there is. You become a great football player by practising and you don’t even need to know *all* the rules.

Only then, you will be able to explain the purpose of the rules, like why the lines on the pitch exist. Why there are two goals. Why the game has goalkeepers, etcetera.

Many believe that Scrum is a delivery framework. Others simply don’t know why it differs from traditional approaches. Both are setting teams up for failure.

Because the purpose of Scrum is to help “people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.” — Scrum Guide 2020. The Scrum events help to manage complexity. All events have a place to serve this purpose.

It’s the Scrum Master’s job to help the team understand the purpose of Scrum. This is the first thing a Scrum Master needs to have established within the team. And whenever they notice unclarity, it’s up to them to teach, mentor or coach.

Help to understand the purpose of the Sprint Review

When the team knows the purpose of Scrum, the Scrum Master is set to help the team and its stakeholders to understand why the Sprint Review exists. This may seem obvious. It is when the Scrum Team demos the product Increment to the stakeholders and receives feedback. While this is true, there’s much more to it. And that is important to understand.

For starters, the Scrum Team needs to consider the complexity of the product environment. “In complex environments, what will happen is unknown.” — Scrum Guide 2020. This has consequences.

In complex environments, teams don’t know if what they build will bring the value they expect. That’s why Scrum works with goals. Instead of committing to what they produce, the members of the Scrum Team commit to achieving their outcomes, to their goals.

The Scrum Team has the Product Goal as their long-term commitment:

“The Product Goal describes a future state of the product which can serve as a target for the Scrum Team to plan against. […] The Product Goal is the long-term objective for the Scrum Team.”- Scrum Guide 2020"

The Scrum Team enters the Sprint Review with the expectation that they will learn something new. This is the formal event where the Scrum Team and its key stakeholders inspect the progress towards the Product Goal. If they gain new insights to maximize the chances of achieving the Product Goal, the Scrum Team will adapt the Product Backlog.

The Sprint Review is crucial. It is the formal event where the course of the product is decided. A Sprint Review without a Sprint outcome to inspect makes no sense. It shouldn’t be a status meeting. A Sprint Review without the key stakeholders also doesn’t make any sense. Because these stakeholders bring meaning to the event in the first place.

The Scrum Team started the Sprint with a Sprint Goal, a short-term goal that serves as a stepping stone to the Product Goal. They aimed to achieve their goal by creating their product Increment(s), the result of their work. At the Sprint Review, the Scrum Team presents the product Increment(s) to the key stakeholders for inspection.

But that is not all. The Scrum Team and the stakeholders also “[…] review […] what has changed in their environment”- Scrum Guide 2020. This could be anything like:

• changes in the market;
• potential use of the product;
• budget constraints;
• new technologies.

This is vital but often overlooked. The Sprint Review is a place where decisions about the future of the product are made. This could go as far as making decisions to invest more, change the course of the product or even stop investments.

All new insights may impact the decision on what to do next. These new insights are reflected by adapting the Product Backlog to optimize the chances to meet the Product Goal.

Ensure Facilitation

Most Scrum Masters see facilitation as their main activity. But, the Scrum Guide doesn’t mention the facilitation of events as a responsibility for the Scrum Master.

Does this mean that the Scrum Guide doesn’t refer to facilitation in any way? No, it is indirectly mentioned. But not as many would expect. The Scrum Master should be “ensuring that all Scrum events take place and are positive, productive, and kept within the timebox”. — Scrum Guide 2020

The Scrum Master must make certain that the Sprint Review happens as intended. The entire Scrum Team and the key stakeholders are responsible for an effective event. Anyone could do or share the facilitation. But the Scrum Master checks if the team ticks all the boxes:

• The event happens at the end of every Sprint, preferably at the same time and place every Sprint;
• They respect the timebox (4 hours for a monthly Sprint, often shorter for shorter Sprints);
• Product Owner, Developers, Scrum Master and stakeholders take their responsibilities;
• The Scrum Values of commitment, courage, focus, openness and respect are upheld;
• The event should be positive and productive;
• There is a Product Goal to work towards;
• The Sprint outcome (the sum of the product Increments) acts as input for the event;
• The event isn’t a presentation;
• The participants inspect the Sprint outcome;
• The participants inspect changes in the environment;
• The participants discuss the progress toward the Product Goal;
• The Product Backlog is being adapted based on the inspection.

Every environment is different, as is every team. So how to best ensure the above is up to the Scrum Master and the Scrum Team to decide. Which leaves a lot of options to them to find their best way.

It can very well be that the Scrum Team doesn’t have people other than the Scrum Master to properly address all aspects of the Sprint Review. Although one could argue the Product Owner would be a better fit to facilitate the event. The Scrum Master can then be the facilitator.

Wrap up

The Scrum Master is a leader, coach, mentor, and trainer first. It is their job to ensure the team works effectively with Scrum. This all starts with a firm understanding of the framework. When the team knows why Scrum exists, how it applies to them and what the rules have to do with it, the rest will follow.

I am very much opposed to the idea of just starting with the Scrum mechanics without knowing why, with the assumption that knowledge comes by doing. Too many Scrum Teams have followed this path. Without the proper knowledge, events can easily be misunderstood. And then they become a chore, a waste or even counter-productive.

Also, every Scrum Team is different and will use Scrum in a different way. Scrum is a framework after all, not a process. The team needs to find the best way of working with Scrum, which will also evolve over time.

This is why almost every tip in this article is about the WHY. And less about the HOW.