Agile Auditing. Raven Catlin
steps taken, and the way Scrum is used should reinforce these values, not diminish or undermine them… . When these values are embodied by the Scrum Team and the people they work with, the empirical Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life building trust” (Schwaber and Sutherland 2020).
1 Commitment
2 Courage
3 Focus
4 Openness
5 Respect
The three pillars of the Scrum framework (transparency, inspection, adaptation) facilitate collaborative work environments and the five values (commitment, courage, focus, openness, respect) give direction to the Scrum Team with regard to their work, actions, and behavior. When these five values are embodied by the Scrum Team and the people they work with, the Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life building trust.
(Schwaber and Sutherland 2020)
Each Team Member must demonstrate these pillars and values in the execution of their roles during the project.
Scrum/Agile Roles
In Scrum project management, there are only three recognized roles: one Scrum Master, one Product Owner, and various Developers. (The 2020 Scrum Guide explains that “Developer” does not mean software developers exclusively; it is intended to be an inclusive term. It refers to the members of the Scrum Team who are doing the work or developing the product. In this book we refer to a “Developer” as a “Delivery Team Member,” which we have found more acceptable and more in alignment with audit terminology.) Collectively, those serving in these three roles create the Agile team (the equivalent to a Scrum Team). The Agile team members are self‐organizing, to ensure the best complement of skills, knowledge, and capabilities, and self‐managing, to increase accountability and workability of the team without the need for a manager, or, worse, a micromanager. There are no subteams or hierarchies. The team is a cohesive unit of professionals focused on one objective at a time, the Product Goal. The Agile team has total authority on the exact approach to get their work done, estimate how long work will take, create their schedule, and manage their own time. The Agile team is small enough to remain nimble and large enough to complete significant work within a Sprint. Most Agile teams have three to nine members. The Agile team is accountable for all aspects of the work (Rigby, Sutherland, and Takeuchi 2016). Following is a brief description of each role.
Product Owner
The Product Owner owns the “what” of the project. They create a prioritized list of all the things to need to get done (Product Backlog). The Product Owner maximizes the value of the product being delivered (the audit). The Product Owner determines the priorities for Agile teams and decides when a product is complete by assessing value from the customer's perspective. In some Agile variants, the Product Owner is referred to as the “initiative owner” (Rigby, Sutherland, and Takeuchi 2016). The Product Owner is not typically the customer, but someone who represents the customer's interest, voice, and mindset during the project. The Product Owner must have the Agile mindset; this is a critical role. Agile Teams cannot select just any manager to serve as the Product Owner in the same way managers are currently selected to manage traditional teams and projects. Even if one is a highly competent manager, that does not mean they have the right mindset and skills to be a successful Product Owner. Choosing the right Product Owner is as important as selecting an Agile framework. In the words of J.J. Sutherland, “if you keep doing things the way you have always done you will get the results you always got before. Good Product Owners are the key to winning with Scrum” (Sutherland 2019).
The Product Owner must understand the customer and the customer's needs. The Product Owner owns the Product Backlog (also known as a “portfolio backlog”), which is a list of requirements and deliverables for a project. The Product Owner works directly with the business community, stakeholders, customers, and users to obtain an understanding of the community and user needs. “For Product Owners to succeed, the entire organization must respect their decisions. These decisions are visible in the content and ordering of the Product Backlog, and through the inspectable Increment at the Sprint Review” (Schwaber and Sutherland 2020). The Product Owner prioritizes the Product Backlog list (see Chapter 8, Implementing Agile Auditing: The Audit Planning Process for more details on Product Backlogs).
Scrum Master
The Scrum Master owns the process and is held accountable for enhancing team performance. The 2020 update to the Scrum Guide elevates the role of the Scrum Master from a servant leader to that of a true leader who serves the Scrum Team and the larger organization (Schwaber and Sutherland 2020). In the 2020 Guide, the switching around of the words from a “servant leader” to “a leader who serves” is intended to recognize that the Scrum Master helps focus on the leadership role of the Scrum Master to help achieve the project goals. The Scrum Master is accountable for the Scrum Team's effectiveness by enabling the Scrum Team to improve its practices, within the Scrum framework. Nonetheless, the Scrum Master is not a boss, a project manager, or a decision‐maker. The Scrum Master is a coach, facilitator, and an Agile champion. The Scrum Master is accountable for the Agile team happiness and why this is important. They remind the Agile team members of the benefits and value of the Agile approach whenever needed and encourage the right behaviors from the team members. For example, the Scrum Master may remind team members to be honest and transparent in their communications. The Scrum Master facilitates all meetings, including daily meetings. They coach the Agile team members in self‐management and cross‐functionality; help the team focus on creating high‐value increments that meet the Definition of Done; and facilitate the removal of impediments or roadblocks and obstacles to help the team progress and remain efficient in completing Sprints, ensuring that all Scrum events take place and are positive, productive, and kept within the timebox. A Sprint is a short, timebound cycle within which team members complete an increment of work to deliver products the customer needs based on whatever is most important to the customer at the time.
Delivery Team (Developers)
The Delivery Team Members own the “how.” They complete product tasks during Sprints. They are the individuals in the Agile team who are committed to creating any aspect of a usable Increment in each Sprint. They create a Sprint Backlog, a specific, focused list of tasks determined by the Delivery Team to complete an increment that guides their Sprint/increment work. An increment is a product deliverable, usually a small portion of the overall product. The Sprint Backlog is a specific, focused list of tasks determined by the Delivery Team Members to complete an increment. The team has total authority on the exact approach to get their work done, estimate how long work will take, create their schedule, and manage their own time. They are a cross‐functional, self‐managing group of autonomous individuals collectively possessing all the skills necessary to complete the Sprint backlog. In Scrum, Developers can be business developers, user experience researchers, customer experience specialists, mechanical engineers, lab technicians, doctors, nurses, carpenters, marketers, researchers, scientists, quality assurance specialists, and more.
We will review these roles, responsibilities, and options throughout the book. In Chapter 7, Implementing Agile Auditing: Deciding Your Approach and Your Agile Audit Project Roles, we will address the different roles of Product Backlog in an auditing context. In Chapter 9, Implementing Agile Auditing: Planning Agile Audit Engagements, we will apply Scrum concepts in an audit context, including the Product Owner, Scrum Master, Delivery Team, documents, and activities. Remember, Agile and Scrum are frameworks, and adaptations are expected; some Scrum implementations include additional roles.
Scrum