Communication task at a Scrum Master interview

Long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away there was a communication task that a Scrum Master had to complete in order to move ahead in the interview process. At this stage all she knew (other than checking out their website) was that the Company uses Scrum and needs a Scrum Master (with a fairly common role description). Here is how it went down, what she was asked to do and how she went about it… Curious to hear what would you do and if you think she was crossing the line by questioning the scenario and the task?

Here is the scenario that was given:

Company: You are working as a SM on a project where end-to-end project team is provided by C: design, engineering, QA and DevOps components. Your team approaches major release deadline and, as a result of mid-iteration assessment, you realize that due to internal C team reasons, release deadline has to be shifted significantly and this impacts marketing and other operational activities by the client which depend on product release date. Further, you understand that there are many unknowns, team velocity became very unpredictable last sprints and the new estimation of a delayed release date is very unreliable — your gut feel is there may be further delays. Task: Please write an email notification to clients explaining the situation and your and your team next steps.

SM: Prior to coming up with any emails I feel that there are too many variables and I have questions that would have to be answered prior to any such action.

“Your team approaches major release deadline and, as a result of mid-iteration assessment, you realize that due to internal C team reasons, release deadline has to be shifted significantly and this impacts marketing and other operational activities by the client which depend on product release date.”

This seems like a story out of a waterfall methodology with agile questions asked. How long are the iterations that we need to have a mid-iteration assessment? As a SM deeply involved with the team I should be fully aware of any potential issues that might arise and it should not come as a surprise after a “mid-iteration assessment”, which is an unfamiliar concept to me at least in Scrum.

Hard release deadline is another concept that is not typically applied in Scrum. Sure, deadlines exist, but so should constant and open communication lines with your client, who is deeply involved and is aware of your progress. Client feedback is essential in Agile to make sure that what we are making is what the client actually wants and that they are always aware of our progress. This is how we stay transparent. (In this case we need to be transparent with marketing and whatever other stakeholders we might have). The point is that there should not be surprises that might impact releases so drastically and catch us off-guard in this manner.

“Further, you understand that there are many unknowns, team velocity became very unpredicted last sprints and the new estimation of a delayed release date is very unreliable — your gut feel is there may be further delays.”

So many red flags pointing out that our system is broken. What are the unknowns and why does SM only now realizes that we have them? How did we bring items in to a sprint and went ahead with it if there are so many unknowns? How were stories estimated if there are unknowns? Where was PO, SM and the team? Is this why the velocity has been all over the place lately? Why have we moved ahead with any work and not resolved the issues that we seem to have? This all sounds like there might be some notion of Scrum without actual Agile mind set and dedication from the team and possibly PO.

“Task: Please write an email notification to clients explaining the situation and your and your team next steps.”

I strongly feel that the Product Owner is the contact point with clients/stakeholders (unless the team can talk to them directly, which would be ideal) and ultimately is the single communication hub. SM and the team will do everything possible to provide PO with updates, answers and whatever help is needed to make sure that we have a smooth delivery and meet everyone’s expectations (that have been clearly presented and agreed upon).

I understand that this might not be the answer you were looking for but I hope that you are looking for someone to assess the situation and question for the sake of continuous improvement.

Company: I understand that such situation might not happen when all the processes are followed and we live in an ideal world. With this task, we want to check communication approach and skills keeping the root cause of the situation a bit aside.

Hope that helps.

SM: Hi there, thank you for your quick response.

You have given me a set of expectations based on which you would like me to come up with a solution. I have raised my concerns with said expectations and was hoping for feedback to help me alleviate them.

I’d like to be clear that from my perspective, this is a two way communication. I am assessing you guys just as much as you are assessing me.

Possibly our understanding of Agile methodology and Scrum framework do not align. Hopefully we are discussing opinions, not people.

Do you feel that you follow Scrum processes?

What about that I have mentioned sounds like an “ideal world” scenario?

Do you have daily scrum meeting that help the team constantly understand the state of the progress? (I suggest you try inviting POs to daily stand-ups purely as observers if there is lack of transparency between the team and PO)

Do you have grooming meetings that help the team understand stories? (This is also a good time for PO to communicate with the team and raise/address concerns).

Do you have estimation meetings? (If you estimate)

Has the team discussed and came up with an action plan to address the fluctuating velocity during their retrospective?

Is there a Product Owner that is the communication hub between the team and the stakeholders?

Is there transparency and it is a big secret what the team does and what is the current development status which results in a huge surprise when some sort of deadlines are not being met?

So many red flags and all I know so far about you guys is that those processes are not being followed and following them seems to be unrealistic (aka “we don’t live in an ideal world”). Are you just transitioning to Agile and want to use Scrum framework?

Would you agree that by identifying underlying issues and expressing my view on this situation you can assess my knowledge level and understanding of Scrum as well as see the communication approach? Is it concerning to you that I am questioning this approach?

As a Scrum Master I am more than happy to help PO and provide any information that he/she needs, given he/she is not aware of what is happening in the team (we lack transparency).

To summarize — I am confident that you can make at least initial assessment of my communication skills as well as my understanding of Scrum and Agile based on this email thread. I have questioned the situation itself, pinpointed troubling areas and made some suggestions to what, in my opinion, more attention needs to be paid.

Please don’t take this as me being confrontational, absolutely not. I just don’t like doing something without clear understanding of why, so I question and hope this in turn makes you question me and yourself. Isn’t that the kind of person you want on your team, someone who can critically look at a situation and provide constructive feedback? I do.