We do Scrum but…
Scrum — “Our Product Owner pressures us to lower our estimates”
Are you serious? — episode 20
This article is about an anti-pattern that may seem insignificant at the surface, but can tell a lot about how a team -even an organization- works: the Product Owner doubting the Development Team when they estimate an item, even interfering to get a different estimate.
If a Product Owner does this with the aim to determine if the Development Team fully understands the Product Backlog Item, then that’s only good. This interaction can be vital to ensure that everyone is on the same page of what an item entails.
Things start to get problematic when everyone has the same understanding and still the Product Owner -or someone else from outside the Development Team- wishes to see the estimates changed, preferably to reflect less work. This is obviously often requested with the intent to be able to have more items in the Sprint.
This is what the Scrum Guide says about it:
“The Development Team is responsible for all estimates. The Product Owner may influence the Development Team by helping it understand and select trade-offs, but the people who will perform the work make the final estimate.” — SG
This is as clear as it can be. The team that does the work makes the final estimate. This is not a statement in itself. It is part of how Scrum views the Development Team. This is clarified by passages as the following:
“They (the Development Team — WJA) are self-organizing. No one (not even the Scrum Master) tells the Development Team how to turn Product Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionality” — SG
This self organization includes how a team does their estimation. The Development Team decides how they do their work. As a result only the Development Team can estimate items.
“The number of items selected from the Product Backlog for the Sprint is solely up to the Development Team. Only the Development Team can assess what it can accomplish over the upcoming Sprint.” — SG
The Development Team determines what they can pick up in a Sprint. The Scrum Team as a whole is involved in the planning. The Product Owner’s role is to discuss the objective of a Sprint and to bring forward the Product Backlog Items that would help to meet that objective. But the Development Team has the final word on what it can pick up.
Scrum empowers the Development Team to self-determine how to do their work and how much they can do.
When a Development Team is being pressured/persuaded into having a different estimate and the Development Team doesn’t seem to be able to fend it off, the Scrum Master should step in, by coaching the Product Owner and other stakeholders:
“Helping employees and stakeholders understand and enact Scrum and empirical product development” — SG
The Scrum Master should also help the Development Team:
“Coaching the Development Team in self-organization and cross-functionality” — SG
This is essential, one of the most important roles for the Scrum Master in many organizations. The Scrum Master should be the servant leader that empowers the team, for example by clarifying the roles, events and artifacts of Scrum. This is especially essential in environments where this is not fully understood by everyone.
Did you like the article? Then it would be awesome if you’d clap 👏🏻. I am also very keen to learn what you think about this topic.
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