Facilitation Techniques & Agile Ceremonies Flashcards

What is the primary purpose of a Sprint Planning ceremony in Scrum?

Answer: To collaboratively define the sprint goal and select backlog items the team commits to delivering

Sprint Planning establishes the sprint goal and allows the team to select and plan the work they forecast completing, creating shared commitment.

An agile coach notices that Daily Scrums in a team consistently run 25-30 minutes instead of the 15-minute timebox. What facilitation intervention is most appropriate?

Answer: Remind the team of the timebox and coach them to use it for synchronization, not problem-solving

Daily Scrums exceeding their timebox usually indicate problem-solving is happening in the meeting; coaching the team to defer detailed discussions and use the meeting for synchronization restores its purpose.

Which facilitation approach best supports psychological safety during a Sprint Retrospective?

Answer: Establish and enforce explicit team agreements at the start of the retrospective

Establishing explicit team agreements (e.g., Vegas Rule, respect, no blame) at the start of a retrospective creates a safe container for honest discussion.

During a Sprint Review, stakeholders are dominating the session by discussing requirements not yet in the backlog. As an agile coach/facilitator, what should you do?

Answer: Acknowledge the new ideas, add them to the parking lot, and redirect to the sprint review agenda

Using a parking lot to capture new ideas respects stakeholder input while keeping the Sprint Review focused on demonstrating completed work and gathering relevant feedback.

What is the 'sailboat' (or 'speed boat') retrospective technique designed to help a team explore?

Answer: What is propelling the team forward (wind/sails) versus what is holding them back (anchors)

The sailboat retrospective uses metaphor to help teams visually identify positive forces (wind filling sails) and impediments (anchors) affecting their performance.

In a large-scale agile environment with multiple teams, which ceremony is specifically designed to synchronize interdependencies across teams?

Answer: Scrum of Scrums

The Scrum of Scrums is a scaled ceremony where representatives from each team coordinate on cross-team dependencies, impediments, and progress.

What does 'affinity mapping' help a team accomplish during an agile facilitation session?

Answer: Organize a large volume of ideas or data points into related thematic clusters collaboratively

Affinity mapping groups related ideas or observations into themes, helping teams make sense of large amounts of data and identify patterns collaboratively.