Scrum Values

 Like a building constructed with stones, cement, pillars, and iron, Scrum is a framework built on values, events, roles, and artifacts. 

What are values?

Values are considered a principle or standards on which something is built. You can change the building however you want, but you cannot change the foundation in which it is standing. Values are the same. If Scrum is the framework, then the values are its foundation. 

There are five values in Scrum, and they are Courage, Focus, Commitment, Respect, and Openness. Let us see each of them in detail. 

Courage

Courage is something that someone stands up to what they believe. Teams are empowered and enabled in Scrum. Team members show courage in so many things. 

• If teams realize that they are developing a PBI, which does not make sense to the customer/users, they will stop building it further and reason with the Product Owner to get it right. 
• The team decides how to develop a PBI, and nobody can tell them how to come up with an increment.  
• Teams decide not to deliver a PBI if the PBI doesn't meet their DoD.
• They show courage in re-negotiating things with the Product Owner.
• They discuss tough things that make them uncomfortable in retrospectives to bring the necessary change. 
• They show courage by admitting that failure is a faster way to learn, grow, and adapt.

Focus

There will be distractions when it comes to Product Development. As long as the business is involved, changes are inevitable. The constant and continuous change is evident in this VUCA world. Focus stands as one of the most expected values when it comes to dealing with different things. 

The Development Team and the Product Owner work together in crafting a Sprint Goal. The PBIs chosen for the Sprint will be based on the Sprint Goal. At any point in time, the team should stay focused on the sprint goal and do everything to achieve the same unless the Product Owner decides otherwise.

The team is focused on delivering Sprint Goal; they are focused on providing value to the customers, and most of all, they are focused on delivering what is expected out of them. 

Respect

The Development Team is a cross-functional team with different skills, different backgrounds, could be different geographies and cultures too. As a team, they should respect one another as individuals first. The team should understand that there is unity in diversity. 

There will be conflicts when working as a team. Each one should respect the other's opinions, ways of working, and even the thought process—the team also respects their customers and stakeholders by building what they want. 

Commitment

Commitment in a colloquial term means "giving 100% towards something" while the results are not promised. The team members work towards the sprint goal. Due to the complex nature of the work, the results cannot be assured. They commit to the 

• sprint goal
• quality increment
• working together
• retrospect
• learn from one another
• DoD
• continuous learning

Openness

Transparency is one of the pillars when it comes to Scrum. Keeping the work open is one of the ways that everyone understands what is going on. The artifacts are kept open for all to see and understand what is in progress, what is pending, and what is completed. The team also holds the impediments transparent for anyone to see.  

By keeping things transparent, everyone knows what is happening. Nobody withholds information in Scrum. Everything is transparent, including communications, so that everyone is on the same page. 

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