Values provide direction for a team’s work. Scrum consists of five values essential for a Scrum Team to succeed. As a Scrum Master, I often consider how practices support Scrum values, allowing us to align new initiatives with Scrum. Our mobbing experiment is still ongoing, which leads me to think about how mobbing supports Scrum Values.

The Scrum Team commits to achieving its goals and to supporting each other. Their primary focus is on the work of the Sprint to make the best possible progress toward these goals. The Scrum Team and its stakeholders are open about the work and the challenges. Scrum Team members respect each other to be capable, independent people, and are respected as such by the people with whom they work. The Scrum Team members have the courage to do the right thing, to work on tough problems.

Scrum Guide 2020

Commitment

The Scrum Team commits to achieving its goals and supporting each other. During a mobbing session, all members work towards the same goal – they collaborate on the same Product Backlog Item that contributes to the Sprint Goal. In the session, everyone views the same screen. When the driver encounters difficulties, others in the session should make every effort to resolve the issue.

Focus

Even with a Sprint Goal in place, there may be multiple items in the Sprint Backlog. This can cause individual team members to panic and attempt to start multiple tasks simultaneously, resulting in a loss of focus. With mobbing, the entire team works together on the same Product Backlog Item. Ideally, there should only be one Work In Progress (WIP) at a time. By eliminating the need for context switching, focus is encouraged.

Openness

Mobbing fosters teamwork and intense collaboration. To ensure smooth collaboration, the team should be open to working together. On the other hand, Scrum requires a team to be cross-functional, but it does not mandate that each team member possess all cross-functional skills. Each team member may have unique skills or knowledge that others may not be familiar with. Through mobbing, team members can learn from each other and collectively create value.

Respect

Scrum Team members should accept that everyone possesses different skill sets and perspectives. This can lead to heated discussions or even conflicts. During a mobbing session, team members must respect each other as capable and independent individuals. By fostering a culture of respectful collaboration, constructive outcomes can be achieved.

Courage

The Scrum Team must have the courage to make the right decisions. Sometimes, individual team members may find it challenging to confront difficult problems or make decisions on their own. With mobbing, decisions are made collectively by the entire team. This encourages each team member to voice suggestions or challenge decisions, promoting innovation.

This thought process deepens my understanding of the Scrum Values and enables me to guide the team towards a shared goal. I recommend working with the team during the Sprint Retrospective, as it will help uncover better ways to achieve the goal together.