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International SCRUM Master Foundation (Scrum Guideline 2020)

Steen Lerche-Jensen

Scrum Pillars

2.2.1 Transparency

The emergent process and work must be visible to those performing the work as well as those receiving the work. With Scrum, important decisions are based on the perceived state of its three formal artifacts:

  • Product Backlog
  • Sprint Backlog
  • Increment

Artifacts that have low transparency can lead to decisions that diminish value and increase risk.

Transparency enables inspection. Inspection without transparency is misleading and wasteful.

Transparency in scrum can be realized by tools such as product backlog, task boards and burn down charts, daily stand-ups, retrospectives, definition of done, sprint reviews, etc. These are used to transfer the flow of work through a cross-functional team. This is one of the key advantages in scrum – allowing visibility about the progress of the work done by the team. In other words, when the team is achieving its goal, those responsible for it can be recognized and appreciated for the efforts.