Scrum Notes

What is Scrum?

Scrum is an Agile framework used to manage and deliver complex

projects through short, iterative development cycles called Sprints.

Scrum Values

 Commitment

 Courage

 Focus

 Openness

 Respect

Scrum Roles

Product Owner (PO)

 Defines product vision.

 Manages and prioritizes the Product Backlog.

 Represents customer needs.

 Accepts or rejects completed work.

Scrum Master (SM)

 Facilitates Scrum events.

 Removes obstacles (impediments).

 Coaches the team on Scrum practices.

 Protects the team from distractions.

Developers (Development Team)

 Design, build, test, and deliver the product.

 Self-organizing and cross-functional.

 Responsible for meeting the Sprint Goal.

Scrum Artifacts

Product Backlog

 Ordered list of all product requirements.

 Owned by the Product Owner.

  Continuously refined.

Sprint Backlog

 Items selected for the current Sprint.

 Includes the plan to achieve the Sprint Goal.

Increment

 Working product delivered at the end of each Sprint.

 Must meet the Definition of Done (DoD).

Scrum Events

Sprint

 Fixed time-box (typically 1–4 weeks).

 Produces a potentially releasable product increment.

Sprint Planning

 Decide:

o What work will be done?

o How will it be done?

Daily Scrum

 15-minute daily meeting.

 Discuss:

o What was completed yesterday?

o What will be done today?

o Any blockers?

Sprint Review

 Demonstrate completed work.

 Gather stakeholder feedback.

Sprint Retrospective

 Reflect on the Sprint.

 Identify improvements for the next Sprint.

Key Concepts

Sprint Goal
  The objective the team aims to achieve during the Sprint.

Definition of Done (DoD)

 Shared understanding of when work is considered complete.

Definition of Ready (DoR)

 Criteria indicating a backlog item is ready for development (optional

practice, not an official Scrum artifact).

Velocity

 Amount of work completed in a Sprint.

 Used for forecasting future work.

Burndown Chart

 Tracks remaining work against time during a Sprint.

Benefits of Scrum

 Faster delivery of value.

 Better collaboration.

 Increased transparency.

 Continuous feedback.

 Improved adaptability to change.

 Higher customer satisfaction.

Scrum Workflow

1. Create Product Backlog.

2. Sprint Planning.

3. Sprint begins.

4. Daily Scrum.

5. Develop and test.

6. Sprint Review.

7. Sprint Retrospective.

8. Repeat for the next Sprint.

Common Scrum Interview Questions

 What is Scrum?
  Difference between Agile and Scrum?

 What is a Sprint?

 Who owns the Product Backlog?

 What is the role of the Scrum Master?

 What is the Definition of Done?

 Difference between Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog?

 What happens during Sprint Planning?

 What is Velocity?

 What is a Sprint Review vs. Sprint Retrospective?

Quick Revision

 Framework: Scrum

 Sprint Duration: 1–4 weeks

 Daily Scrum: 15 minutes

 Roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers

 Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment

 Events: Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint

Retrospective

Scrum Interview Questions & Answers

1. What is Scrum?

Answer:
Scrum is an Agile framework used to develop and deliver products in an
iterative and incremental way. The work is divided into short time periods
called Sprints, usually 1–4 weeks.

2. What is a Sprint?

Answer:
A Sprint is a fixed time-boxed period during which the Scrum Team
develops a usable product Increment. A Sprint is usually 1 to 4 weeks
long.

Example:
If the Sprint is 2 weeks, the team plans, develops, tests, and delivers
selected features within those 2 weeks.
3. What are the three Scrum roles?

Answer:

1. Product Owner

2. Scrum Master

3. Developers

4. What is the role of a Product Owner?

Answer:
The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing product value and
managing the Product Backlog.

Main responsibilities:

 Understand customer requirements.

 Create and prioritize backlog items.

 Communicate product vision.

 Ensure the team works on the most valuable features.

5. What is the role of a Scrum Master?

Answer:
The Scrum Master helps the team understand and follow Scrum.

Main responsibilities:

 Facilitate Scrum events.

 Remove or help resolve impediments.

 Coach the team.

 Promote collaboration.

 Help create an effective Scrum environment.

Important: Scrum Master is not the manager or boss of the

Developers.

6. Who are Developers in Scrum?

Answer:
Developers are the people who create the product Increment. They may
perform activities such as:

 Designing

 Coding

 Testing

 Integration

 Documentation

They are responsible for creating a usable Increment that meets the
Definition of Done.

7. What is a Product Backlog?

Answer:
The Product Backlog is an ordered list of everything needed to
improve the product.

Example:

Priori Backlog
ty Item

1 User Login

Online
2
Payment

Order
3
Tracking

4 User Profile

The Product Owner is accountable for Product Backlog management.

8. What is a Sprint Backlog?

Answer:
The Sprint Backlog contains the Product Backlog items selected for
the Sprint, along with the plan for delivering them and achieving the
Sprint Goal.

Simple difference:
Product Backlog → Entire product work

Sprint Backlog → Work selected for the current Sprint

9. What is an Increment?

Answer:
An Increment is a usable, valuable version of the product created
during a Sprint.

For example, in a shopping application, one Sprint may deliver:

 Login

 Product search

 Add to cart

These completed features together can form an Increment.

10. What is Sprint Planning?

Answer:
Sprint Planning is conducted at the beginning of a Sprint.

The team decides:

 Why? → Sprint Goal

 What? → Work to be completed

 How? → Plan for delivering the work

11. What is Daily Scrum?

Answer:
Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event for Developers to inspect progress
toward the Sprint Goal and adapt their plan.

Instead of treating it simply as a status meeting, the focus is on progress

and planning for the next day of work.

12. What is Sprint Review?

Answer:
Sprint Review is conducted at the end of the Sprint.
The team:

 Presents the Increment.

 Gets feedback from stakeholders.

 Discusses what has been achieved.

 Considers what should be done next.

Keyword: Product + Feedback

13. What is Sprint Retrospective?

Answer:
The Retrospective is conducted after the Sprint Review and before the
next Sprint Planning.

The team discusses:

 What went well?

 What problems occurred?

 What can be improved?

Keyword: Team + Process Improvement

14. Difference between Sprint Review and Retrospective?

Sprint Review Sprint Retrospective

Focuses on the
Focuses on the product
team/process

Stakeholders can
Mainly Scrum Team
participate

Demonstrates Increment Discusses improvements

Identifies process
Gets product feedback
improvements

Easy memory:
👉 Review = Product
👉 Retrospective = Process

15. What is Definition of Done (DoD)?

Answer:
Definition of Done is a shared understanding of the conditions that
must be satisfied for work to be considered complete.

Example:
A login feature is Done only when:

 Coding completed

 Testing completed

 Bugs fixed

 Code reviewed

 Integrated into the product

 Meets required quality standards

16. What is a Sprint Goal?

Answer:
Sprint Goal is the single objective for the Sprint. It gives the Scrum
Team a common purpose and helps guide decisions during the Sprint.

Example:
"Develop the basic online payment functionality."

17. What is a User Story?

Answer:
A User Story describes a requirement from the user's point of view.

Common format:

As a [user], I want [feature], so that [benefit].

Example:

As a customer, I want to reset my password so that I can access my

account if I forget it.

18. What is Product Backlog Refinement?

Answer:
Backlog refinement is the ongoing activity of breaking down, clarifying,
estimating, and ordering Product Backlog items so that they are
better understood and ready for future Sprints.
19. What is Scrum Velocity?

Answer:
Velocity is the amount of work a team completes in a Sprint, often
measured using story points.

Example:

Completed Story
Sprint
Points

Sprint
20
1

Sprint
25
2

Sprint
22
3

Velocity can help with forecasting, but it should not be used as a

performance score for individual developers.

20. What is a Burndown Chart?

Answer:
A Burndown Chart shows the remaining work over time during a Sprint
or project.

If the remaining work decreases as the Sprint progresses, the team is

moving toward completing the Sprint Goal.

Important Scenario-Based Interview Questions

21. What will you do if the customer changes the requirement

during a Sprint?

Answer:
In Scrum, changes are welcome, but the team should protect the Sprint
Goal. The Product Owner and Developers can discuss the change and
determine whether the Sprint Backlog needs adjustment. If the change
makes the Sprint Goal obsolete, the Product Owner may cancel the Sprint.

22. What if a Developer is unable to complete a task?

Answer:
The Developer should communicate the problem early. The team
discusses the impediment and collaborates to solve it. The Scrum Master
can help remove organizational or external impediments.

23. What if the Product Owner gives work directly to a Developer

during the Sprint?

Answer:
The team should maintain transparency through the Product Backlog
and Sprint Backlog. The Product Owner can discuss priorities with the
Developers, but work should not be secretly added in a way that
undermines the Sprint Goal.

24. What if the Sprint Goal cannot be achieved?

Answer:
The team should identify the reason early and discuss possible
adaptations. The Scrum Master helps address impediments, while
Developers and the Product Owner collaborate on the best way forward.
The focus should be on achieving the Sprint Goal and delivering
value, rather than hiding the problem.

25. What is the difference between Agile and Scrum?

Answer:

Agile is a set of values and principles for developing software flexibly.

Scrum is a framework that helps teams apply Agile principles.

Simple example:

Agile is the philosophy; Scrum is one way of practicing it.

Real-Time Scrum Example: Online Food Delivery App 🍔

Imagine a company is developing an app like Swiggy/Zomato.

The company wants to build a new food delivery application with features
such as:

 User Registration/Login

 Restaurant Search

 Food Ordering
  Online Payment

 Order Tracking

 Ratings & Reviews

Instead of developing everything at once, the company uses Scrum.

1. Product Backlog

First, the Product Owner collects all customer requirements and puts
them into the Product Backlog.

Priori Product Backlog

ty Item

User
1
Registration/Login

2 Search Restaurants

3 View Food Menu

4 Add Food to Cart

5 Place Order

6 Online Payment

7 Order Tracking

8 Ratings & Reviews

How to explain in interview:

"The Product Backlog contains all the features required for the food
delivery application. The Product Owner prioritizes them based on
business and customer value."

2. Sprint Planning

Suppose the team has a 2-week Sprint.

The team cannot develop all 8 features in two weeks.

So they select the highest-priority items.

Sprint 1

They decide to develop:

  Registration/Login

 Restaurant Search

 View Food Menu

The team creates a Sprint Goal:

"Enable customers to log in and find restaurants and their food

menus."

Interview answer:

"During Sprint Planning, the Scrum Team discusses what can be achieved
during the Sprint and creates a plan to achieve the Sprint Goal."

3. Sprint Backlog

The selected work becomes part of the Sprint Backlog.

Sprint
Task
Backlog

Login Design login page

Login Write login code

Login Test login

Restaurant Create search

Search screen

Restaurant
Implement search
Search

Food Menu Display menu

Food Menu Test menu

The Developers decide how they will perform the work.

4. Daily Scrum

Every working day, the Developers have a 15-minute Daily Scrum.

For example:

Developer 1:
"Yesterday I completed the login page. Today I will integrate the database.
No blocker."

Developer 2:

"Yesterday I completed restaurant search. Today I will test it. I need help
with the API."

Developer 3:

"I am working on the food menu. The restaurant database connection is

not working."

The Scrum Master helps with the blocker/impediment.

Interview answer:

"Daily Scrum helps Developers inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal
and adapt their plan."

5. Development During Sprint

The team now develops and tests the features.

For example:

Day 1–3: Login

Day 4–6: Restaurant Search

Day 7–9: Food Menu

Day 10: Integration + Testing

At the end of the Sprint, the completed work should satisfy the Definition
of Done.

6. Definition of Done

Suppose the team says:

A feature is considered Done only if:

 Coding completed

 Code reviewed

 Testing completed

 Major bugs fixed

 Integrated with the application

  Meets agreed quality standards

For example, simply writing the login code is not enough.

The login feature becomes Done only after it has passed the team's
Definition of Done.

7. Increment

At the end of Sprint 1, the application can now:

Login → Search Restaurant → View Food Menu

This working version is the Increment.

Important:

The Increment should be usable and valuable.

It doesn't mean the entire food delivery application is finished.

8. Sprint Review

Now the team demonstrates the working features to stakeholders.

Developer:

"This is the new login feature."

They demonstrate:

Username → Password → Login → Home Page

Then they demonstrate:

Search → Restaurant → Food Menu

The Product Owner and stakeholders provide feedback.

For example:

"Customers should also be able to filter restaurants by cuisine."

That feedback can influence future Product Backlog items.

Remember:

Sprint Review = Product + Stakeholder Feedback

9. Sprint Retrospective
After the Sprint Review, the Scrum Team discusses how they worked.

They may say:

What went well?

"Login development was completed early."

What didn't go well?

"Database integration took longer than expected."

What should we improve?

"We should discuss API dependencies earlier."

The team decides an improvement for the next Sprint.

Remember:

Retrospective = Team + Process Improvement

10. Sprint 2

Now the team starts the next Sprint.

Possible Sprint 2 work:

 Add Food to Cart

 Place Order

 Online Payment

Again:

Sprint Planning → Development → Daily Scrum → Increment →

Review → Retrospective

And the cycle continues.

Complete Scrum Flow

PRODUCT BACKLOG

SPRINT PLANNING

SPRINT BACKLOG
 ↓

┌─────────────────────┐

│ 2-WEEK SPRINT │

│ │

│ Development │

│ Testing │

│ Daily Scrum │

│ Fixing Issues │

└─────────────────────┘

INCREMENT

SPRINT REVIEW

SPRINT RETROSPECTIVE

NEXT SPRINT