The Five Core Scrum Principles Explained for Product Owners

If you're in charge of a Scrum Team, you probably know Scrum is an efficient way to manage projects. Scrum framework is utilized by 66% of Agile businesses, and teams employing Scrum deliver a remarkable 250% improvement in quality. 

However, implementing Scrum does not end with adding roles and events. It is just as crucial for the team to implement the Scrum values as their working method.

So, let’s explore these five important values and their meanings in the context of Scrum.

What are the 5 Scrum values?

According to scrum.org, every Scrum Team should adhere to five Scrum values. Here is a list of them:

Courage

Focus

Commitment

Respect

Openness 

These principles are supposed to direct the team members' thoughts as they collaborate on projects. As such, they become a part of every sprint, planning, and retrospective. The Scrum values are a roadmap for the team's work and are crucial to all decisions made throughout the sprints. They support transparency and trust.

Commitment

Commitment in Scrum is about staying dedicated to the team's objectives, contributing to success, and prioritizing tasks that add value. Scrum Masters foster this commitment through clear communication and effective sprint planning.

Key Aspects of Commitment

• Dedication: Stay focused on the team’s objectives.
• Active Contribution: Engage in daily challenges and contribute to team success.
• Transparency: Speak up if the project is off track.
• Continuous Improvement: Seek ways to optimize efforts and improve.
• Prioritization: Ensure tasks align with the common goal and give value-adding suggestions.
• Support from Scrum Masters: Foster commitment through communication and sprint planning.

Focus

Focus on scrum values in agile, which involve staying on track, avoiding distractions, and helping team members do the same to meet sprint goals efficiently.

Critical Aspects of Focus

• Staying on Track: Keep aligned with sprint tasks and goals.
• Eliminating Distractions: Minimize interruptions to maintain productivity.
• Avoiding Multitasking: Concentrate on priority tasks to avoid setbacks.
• Efficient Standup Meetings: Use these to explain sprint goals and plan achievable tasks.
• Open Communication: Scrum Masters should discuss workloads openly to avoid overburdening team members.
• Achievable Workloads: Assign a realistic number of tasks to prevent your team from feeling overwhelmed.

Openness

Openness in Scrum encourages open communication, welcoming new ideas, and maintaining transparency to prevent bottlenecks and missed deadlines.

Critical Aspects of Openness

• Open Communication: Encourage dialogue between members of different disciplines.
• Welcoming Ideas: Foster a culture that embraces new ideas and working styles.
• Individual Honesty: Be honest about what you can achieve and how your work impacts others.
• Transparency: Maintain transparency to avoid bottlenecks, roadblocks, and missed deadlines.

Respect

Respect in Scrum involves treating team members as equals, appreciating their strengths, and valuing customers and stakeholders to meet their needs better.

Key Aspects of Respect

• Equality: Treat all team members as equals, regardless of their background.
• Appreciation: Value each other’s hard and soft skills.
• Valuing Opinions: Respect others' decisions and opinions, even in disagreement.
• Trust: Trust team members in their assigned roles without micromanaging.
• Constructive Criticism: Accept feedback without letting it affect your ego.
• Customer and Stakeholder Respect: Understand and respect their needs for better outcomes.

Courage

Courage in Scrum entails pushing beyond comfort zones, staying committed to goals, and focusing on problem-solving rather than oneself.

Key Aspects of Courage

• Stepping out of Comfort Zones: Challenge yourself to achieve success.
• Commitment to Goals: Stay dedicated to objectives to produce unexpected results.
• Confronting the Unknown: Fearlessly address unfamiliar situations and ask tough questions.
• Honest Communication: Speak openly and question the status quo to drive improvement.
• Problem-Solving Mindset: Focus on solving challenges rather than dwelling on personal concerns.

Scrum values vs. Scrum principles: what’s the difference?

Distinguishing Scrum values from Scrum principles is akin to recognizing the commandments versus guidelines within the methodology. Optimal results emerge from the fusion of both.

Here are the six Scrum principles

• Empirical Process Control: Scrum teams dynamically adapt based on project needs, ensuring flexibility and responsiveness.
• Self-Organization: Each team member assumes responsibility for managing and completing their tasks, fostering autonomy and accountability.
• Time-Boxing: Teams allocate fixed durations to sprint planning, review, daily Scrums, sprints, and retrospectives, enhancing focus and efficiency.
• Value-Based Prioritization: Team members prioritize work on the most valuable items first, maximizing outcomes and customer satisfaction.
• Inspection and Adaptation: Frequent inspections keep the team focused, enabling timely adjustments to maintain progress and quality.
• Iterative Development: Continuous evaluation of processes and products drives efficiency improvements, ensuring constant enhancement and evolution.
• Collaborative Work: Team members unite to holistically deliver what benefits the product or service, emphasizing trust and effective communication for cohesive progress.

How Do Scrum Values Fit Into a Day-to-Day Work Life?

Applying the core values of scrum to everyday work can enhance workplace dynamics, even outside the scrum framework. Prioritize communication of these values among team members for effective implementation.

As a team member

• Demonstrate courage by tackling challenging tasks head-on.
• Practice focus by adhering to your schedule and prioritizing tasks accordingly.
• Embrace commitment by honoring the team's collective plan and goals.
• Foster respect by trusting your colleagues to fulfill their responsibilities independently.
• Encourage openness by candidly discussing areas for improvement within the team

Why do we need Scrum values?

Organizations use scrum values and principles to guide their teams' work. These values are essential, as they help give meaning and context to a company's work.

What is the role of the Product Owner in Scrum?

A Product Owner is an integral member of the Scrum team. Their primary responsibilities include defining user stories and creating the product backlog. As the leading customer liaison, the product owner identifies and communicates product requirements to the development team.

Final Words 

Scrum values are essential qualities that every team member should embrace. They foster the ability to tackle challenging tasks and enhance teamwork. These virtues help navigate complex projects and promote clarity and effective collaboration, establishing the norms that guide Scrum team operations.

As one of the most widely used project management methodologies, practicing Scrum helps teams achieve complex goals and make well-informed decisions. While Scrum values and principles are straightforward, their implementation can be challenging. 

Nonetheless, mastering them is crucial for a successful project management career. Notably, 78% of Scrum users highly recommend it to others, underscoring its effectiveness.