Through the Scrum microscope

Communication should be timely, streamlined, reflect reality, and include the appropriate decision makers. The level of information should be appropriate to the audience.

Just like any microscope, our Scrum microscope has a set of objective lenses; the view of a project is very different depending on the strength of the lens chosen. When we want to see a general shape of something, we'll use the 1x or 2x strength. This might be appropriate for, say, a product vision statement or product roadmap. When we want to see every last detail, we'll use the 64x. The daily communication of the team is like the 32x or 64x lens—all the detailed work tasks, team member interactions, code and tests being written and executed, discussions, and dependencies between team members. We don't need 64x, though, for reporting to executives. They may want to see information at the 2x or 4x level. As a ScrumMaster, you must understand that providing visibility and information is one thing...