Timing: 20-35 minutes

Overview:
This gamified learning activity is the first product from my MSc dissertation at the University of Liverpool. It is a card game to teach Scrum values and roles.

There are four categories of cards: roles, responsibilities, values, behaviors. The objective of the game is to distribute the responsibilities cards below the roles cards and distribute the behaviors cards below the values cards. Example:



Winning condition: The first group to complete the distribution of the cards – in a correct manner – is the winner. The instructor is the arbiter. When a group claims the completion, the instructor must pause the activity and verify the distribution. During the verification the other groups must pause their actions. If the instructor discovers that the distribution is wrong, he/she should only state that “the distribution is incorrect”, the group whom claimed the conclusion must discover what is incorrect and the other groups are free to continue.

Learning Points:
The values and roles of Scrum represent a big paradigm shift for professionals whom are familiar with traditional approaches for project management, where command-and-control-ism and micro-management are imperatives. This learning activity will lead the students to discuss about the Scrum roles and values, also instructing them over the responsibilities and expected behaviors.

Link to Game:
The cards and source files are available at http://eepurl.com/b5FtQP

15 thoughts on “Scrum Values & Roles Card Game

  1. Hello Julio, thanks for this game. Is simple and fun. I’ll be using it in Chile so I’ll be translating the cards, hope you don’t mind.

    Thanks!

  2. Hi Julio!
    I’ve been doing some trainings inside my company and I was looking for something more fun to explain responsibilities… This looks like the perfect fit! thanks! I am going to use it on my next training, next week 🙂

  3. […] a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Based on a work here. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at […]

  4. Hi Richell,

    Thanks for your interest. I tested the link to the source files and seems to be ok. The file is hosted on Google Drive and DropBox, is there any access restriction on your network?

    I will send the file directly to your e-mail.

    Regards,
    Julio

  5. Hello Julio,

    My team is fairly new to scrum and I’m a new CSM. I’ve been witnessing many things that my team needs to learn regarding scrum and an important one is to not cross roles (developers also performing sm work). I see how this training can be very beneficial to our team. However, I’m unable to open the link to the game. Is it possible to email this to me so I can use as training? Thank you Very Much!

  6. Julio,

    Thank you for this. I built a modified version for my client, using their language and role titles. I also added 2 roles, Program Manager (think SAFe Release Train Engineer), and Delivery Manager (think old-fashioned IT manager).

    We had some great conversations and I am going to propose we use this exercise in training going forward.

  7. Julio, this is fantastic. Rather than Scrum Team, have you thought about changing “Scrum Team” to “Dev Team” to be in line with the roles outlined in the scrum framework?

  8. Julio,

    This is really great work! I’ve been making a few adjustments here and there (I’m in the US, so 8.5 X 11 paper rather than A4, making the cards poker-sized, adding card backs). I’ll be taking it to my team later this week, so if we have any additional feedback we’ll let you know!

    Alex

  9. Hi Julio,
    I am assuming the answers are not given, correct? Also, can you elaborate just a bit on how to print these cards, etc. Is it assumed to use the software to print these, or can one just print the PDF and cut the cards with scissors? Thanks.

  10. Hi Paul!

    Thanks for your interest. I tested the link to the source files and seems to be ok. The file is hosted on Google Drive, is there any access restriction on your network?

    I will send the file directly to your e-mail.

    Regards,
    Julio

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