What is an example of waste in Scrum?

• A. Much of the waste in knowledge work occurs in the handoffs (or wait time) between team members
• B. Working in parallel to reduce bottlenecks
• C. Automated testing to speed up delivery
• D. Completing work in a single step

Answer: (A)

Waste in Scrum comes from activities that don’t add customer value, especially the delays caused by handoffs between team members. In knowledge work, a lot of waste shows up as wait time and transfers as work moves from one person to another, which slows progress, creates miscommunication, and can lead to rework. That makes handoffs between teammates a prime example of waste.

The other ideas describe ways to improve flow or deliver value, not waste: working in parallel aims to reduce bottlenecks and keep work moving; automated testing speeds delivery while increasing quality; completing work in a single step isn’t, in itself, waste, though it’s important to ensure that such a step still delivers value without unnecessary handoffs.