A Scrum Team selected a Product Backlog item during Sprint Planning. However, at the end of the Sprint the work does not meet the Definition of Done. What two things should happen with this incomplete Product Backlog item? (choose the best two answers)

According to the Scrum framework, an Increment is the sum of all Product Backlog items that meet the Definition of Done (DoD) during a Sprint. If an item is not "Done," it cannot be part of the current Increment because it does not meet the agreed-upon quality standard and is not potentially releasable. Such incomplete work is returned to the Product Backlog. The Product Owner, who is accountable for managing the Product Backlog, will then re-assess the item's priority and decide how to proceed with it in the future, which may include re-ordering it for a subsequent Sprint or removing it altogether.

A. Velocity is a measure of the amount of "Done" work a team delivers in a Sprint. Awarding partial credit for incomplete work misrepresents the team's capacity and reduces transparency.
C. The Product Owner is accountable for deciding what is released. While stakeholder feedback is valuable, releasing work that does not meet the Definition of Done compromises quality and transparency.

1. Schwaber, K., & Sutherland, J. (2020). The Scrum Guide. Scrum.org.

Regarding Option B & D: "If a Product Backlog item does not meet the Definition of Done, it cannot be released or even presented at the Sprint Review. Instead, it returns to the Product Backlog for future consideration." (p. 10). This directly supports that the item is not part of the Increment (B) and returns to the Product Backlog for the Product Owner's consideration (D).

Regarding Option C: The guide defines the Product Owner's accountability: "The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team." (p. 5). This includes the decision to release, which is predicated on the work being "Done."

2. Verwijs, C., & Russo, D. (2021). Zombie Scrum: A Survival Guide. Addison-Wesley Professional.

Regarding Option A: In the chapter "No Partial Credit," the authors explain the anti-pattern of counting points for unfinished work: "Velocity is a measure of how much work gets ‘Done’ in a Sprint... When you start giving partial credit, you are essentially lying to yourself and your stakeholders about how much you can actually finish." (Section on Flaccid Scrum). This reinforces why option A is incorrect.

3. MIT OpenCourseWare. (2019). 15.S53 Special Seminar in Management: The Agile Enterprise, Fall 2019. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Regarding Core Principles: Lecture notes and materials for this course consistently emphasize that only work meeting the Definition of Done contributes to the Increment and that velocity is based solely on completed items. Incomplete work always reverts to the Product Backlog, reinforcing the logic behind answers B and D.