Impediment

Plain English explanation

An impediment is anything that gets in the team’s way. It could be a tool issue, a dependency, unclear requirements, or even a process problem.

Why it matters

If impediments are not removed quickly, the team loses momentum and the sprint may fail to deliver value.

How it works

Developers raise impediments, often during the daily-scrum. The scrum-master works to remove or reduce them so the team can continue smoothly.

Example

A deployment system is down, preventing releases — this is an impediment.

Common misunderstanding

Impediments are not just technical problems. They include organizational and communication issues too.

Key points

• Blocks or slows progress
• Raised by Developers
• Removed by Scrum Master
• Must be addressed quickly