The Scrum Team
What you must know
The Scrum Team is one small, cross-functional, self-managing unit with no sub-teams or hierarchy. It contains three accountabilities:
- Product Owner - maximizes product value; owns and orders the Product Backlog; the single point of accountability for what gets built and why. The PO may delegate work but remains accountable.
- Scrum Master - accountable for the Scrum Team's effectiveness; coaches the team and organization in empiricism, removes impediments to the team's progress, and ensures events are positive, productive, and timeboxed. The SM is a true leader who serves, not a project manager or secretary.
- Developers - the people committed to creating any aspect of a usable Increment each Sprint; they self-manage the Sprint Backlog, instill quality, and adapt daily toward the Sprint Goal.
Size is typically 10 or fewer people; smaller teams communicate better. If teams grow too large, they should split into multiple cohesive Scrum Teams sharing the same Product Goal, Product Backlog, and Product Owner. The whole team attends the Daily Scrum if Developers find it useful; only Developers are required.
Traps
- "The Scrum Master assigns tasks / runs the Daily Scrum / owns the board" - all false.
- "The Product Owner decides how much work fits the Sprint" - capacity is the Developers' call; the PO negotiates scope against the Sprint Goal.
- "Cross-functional" means the team has all skills needed to create value each Sprint, not that every member can do every job.
- Multiple Product Owners on one product - a single PO is required.
Rule of thumb
Match each described behavior to the accountability, not the job title. If an option has the SM making product decisions or the PO directing daily work, eliminate it.
Worked example: A stakeholder asks the SM to reprioritize backlog items before a release. Correct response: coach the stakeholder to bring the request to the Product Owner, since ordering the backlog is the PO's accountability.