Scrum Team Accountabilities
One team, three accountabilities
The Scrum Team is a small, self-managing, cross-functional group, typically ten or fewer people. It has three accountabilities, not necessarily three job titles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers. The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing product value and managing the Product Backlog. The Scrum Master is accountable for the team's effectiveness, coaching the team and organization, and ensuring Scrum is understood and enacted. Developers are accountable for creating a usable Increment each Sprint, planning their work, and owning quality.
Self-management and focus
Self-management means the team decides how to do its work; it does not mean each person works alone. Developers decide the Sprint Backlog, how to build the Increment, and how to meet the Definition of Done. The Product Owner sets product direction and ordering; the Scrum Master facilitates and coaches rather than directs. Avoid sub-teams, specialist silos, and internal hierarchies that undermine shared accountability.
Traps
Common traps: making the Product Owner a committee; treating the Scrum Master as a project manager or secretary; assuming Developers are only programmers; letting the Product Owner assign daily tasks; and confusing accountability with exclusive decision rights. Another trap is treating the team as a set of individuals rather than one accountable unit.
Worked example
A question asks who decides how much work to take into the Sprint. The Developers own the Sprint Backlog and forecast; the Product Owner clarifies value and ordering. Rule of thumb: ask who is accountable for the outcome, not who performs each task. If the answer names a committee, a manager, or a single specialist for team decisions, suspect a trap.