Scrum Team
The Scrum Team questions focus on accountabilities, size, and self-management. The exam expects you to know that Scrum has one Scrum Team, not a set of sub-teams, and that accountabilities are complementary.
Core rules
- The Scrum Team is a small team of 10 or fewer people.
- It contains a Product Owner, a Scrum Master, and Developers. There are no managers or sub-teams inside it.
- The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing product value and managing the Product Backlog.
- The Scrum Master is accountable for the Scrum Team's effectiveness and for helping the organization adopt Scrum.
- Developers are accountable for creating a usable Increment each Sprint and for managing their own work.
- The team is cross-functional and self-managing; it has all skills needed to create value.
Worked example
An organization creates a separate QA team that approves work after Developers finish. A Scrum Master should treat this as a design problem. The QA specialists should be part of the Scrum Team, and the Definition of Done should include the quality work. Reasoning: separate approval creates handoffs, delays feedback, and undermines self-management.
Traps
Treating the Product Owner as a committee; making the Scrum Master a project manager or board; keeping component teams that hand off work; assuming 10 is a target rather than a maximum; confusing self-managing with no accountability.