The Scrum Framework and Accountabilities
One team, three accountabilities
The Scrum Team is small, typically 10 or fewer people, cross-functional and self-managing, and delivers a valuable, useful Increment every Sprint. It contains one Product Owner, one Scrum Master and the Developers.
The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing value and for effective Product Backlog management. The Scrum Master is a true leader who serves the team and the organization: coaching, causing impediments to be removed, and ensuring Scrum is understood and enacted. The Developers create the Sprint Backlog, instil quality through the Definition of Done, adapt their plan daily, and hold each other accountable.
The container and events
A Sprint lasts one month or less, with no gap between Sprints. Sprint Planning is timeboxed to 8 hours for a one-month Sprint, the Daily Scrum to 15 minutes, the Sprint Review to 4 hours and the Sprint Retrospective to 3 hours, all scaled down for shorter Sprints. Artifacts are the Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog and Increment, each with a commitment: Product Goal, Sprint Goal and Definition of Done.
Traps
- Inventing accountabilities: there is no sprint manager, no separate analyst role inside Scrum, and no sub-teams per layer.
- Saying the Scrum Master assigns work or runs the Daily Scrum; the Developers own their plan.
- Forgetting that only the Product Owner cancels a Sprint, and only when the Sprint Goal becomes obsolete.
- Assuming there is a break between Sprints.
Worked example
A two-week Sprint gets Planning at 4 hours, Review at 2 and Retrospective at 1.5. Halve the one-month timeboxes; never add an event to compensate.
Rule of thumb: if an event overruns its timebox, cut scope, not the timebox.