Scrum Development Team

The members of the Development Team, also known as “team”, are area specialists, responsible for delivering the elements of the Backlog, and for managing their own efforts.

A Development Team must be multifunctional: capable of carrying out each of the elements of the Product Backlog from A to Z. It must also self-organize, be responsible and able to find its own way instead of receiving orders, and in this respect must align with the purpose of the project and not work “blindly”.

During the Sprint a task could be assigned to only one member of the team, but the entire development team will be responsible for that task; No individual owns a task.

The Development Team delivers the product step by step, incrementally: as defined in the Product Backlog. Always work focused on the product.

It is highly recommended for members of the development team to work full time on a project, to stay focused and agile. The composition of the development team should not change often, and if there was a need to make any changes to the team members, it should not happen during a Sprint. It is necessary to be aware that when there is a change in the composition of the team, there will be a decrease in the team’s productivity in the short term.

The success of Scrum depends entirely on collaboration and teamwork.

Characteristics of the Scrum Development Team

The development team has the following characteristics:

  • Multifunctional: It is capable of performing each of the user stories of the product backlog from beginning to end, following the definition of done.
  • Self-organized: Nobody, not even the Scrum Master, has to tell the development team how it has to convert every element of the product backlog into product increment.
    It is recommended that there are no “titles” within the team, to avoid unique responsibilities in elements of the product backlog.
  • There are no sub-teams within the development team.
    Each member of the team can be a specialist in an area in which they focus, but the responsibility for any failure rests with the entire team.

Responsibilities of the Scrum Team

The Scrum development team is responsible for their own work, and therefore must follow the following letter:

  • They are fully responsible for converting product backlog elements into product increments. No one should tell you how to do this job.
  • They are responsible for making the estimates of each element of the product backlog.
  • They are responsible for the sprint backlog, not the product backlog, the responsibility of the product owner.
  • They are responsible for solving any internal problem within the team.
  • They are responsible for attending each daily meeting, it is the only role within Scrum that has to attend yes or yes to this event.

What is the recommended size of a Scrum Team?

The size of a Scrum development team must be low enough to maintain agility, and high enough to complete an acceptable product increase in the context of the project.

The recommended size is between 3 and 9 people. Less than 3 can hardly be called a Scrum development team. If there are more than 9 people, it ends up being very difficult to manage all the Scrum events: Sprint planning, review and retrospective. Large teams find it difficult to make decisions within the times that the events last.

The Scrum master and the product owner are not included in this number of people, although they also participate in the product development.

You could be tempted to give members of the Development Team more specific titles such as designer, tester, quality inspector and team leader; Scrum does not allow it! All members must have the same role and the same title: Member of the Development Team.

Can I work with Scrum even if my team works remotely?

There are many studies that show that computers that do not work remotely are more productive than those that are in different locations. Suffering in communication, very necessary in the Scrum events. Anyway, the tendency of agile work in remote is in tendency of growth.

Who should be on the Scrum Development Team?

All profiles should have the knowledge and skills necessary to be able to transform the product backlog items in increments of development. It usually consists of programmers, testers, business analysts, marketing specialists, etc.

Who is the Scrum Team manager?

The development team is self-managed. The Product Owner defines the direction that the team must take ordering the Product Backlog, but the team is responsible for estimating the tasks, as well as defining the way in which it will be developed. The Scrum Master is responsible for removing impediments within the development team, but any internal conflict that may be resolved between the team members.

How many simultaneous projects can a Team work?

The development team is more productive if you only work on one project at a time. There is no mandatory requirement within Scrum that indicates that this is always the case, so you can work on more than one project simultaneously, always guaranteeing that the objectives will be met.

What is the speed in the Team?

The total work that the development team is able to complete in a sprint is called speed. When the development team is planning the first Sprint, they estimate its speed. For future sprints, the speed will be the total work done by the team in the previous sprint.

On the team: Everyone knows and understands the vision of the product owner.

  • They contribute and collaborate with the product owner in the development of the product’s stack.
  • They share together the goal of each sprint and the responsibility of achievement.
  • All members participate in the decisions.
  • The opinions and contributions of everyone are respected.

Everyone knows scrum.

The members of the development team must be united, and completely aligned with the goal of the project. If we grant them different titles or roles, they will focus on their own role instead of on the project, and may not pay enough attention to the final product, which is necessary in agile projects. Each of the members of the Development Team is responsible for each and every one of the products that the Development Team generates, even though each of them could be focused on a specific set of tasks.

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