Scrum Team Composition
The Scrum Team is a self-organising and cross-functional group made up of:
- A Product Owner.
- A Scrum Master.
- The Development Team.
Self-Organising Teams
A self-organising team chooses internally how best to accomplish their work, instead of being directed by anyone outside of the team.
Cross-Functional Teams
To be sufficiently cross-functional, the team as a whole must have all the required competencies to accomplish their selected work, meaning that they would not depend on others external to the team.
Development Team
This collection of people are responsible for the implementation of the Sprint Backlog items, so that, at the end of the Sprint, they would have produced a working and potentially releasable Increment.
The recommended size of a Development Team is three to nine members (it may be easier to remember 6±3), this is small enough for the team to be nimble and large enough to produce a meaningful increment of work within each Sprint.
It is important to remember that, while certain members may specialise in specific areas, there are no titles or sub-teams for the Development Team members and accountability belongs to the team as a whole, therefore titles like programmer or tester, and sub-areas like architecture, test, operations, etc. should be avoided.
Product Owner
The Product Owner is the value-optimiser in the Scrum Team and should aim to maximise the value of the Development Team’s work and the resultant product.
The Product Owner is also responsible for the Product Backlog, and should work to ensure that Product Backlog items are clearly expressed and transparent, suitable ordered (potentially priority, understanding, or readiness to address).
Scrum Master
The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the Scrum Team, promoting and supporting the implementation of Scrum, and working to ensure the team understands the framework.
Service to the Development Team
Examples of how the Scrum Master serves the Development Team are by coaching them in the framework, self-organisation and cross-functionality, facilitating Scrum events, removing impediments, and helping them to create high-value products.
Service to the Product Owner
Examples of how the Scrum Master serves the Product Owner are by helping the Scrum Team understand the goals, scope, product domain, and the importance of clear Product Backlog items, and by facilitating Scrum events.
Service to the Organisation
The Scrum Master serves the Organisation by helping with the understanding and adoption of the Scrum framework, driving change to increase productivity within the organisation, and collaborating with other Scrum Masters to make Scrum more effective within the organisation.
Scrum Framework
Scrum Framework – Roles (Here)