Creating a Highly Effective Scrum Team

– Everything You Need to Know

What makes up a Scrum team? Who does what? And how can you strengthen your team so it gets to ‘Done’?

These are some of the questions asked when setting up an effective scrum team. I have consolidated an informative summary – I Power Seed – along with other helpful articles on scrum teams.

As a side note, I have taken parts of the Scrum framework and use them in other parts of my leadership practices and have made a significant difference. Try it yourself and you will see and experience that the Scrum framework is proven and effective.

I have also included some additional resources at the bottom of this post.

Who Constitute the Scrum Team?
The Scrum team is a well-structured team dedicated to delivering quality results or products to the customer. They work in a certain time frame that is comprised of several sprints (time-box duration of less than 30 calendar days). After each sprint, the Scrum team should have completed a product increment until the very last sprint, in which they should have delivered a complete product that meets the customer’s expectations.

The Scrum team is made up of the following:
– Scrum Master
– Product Owner
– Development Team

The stakeholders are the people outside the Scrum Team but have a specific interest and knowledge in the product.

The Scrum Master
This person is primarily responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum. As the name suggests, they have the expertise and knowledge on Scrum methodology – its theory, rules, practices, and values . If anyone has questions about the Scrum process, they seek help from the Scrum Master. This person also works with external people (such as the stakeholders) to understand which of their interactions are helpful and which are not.

The Scrum Product Owner
The Product Owner has the sole responsibility of managing the Product Backlog. He has the expertise and knowledge about the product that has to be delivered and closely works with the stakeholders and the customer in order for the Scrum Team to understand the specifics of the project and the results they need to achieve. The product owner has a solid understanding of users, the marketplace, the competition, the client’s desires and expectations, and the future trends of the system or product being developed. To sum it all up – the Product Owner does whatever is necessary to build the best product possible.

The Development Team
The development team is composed of professionals who have the skills, background and capability to carry out the items from the Product Backlog so the Scrum Team could deliver a potentially releasable product increment at the end of each sprint. It is important to note that the development team is are self-organizing. Meaning, neither the Scrum Master or the Product Owner can instruct them on how to perform their task or carry out the backlog items. They are also cross-functional, possessing all knowledge required to deliver a working product. As to the size, the development team is small enough to stay agile but big enough to complete the sprint.

The Stakeholders
Again, the stakeholders are not directly involved in the Scrum Team. But they have a specific interest and knowledge over the product. The stakeholders are represented by the Scrum Product Owner.

What an Ideal Scrum Team Looks Like
The three components of the Scrum Team have to work together to get to ‘Done’. Each of these three roles, while remaining independent as to the tasks and scope, should synergize. After all, they are a team.

Taking into account the following qualities and characteristics should help you establish a highly efficient Scrum Team:

The Scrum Team members share the same norms and rules.
They are empowered. It is only when the team is empowered could they work with the highest level of motivation and performance.
The team is small and has no sub-teams. During the sprint planning, a very important matter that the Scrum Team discusses is the capacity of the development team. They should have enough people to perform the tasks/backlog items.
They should be co-located. The Scrum team revolves around collaboration. Ideally, they should meet daily, face to face.
The members work full time as the sprint has a very limited time period.
They take time to learn to work together, learn together, and make changes together.
They are transparent.
The Scrum team is cross-functional. They have to be multidisciplinary. The members of the development team are not differentiated by their skills or profession. They are all called “Scrum Team Member”.

If you want to read more, check out the original article by Luís Gonçalves