The Agile approach is an integrated project management framework that aims to improve efficiency and flexibility. Scrum employs the Agile methodology to help you complete a project as quickly as possible.
Teams who use Scrum well can increase their productivity by 300% to 400%.To use the Scrum framework, you must first understand the various Scrum roles because you cannot build a Scrum team until you comprehend it.
How Scrum Works?
Scrum is designed to allow teams to react to changing situations and user needs automatically, with re-prioritization built in and short release cycles to guarantee your team is continually learning and improving.
Although scrum is structured, it is not strict. Its deployment may be tailored to the needs of each firm. There are several views on how scrum teams should operate to be effective. Clear communication, transparency, and a dedication to continuous improvement should always be at the center of whichever framework you choose.
The Scrum approach is made up of many critical components that contribute to effective Scrum adoption:
Scrum values: The five Scrum values describe the Scrum and agile team’s code of ethics: commitment, bravery, focus, openness, and respect.
Scrum events: help teams design and evaluate their processes. Sprint planning, daily Scrum meetings, sprint reviews, and sprint retrospective sessions are all part of it.
Scrum artifacts: Tools that assist everyone engaged in the product development process in staying on track. The three components are the product backlog, sprint backlog, and product increment.
The Scrum Team
Three scrum roles are Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development Team. While this is pretty apparent, deciding what to do with current job titles might be difficult. Many teams wonder if they need to change their titles when using scrum. The short answer is no.
Anyone who is not a key team member has no direct influence over the Team. Each of these Scrum roles has its own set of responsibilities, which we will discuss in further detail later in this article.
This section will look at the fundamentals of the Scrum Team as a whole and the appropriate team size.
Scrum Team Fundamentals
The Scrum Team possesses the following two characteristics:
Scrum Teams are functionally diverse and self-organizing. Scrum Teams are self-sufficient in their ability to complete tasks without the need for outside support or supervision. The teams are capable of meeting their Sprint Goals by implementing best practices.
Cross-Functional Scrum Teams have all of the required skills and abilities to achieve their task. These organizations do not rely on anyone outside the organization to execute tasks. As a result, the Scrum Team is a highly creative synthesis of the many skills needed to execute the full work item.
Each team member may not have all of the abilities needed to develop the product, but he or she is knowledgeable in his or her field. On the other hand, the team member is not required to be cross-functional, but the team as a whole is.
Self-organized and cross-functional teams will be more productive and inventive.
Scrum suggests a Development Team size of or between 3 and 9 people, excluding the Scrum Master and the Product Owner.
The essence of scrum is empiricism, self-organization, and continuous improvement; the three scrum roles define duties and accountability to allow teams to deliver work successfully. This enables teams to take control of their organization and continually improve. Let us now go through each of these functions in further depth.
The Scrum Master
The Scrum Master is responsible for aiding and guiding the Development Team and Product Owner as they complete day-to-day development activities.
He is responsible for ensuring that everyone in the team knows and can apply the Scrum Values and Principles. Simultaneously, to enhance the framework’s efficacy, the Scrum Master ensures that the Team is excited about Agile. The Scrum Master also assists and encourages the team to self-organize.
He is in charge of keeping the team motivated and strong, as well as teaching and training team members about the benefits of Agile. He also works to improve internal communication and teamwork.
The Role of Scrum Master
- The Scrum Master serves as an Agile Coach to the Development team as well as the Product Owner. In several methods, the Scrum Master supports effective communication between the Development Team and the Product Owner. The Scrum Master is still in charge of removing any impediments that may arise between the other roles
- If the Product Owner is not active or does not give the Development Team enough time, it is the Scrum Master’s responsibility to educate the Product Owner on the necessity of his engagement in the overall team’s success
- The Scrum Master is also a Scrum Team facilitator. He organizes and coordinates all Scrum Events requested by Scrum Team Members. The Scrum Master also aids the Team in making critical decisions that will increase the Scrum Team’s overall productivity
- The Scrum Master never tells Team Members what to do; rather, he coaches and helps them to succeed
- He also helps in boosting the team’s productivity in delivering business. Any issue that the team members are unable to resolve on their own is escalated to the Scrum Master
- He is also responsible to protect the Scrum Team from outside influence and distraction, allowing the team to stay focused on providing the highest value to the company at the end of each sprint
- Interference may be a bigger issue if the team is operating in a Scaled Scrum setting where numerous Scrum Teams are working together and have interdependence
- The Scrum Master ensures that the team stays out of extraneous discussions and concentrates on the Sprint tasks, while he is responsible for responding to outside requests and concerns
- One of his most important roles is to gather input from Scrum Teams and guarantee that their issues are addressed
- The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring that the team’s critical needs are prioritized and handled for the team to operate successfully and deliver high-performing solutions
- The Scrum Master and team are also in charge of constantly improving the processes and techniques utilized to maximize the value offered. It is not the Scrum Master’s responsibility to finish the assignment
Product Owner
Another crucial scrum role is Product Owner. The Product Owner is responsible for bridging the gap between the development team and stakeholders as the voice of the customer/stakeholders. The gap is controlled by the product owner in such a way that the value of the product being developed is maximized.
The Product Owner is required to participate in all Sprint and Development activities which is important to the success of a product.
The Role of Product Owner
- The Product Owner collaborates extensively with internal and external stakeholders to gather input and synthesize a vision before adding product features to the Product Backlog
- It is the Product Owner’s duty to understand the requirements and preferences of the stakeholder/customer group because he is their representation and is in charge of producing the proper solution
- Simultaneously, the Product Owner ensures that the Development Team understands what needs to be created and when it needs to be done
- The Product Owner’s involvement with the Team enhances feedback frequency and reaction time, increasing the value of the product being created
- He manages the product backlog. They are, ultimately responsible for the backlog from which the development team works to produce. That implies the product owner should be aware of everything in the backlog, and anybody who adds items to the product backlog should interact with the product owner
- Another of his roles is to certify the features that are being built. Throughout this approach, he establishes the Acceptance Criteria for each Product Backlog Item. The Product Owner may also write Acceptance Tests that reflect the Acceptance Criteria he has established, or he may seek assistance from SMEs or the Development Team in doing so.
- The product owner must understand when things may and should be released.
The sprint is more of a planning cycle than a release cycle. As a consequence, scrum teams may work at any time. They should ideally deliver often throughout the sprint, allowing the sprint review to investigate actual client use and feedback. Continuous delivery is not always possible, necessitating the usage of alternative release models.
The Development Team
The Development Team is an essential component of the Scrum Team. The Development Team is made up of developers that are experts in their fields. The Development Team, unlike the other Scrum Team members, works on the actual implementation of the potentially deliverable software/increment that is to be given after each Sprint.
Members of the Development Team may have specific roles such as Front-end Developers, Backend Developers, Dev-Ops, QA Experts, Business Analysts, DBA, and so on, but they are always referred to as Developers; no other titles are permitted. The Development Team cannot contain sub-teams such as the testing team, the requirement specification team, and so on.
The Team is built with all of the essential skill sets in mind to build, test, and deliver product increments without the aid of others every Sprint. As a result, the team must be self-sufficient and multifaceted. The Development Team does not seek help from anybody outside of the Scrum Team and is in charge of their job.
While the Development Team as a whole is always responsible for creating Increments, everyone on the Scrum Team is responsible for overall delivery.
The size of the development team should be carefully considered because it has a direct impact on team productivity and, hence, product delivery. The Development Team should not be too large because it will require extensive coordination among team members.
Having all of the skills required to create an Increment, on the other hand, would be incredibly difficult for a small team. As a result, the size of the development team should be reduced.
The optimum Development Team size is from 3 to 9 people, with the Scrum Master and Product Owner omitted unless they are also working on the Software Increment with the other developers.
The Role of the Development Team
- The Development Team builds the product specified by the Product Owner, such as an application or website. Scrum teams are “multidisciplinary.”
- The Development Team includes all of the talents needed to create a possibly shippable product throughout each Sprint
- The Development Team organizes itself and has a great deal of autonomy and responsibility
- The Development Team decides how many products to generate during a Sprint and the best way to accomplish that objective
- The Development Team is a cross-functional, small, self-organizing team responsible for developing, testing, and delivering the Product increment
- Because team decisions are decided collectively, the Development Team may not select a team leader
Choose Your Scrum Roles
The three scrum careers represent the three core areas of responsibility on any scrum team, although they may be difficult to match to your job description. Consider the following as an example:
- Consider joining a scrum development team if you enjoy giving client value and have a varied set of abilities. In reality, the team is the most important component of any agile organization since it is in charge of providing value to consumers and stakeholders
- The product owner position is suitable for you if you are passionate about the customer, managing stakeholders, and the business domain.
- If you want to help teams work effectively together while also changing the world with scrum and agile, the scrum master role is for you
