What is a Scrum Development Team?
Scrum development team roles and responsibilities.
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Learning Scrum for the first time can be a bit overwhelming. There are all these events and roles like the Scrum development team. You may find yourself asking:
How is the Scrum development team different than a “normal” team?
This question is about more than just terminology, and it gets to the core of how Scrum changes the way we work. This article will cover three essential topics to help you.
- Does a Scrum development team have to be programmers?
- What makes a Scrum development team unique?
- How do I establish a new development team?
Does a Scrum development team have to be programmers?
TLDR: No. Scrum is not just for programmers.
Scrum has been applied most extensively to software development over the years, but it is not inherently limited to this space. Scrum can be used for a marketing team, a creative media team, a blogger or even homeschoolers.
Because of its software origin, most Scrum literature is written for that context. It can require a bit of translation at times, and for someone new to Scrum without a software background, it will get overwhelming.
I feel your pain. As I’ve seen teams and leaders struggle with translating Scrum over the years, it’s led me to create a resource just for this audience. My What is Scrum? Guide is designed for everyday people looking to apply Scrum in their context.
As I created the guide, I considered adjusting the name “development team,” but I didn’t want to create confusion for people cross-referencing resources. I also think it’s still a good term when you consider the team is still developing something they will deliver at the end of the sprint.
We have changed the name when coaching individual teams to reduce some of the friction of adopting a new work framework. If you’re leading this kind of change in your organization and think changing the name would help, go for it.
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s jump into what this development team is.
What makes a Scrum development team unique?
At first glance, a Scrum development team may look like any other team. However, once you start spending time with them, you’ll observe a few key differences. Three distinctions of a Scrum development team include
- A Scrum team is self-organizing.
- Scrum teams own the whole together.
- Scrum teams are “exclusively” focused.
A Scrum team is self-organizing.
Self-organizing is a term you’ll find a lot in Scrum literature. It means they share leadership and accountability as a team, and they don’t report to the Scrum Master or Product Owner.
They have significant freedom to identify how to solve the problems and deliver value. Said another way, the Product Owner owns what value to create, but the team owns how to deliver that value.
The rhythms of the Scrum allow the development team more autonomy. Once a sprint begins, it is a safe period of time where no new work can be assigned to the team. This period allows the team the freedom to focus and adjust as they need. Because the requirements have been clearly defined, the team can decide how they do the work.
Scrum teams own the whole together.
The whole team owns the work in the sprint backlog. If something isn’t done, it’s not the fault of one person; it’s the responsibility of the whole team. It’s not, “Bill didn’t get that done,” it’s “we didn’t get that done.” This is a critical mindset shit.
The team checks in each day through the daily scrum to stay in sync. As they evaluate and adapt each day, they engage and listen to what each other is doing because they share ownership at the end of the sprint.
They also leverage the sprint retrospective to evaluate their team functioning and adapt to improve. Not only are they sharing ownership for the value delivered, but they are also sharing ownership for how to function as a team.
Scrum teams are “exclusively” focused.
Traditionally the development team is fully allocated, focused on a single product, and cross-functional. This is the ideal setup for a Scrum team to truly thrive.
However, many organizations struggle to go all-in with exclusively focused teams. This is a big issue because the split focus decreases the team's agility and mutual trust.
If this is your situation, you can work with your leadership to still clarify the boundaries for non-team work somebody can be asked to do. It’s not ideal and could really derail the team learning Scrum, so proceed with caution.
Related Guides
How do I establish a new development team?
If you’re introducing a new team to Scrum, I’m excited for you. It’s a fun journey of learning and growth together. Let’s briefly cover three topics that will help you.
- Education
- Team Size
- Coaching
Education
You might be wondering, “do I have to teach Scrum to the whole team?” This can be overwhelming, especially if you’re learning Scrum for yourself. You have a couple of options. You can share my What is Scrum? Guide with them as a primer. I wrote it for everyday people who are learning Scrum.
Two excellent books on Scrum are The Scrum Fieldbook and Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time. These are good books for leaders interested in applying Scrum in their context, but it might be a lot to ask the whole team to read both.
You can hire an agile coach to facilitate training with your team. This is the fastest way to get everyone on the same page and up to speed. I enjoy facilitating activities to help the team learn the concepts in a hands-on kind of way. The activities cover topics like:
- Iterative development
- Self-organization
- Relative sizing
- Scrum roles and responsibilities
- Capacity and Forecasting
- Accelerating Delivery
An agile coach can also continue to provide guidance as the team gets started.
Team size and makeup
The ideal development team size is between three and nine people. Less than three, and you don’t get much of the benefit of collaboration or shared momentum. More than nine, and the logistics of coordination start to eat away at the benefits of coordination.
The development team is a cross-functional team, meaning it includes the skills necessary to get the work done.
Coaching
The role of the Scrum Master is to coach the team and the organization in the practices of Scrum. They will be critical to the success of the development team.
When I’m helping a new team get started, one of the areas I work on is the “we” language. The words we use matter, and when team members move from “I” to “we,” it makes a big difference regarding how they see their place in the team.
Leaning Scrum for the first time can be a bit overwhelming. There are many new terms and concepts in Scrum.
Well we’re here to help.
Related Guides
I hope this introduction provides you with a picture of a Scrum development team. I’m excited for what you have ahead in your journey of learning Scrum.
Action Plan
Check out my What is Scrum? A Guide for Everyday People to Learn Scrum. If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out on LinkedIn.
Still not sure about your next step with Scrum? I offer a couple of free coaching sessions each month. You can signup for a free 30-minute coaching session, and we can work together to identify a good next step for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Scrum team
How does a scrum team work?
The scrum team is made up of the product owner, scrum master and development team. They each play important roles.
- The product owner maximizes the value delivered by the product.
- The scrum master maximizes the impact of the development team.
- The development team transforms the product vision into reality.
Learn more about how a scrum team works together. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Is a Scrum Master a project manager?
Project managers and scrum masters differ in where they focus and what they emphasize.
The project manager is focused first on the work. Does the project have everything it needs to get done? The scrum master is focused first on the people. Are they the best team they can be to get projects done?
Continue learning about the relationship between a scrum master and a project manager. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Can a scrum master be a developer?
This combo is very doable, but it depends on the person. Some people are great team contributors but are not good scrum masters.
Often, people suggest the type A personality to be the Scrum Master because they seem like the typical leader type. Unfortunately, what usually happens here is that person begins to act like the team's boss, which is not the role of the scrum masters.
Learn more about the roles of a scrum team. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
What’s the right scrum team size?
With less than three, you don’t get much of the benefit of collaboration or shared momentum. More than nine, and the logistics of coordination start to eat away at the benefits of coordination.
Learn more about how a scrum team works together. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Development team
What is the development team?
They are fully focused on the product, owning the whole together. They collaborate tightly with each other to transform the product vision into reality. The team should contain all the skillsets needed to develop the product. As a self-organizing team, they have significant autonomy to decide how to get their work done.
Learn more about the roles and responsibilities of the development team. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
What does self-organizing mean?
They don’t report to the scrum master or product owner. The team has significant freedom to identify how to solve the problems and deliver the features which the product owner has prioritized
Learn more about self-organizing teams.
Explore further how a scrum development team works. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Does a Scrum development team have to be programmers?
Scrum has been applied extensively to software development over the years, but it is not inherently limited to this space. You can apply scrum with a marketing team, a creative media team, a blogger or even homeschoolers.
Learn more about what it means to be part of a scrum development team. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
What does a scrum development team do each day?
Each day the team meets for a daily standup to share progress, obstacles and plan the current day together. From there, they collaborate to do whatever is necessary to deliver the required value.
Learn more about the roles and responsibilities of the development team. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
What is Scrum?
What is the definition of scrum?
Scrum is founded on three essential pillars leading teams to ask the following questions:
- How does this make things more visible? (Transparency)
- Where does this create space to evaluate? (Inspection)
- When does this encourage growth? (Adaptation)
Further explore the definition of scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Is Scrum hard to learn?
This is because Scrum’s simplicity makes learning easy, but Scrum truly changes how you work, and that adjustment can be difficult. It changes power dynamics and expectations within the team and between the team and the rest of the organization.
You can explore further is Scrum hard to learn, along with the pros and cons of Scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
When did Scrum start?
Scrum was initially used as a term related to project management in 1986 by Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka in their paper “New New Product Development Game” In the Harvard Business Review. The first recorded Scrum project came a little later in 1993 from Jeff Sutherland.
You can learn more about Scrum’s backstory. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
What do all the scrum words mean?
Learning Scrum for the first time can be overwhelming. There are a lot of new terms and concepts in Scrum. I’ve listed the most common terms in a Scrum glossary.
How to use Scrum
Why use Scrum?
It forces clarity and prioritization, which provides the focus necessary for teams to be effective. Scrum embraces complexity and change by keeping many things simple and iteratively evaluating and adapting.
You can learn more about why to use Scrum and three challenges Scrum solves. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
When does Scrum not work well?
Scrum isn’t always the best option for teams. Scrum can fail when there is a substantial mismatch between organizational culture and the Scrum values. It also depends on the nature of the work you do. If you work if very linear, predictable and tightly defined, you may not experience many benefits Scrum provides.
Find out more about aligning your organizational values with Scrum or how Scrum might fit in your context. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
How do I know when to use Scrum?
Scrum functions at its best when you have a dedicated team focused on developing a singular product. Its agility shines when there are time constraints combined with uncertainty.
Explore the pros and cons of Scrum along with expectations vs. realities with Scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Learning to apply Scrum
How to choose between Scrum and Kanban?
Important factors include your team size and the type of work you do. Kanban is very process-oriented, so you should consider how defined, static, or long your process is?
You can explore Scrum and other agile approaches. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
How does scrum help an organization?
Scrum forces clarity and prioritization, which are critical to organizational effectiveness. It provides a competitive edge by allowing teams to adapt as the market or priorities change. Teams operate more effectively because Scrum combines empowerment of the team members with alignment to top priorities.
Learn more about scrum’s impact on organizational culture. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Is scrum a methodology or a framework?
Scrum is more of a framework than a methodology, and it helps teams adhere to Agile principles and get stuff done. Scrum provides basic rules but doesn’t prescribe how to do the work. It provides principles, values, rules, and some core structure but still leaves a lot undefined.
Learn more about scrum as a framework. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
What’s the difference between scrum and agile?
When people say “agile,” they usually refer to it as a mindset. Scrum is a framework for how to organize people and work in an agile way. If you’re practicing Scrum, you’re working in an Agile way.
Learn more about the relationship between scrum and agile. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
