Scrum - Roles

• Scrum Roles

  • Product Owner

  • Scrum Master

  • Scrum Team

• Scrum Development Team

  • Composition

    • The Scrum Development Team is typically composed of 3-9 individuals who work together to create and deliver the product increment

    • Developers only.

  • Self-organized organization

    • Self-directed, self-selective of the work to do from the product backlog and how to do it.

  • Cross-functional.

    • Self-contained with all of the skills necessary to succeed.

    • The Scrum Development Team is cross-functional, meaning that they have all the necessary skills to create and deliver the product increment. This includes design, development, testing, and any other skills necessary to deliver a working product.

  • Responsible.

    • Each team member commits their work to the team when delegated or “pulled.”

      • In a pull-based system, team members are responsible for selecting and taking on tasks as they become available, rather than being assigned tasks by a manager or team leader.

    • The Scrum Development Team is responsible for delivering a potentially shippable product increment at the end of each sprint. They are accountable for the quality and completeness of the work they produce.

  • Authority to commit as a team to the customer.

    • The Scrum Development Team is given the authority to determine how the work will be done and how to best accomplish their objectives. They are empowered to make decisions and take actions to deliver the product increment.

  • Size 7 +/- 3

  • Note that

    • The Scrum Team consists of

      • a Product Owner,

      • the Development Team, and

      • a Scrum Master.

      • The development team is sometimes also just called ‘team’. Scrum team is never shortened to ‘team’.

    • Scrum Teams are self-organizing and cross-functional. Self-organizing teams choose how best to accomplish their work, rather than being directed by others outside the team. It also means that the team selects and develops the highest priority items on the Product Backlog.

    • Cross-functional teams have all competencies needed to accomplish the work without depending on others not part of the team. The team model in Scrum is designed to optimize flexibility, creativity, and productivity.

    • Commitment means a high responsibility for the scrum team. A scrum team member commits to her work, whenever this is delegated or ‘pulled’.

    • Due to the commitment, a scrum team needs a certain measure of authority to do whatever is needed to meet commitment.

• Product Owner

  • Collects user stories.

  • Manages Product Backlog (add, move, or delete items).

  • Prioritizes the value of items in the Product Backlog.

  • Monitors goals and vision.

  • Explains items in Product Backlog for clarity to Development Team.

  • Performs constant updating of Product Backlog.

  • Performs Product Backlog Grooming.

  • Accountable to the customer regarding the ability of deliverables to fulfill customer needs.

  • Note that

    • The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Development Team. How this is done may vary widely across organizations, Scrum Teams, and individuals..

    • The Product Owner is the sole person responsible for managing the Product Backlog. Product Backlog management includes:

    • Clearly expressing Product Backlog items

      • Establishes, nurtures and communicates the product vision

    • Ordering the items in the Product Backlog to best achieve goals and missions

    • Sets development schedule by prioritizing the Product Backlog

    • Optimizing the value of the work the Development Team performs

    • Ensuring that the Product Backlog is visible, transparent, and clear to all, and shows what the Scrum Team will work on next

    • Ensuring the Development Team understands items in the Product Backlog to the level needed

    • Monitors the project against it’s stated goals and financial vision and

    • Works with others to estimate items on the Product Backlog

• Scrum Master

  • Coaches the team (servant leader).

  • Shields or protects the team.

  • Removes obstacles blocking any team member from higher productivity.

  • Deals with customer non-compliance.

  • Acquires any new equipment or licenses.

  • Runs interference for any issues the team is facing.

  • Leads daily stand-up.

  • Calculates, documents, and reports on team velocity.

  • May assist Product Owner in Backlog Grooming.

  • Note that

    • The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring Scrum is understood and enacted. Scrum Masters do this by ensuring that the Scrum Team adheres to Scrum theory, practices, and rules.

    • The Scrum Master is a coach (or servant-leader) for the Scrum Team. The Scrum Master helps those outside the Scrum Team understand which of their interactions with the Scrum Team are helpful and which aren’t. The Scrum Master helps everyone change these interactions to maximize the value created by the Scrum Team.

    • Responsible for setting the team up for success by:

    • Coaches the team in using Scrum

    • Ensures organizational cultures are optimized for meeting the goals of project

    • Establishes Scrum practices and rules

    • Shields the team from outside disturbances

    • Removes obstacles

    • Represents management for the duration of the project

• Scrum Master Action Plan

  • Constantly on the lookout for any issues that would adversely affect the development team.

  • At the beginning of each sprint:

    • Define the “definition of done.”

    • Establish actual capacity.

    • Decompose features into tasks.

    • Help the team to estimate each task.

    • Ensure testing and acceptance by the Product Owner (and user).

    • Calculate new team velocity.

  • Note that

    • In building the action plan for the upcoming weeks (at the start of a new sprint) make sure you follow these bullets. Obviously, you should use any other available team members to start up the process. As a Scrum Master you should motivate team members to take these steps and coach them into being effective (and efficient) in doing so.

• Velocity

  • Velocity: A measure of the average amount of work (in story points or other units) that is completed per unit of time (e.g., single sprint, day, week, month).

  • Only items meeting the “definition of done” are included in the calculations. No partial credit is given for work not completed.

• Team Velocity

  • Used to define the work speed of the team.

  • The average number of story points the development team completes each sprint.

  • Only includes completed items.

  • Requires historical data.

    • Historical data is important when calculating Team Velocity because it provides a basis for estimating how much work the team is likely to be able to complete in future Sprints. By analyzing past performance, the team can gain insights into how much work they are able to complete within a given timeframe, and use this information to plan future Sprints more effectively.

  • Problem with changing situations

  • Team Velocity is typically calculated at the end of each Sprint

    • This is because Team Velocity is a measure of the work speed of the Scrum Development Team during a given Sprint, and it can only be accurately calculated once the Sprint is complete and all work has been accounted for.

  (environment/complexity/team composition).

  • Knowing the team velocity allows the Scrum Master to predict the final completion date of the project, and allows the team to make reasonable commitments regarding the number of story points to agree to work on the upcoming sprint.

• Capacity

  • Capacity is a measure of the maximum amount of work that a development team expects to produce in a given sprint. This calculation is based on what resources are available at the specific time of the calculation.

  • Capacity refers to the amount of work that a Scrum Development Team is capable of completing during a given period, usually a Sprint.

  • The purpose of defining the capacity of a Scrum Development Team is to ensure that they can realistically commit to a set amount of work during the Sprint, without overloading themselves or under-delivering on their commitments.

• Interaction Between Stakeholders

  •