Developers are the people in the Scrum Team who commit every Sprint to creating a usable Increment. They are the ones who do the work to create new value for users and stakeholders.
The term Developers comes from the world of software development. This is not surprising since the ideas for Scrum originated during a project looking for an efficient way to develop software.
The term simplifies things
Today Scrum is used worldwide, across many domains and fields. The Scrum Guide recognizes this and explains that the word ‘Developer’ is not used to exclude, but to simplify. So whether you work as a developer, researcher, analyst, scientist, marketer or another specialist doing the work, consider yourself included when you see the term Developer.
From Development Team to Developers
The 2020 version of the Scrum Guide changed the term ‘Development Team’ to ‘Developers’. This adjustment emphasizes the Scrum Team as a unit and that all team members, regardless of their role, are jointly responsible for the outcomes.
Responsibilities
Developers ultimately have specific skills and vary with the domain of work. In Scrum, Developers are at least always responsible for:
- Creating a plan for the Sprint and the Sprint Backlog;
- Ensuring quality by adhering to a Definition of Done;
- Adjusting their plan daily towards the Sprint Goal;
- Holding each other accountable as professionals.