A Scrum Team is a small team of people that collaborates to achieve a common goal. The Scrum framework is the basis and provides a structured, yet flexible framework to organize work. It ultimately enables the team to create value and solve complex problems.
Team size
A typical Scrum Team consists of 10 or fewer people. This ensures that the team is large enough to do significant work but small enough to remain agile and flexible.
Three responsibilities per team
The team has no hierarchies or sub-teams, only three responsibilities:
- The Developers
- The Product Owner
- The Scrum Master
Note: The Scrum Guide uses the term ‘responsibilities’ instead of ‘roles’ to describe the different responsibilities within a Scrum Team. This is an important nuance because it emphasizes the responsibilities rather than rigid, formally defined positions.
Developers
The Developers in the Scrum Team commit themselves each Sprint to make a working part of the product.
Product owner
The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the end product – resulting from the team’s efforts.
Scrum Master
The Scrum Master is responsible, among other things, for promoting and supporting Scrum within the team and the organization. The Scrum Master helps everyone to understand and apply the Scrum framework and works to remove obstacles that hinder the team.
Multidisciplinary and self-organizing
Scrum Teams possess all the skills needed to create the product. This means that the team is not dependent on people outside the team to achieve their goals. Furthermore, team members themselves regulate who does what work, how and when it happens.
Scrum Teams work in Sprints
A Scrum Team works in short, repeatedly occurring periods, called Sprints , to build or improve pieces of a product. They repeat these sprints, each time creating something that is ready and usable.
After each sprint, the team reflects on their work and plans what they will do next Sprint. This helps the team to adapt and improve, while the product gradually grows based on new feedback, insights and needs.
Scrum Values
Understanding and living the Scrum Values is essential for the success of a Scrum Team. Here is a brief overview.
- Commitment – The team commits to completing their tasks
- Focus – Everyone focuses on the task at hand
- Openness – Team members are open about their work and issues
- Respect – Everyone respects each other’s skills and opinions
- Courage – Team members dare to be honest and do the right thing, even when things are difficult
These values help the team to collaborate better, solve problems and deliver quality work.