Scrum Roles and Responsibilities
only 3 roles
1. Dev team 2. Scrum Master 3. Product Owner
What does Dev team do if they can't finish all Sprint Backlog items?
1. Dont include the items in the increment of current sprint 2. do not show the items in Sprint Review 3. must estimate it and return it to the Product Backlog for PO to decide what to do with the items
Key scrum master functions
1. acts as shield for team 2. remove team members that are causing conflicts 3. keep stakeholders abiding by rules (e.g. only inspecting an increment at the Sprint Review)
How to handle large projects with multiple dev teams?
1. adding new scrum teams won't affect current productivity 2. multiple dev teams should be self forming based on vision and scrum rules 3. all teams need common DoD 4. All teams should have same Sprint starting date 5. One PO/Backlog
why only 3 roles?
1. additional roles harmful to team unity 2. not compatible w/scrum philosophy
What does scrum master do when impediments are identified?
1. alert management to the impediments and impact 2. consult with dev team 3. prioritize the impediments list and address each in order
restrictions of product owner role?
1. belongs to one person 2. can be a committee but there should be 1 person representing the committee 3. well-versed in how the business operates 4. one product owner for the entire project (even if multiple dev teams) 5. one product backlog for entire project
Advantages of self-organizing dev team
1. boost to creativity 2. increased team and project commitment 3. increased accuracy of estimates
what counts as value in scrum?
1. business value 2. value for customers 3. technical value
what does SM do if PO is not following rules such as being available to dev team for info/questions?
1. coach PO and remind them of their responsibilities 2. if this doesn't work, escalate to PO's functional manager
When new self-organizing teams start a project:
1. ensure team understands they need a definition of done 2. scrum team members introduce themselves and give brief background of their skills/work history 3. product owner discusses the product or project, its history, goals and context, and answers questions
What is scrum team designed to maximize?
1. flexibility 2. creativity 3. productivity
Who is the scrum master?
1. fully understands Scrum 2. coaches scrum team to ensure all scrum processes are implemented (like Daily Scrum) 3. Management position, which manages the Scrum process rather than the Scrum team 4. Servant-leader (they take care of problems, take care of impediments and ensure everyone has resources they need) for the Scrum team 5. leads organization in its effort to adopt Scrum
Product owner summary
1. one person 2. owns product backlog 3. can cancel a sprint (rare) 4. represents business 5. value optimizer
Scrum master responsibilities
1. remove impediments for Dev team, facilitates events, and trains and coaches team 2. helps PO by consulting on finding techniques, communicating info, and facilitating related events 3. helps those outside scrum team understand appropriate interactions with the scrum team 4. possible for a single person to be Scrum Master AND a team member, although this is not recommended
what is the optimal number of dev team members for Scrum?
3-9
T or F: The Scrum Master should reduce the workload of the team and take care of arranging meetings, booking rooms, sending invitations to Scrum events when requested or needed.
F. Scrum master is not the team's secretary. Just needs to ensure that events happen when requested or needed
is there a project manager?
No, project manager responsibilities distributed among whole scrum team (PO, SM, dev team)
Are there other roles?
No, scrum does not allow this
who is the only person who can cancel a sprint?
Product Owner, not Dev team
What does cross-functional mean?
Scrum team has the expertise and competencies to get the job done w/o outside help
Who is accountable for items the PO delegates to the dev team?
The PO
When can the dev team change their approach?
Whenever they feel it is needed
Is scrum master role considered a management position in scrum?
Yes, manages the scrum process and is considered a management position in scrum. DO NOT CONFUSE with traditional project manager that has authority over ppl
Who are the scrum team?
any one in the 3 roles: PO, SM, Dev team members
benefits of self-organization within teams
commitment, accountability, creativity
relationship between PO and organization
entire org must respect PO decisions. Not even CEO should try to override decisions
Who is the development team?
experts responsible for delivering backlog items and managing their efforts 1. cross-functional 2. self-organized delivers final product in step by step increments defined in product backlog
does each member of dev team need to be cross-functional?
no - just the team as a whole
who can tell the Dev team what item to deliver?
no one but PO
Who is project manager in Scrum?
no such role in Scrum. None of the roles act as traditional PM Scrum master responsibilities different from PM
does scrum master have any authority?
no, does not make decisions or control dev team. He is just a facilitator and coach. Goal is to serve the scrum team to maximize value created
Are stakeholders considered internal?
no, even if they are involved in project
Do individual dev team members own tasks?
no, whole dev team is responsible and accountable
Should scrum master assign responsibilities?
no. Bring team together and let them self organize
is anyone required to report to or give status updates to PO?
nobody
What if work is too large for current team?
remove or change selected items or recruit additional dev team members before work begins
what happens to PM roles?
responsibilities distributed among 3 roles.
Product Owner responsiblities
responsible for Product Backlog 1. ensures each user story is easy to understand 2. communicates w/customers to keep product backlog updated and prioritized based on value 3. measures performance of the project 4. forecasts completion date and makes this info transparent
what does self-organized mean?
scrum team manages own efforts, not managed or directed by others Management and specialist efforts not separated in scrum
When the project is not internal, the customer is a...
stakeholder
Can dev team member changes happen during a sprint?
this should not happen, as it will cause short-term decrease in productivity. They should remain for duration of project
main responsibility of PO
to maximize value of work dev team performs through managing backlog and ordering items in the backlog
Can PO or SM be part of dev team?
yes, if working on sprint backlog. Not recommended
