Scrum Roles: The Key to Achieving Your Goals in Any Software Development Project

Scrum is the process of collaboratively performing a set of tasks to fulfill a particular objective within a specific time frame.

To fully benefit from Scrum, it's necessary to define the Scrum roles, their responsibilities, skills, and their importance in properly implementing this methodology. Scrum becomes more organized and efficient when we clearly understand the roles. So, let's start:

Scrum Master

The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of all Scrum Team roles, helping each member improve. They are also in charge of clearing any roadblocks that prevent the team from achieving their objectives. This role serves the product owner, the development team, and the organization as a whole.

Scrum Master Responsibilities

• Guide team members to be self-managing and cross-functional
• Ensure the smooth progress of the project
• Ensure that all Scrum events are conducted productively
• Set up a clear product schedule
• Ease and encourage teamwork
• Assess and map out Scrum implementation across the organization
• Lead, train, and guide the organization in the implementation of the Scrum methodology

Scrum Master Skills

• Teamwork
• Problem-solving
• Leadership and innovation
• Organization and planning
• Delegation of tasks
• Adaptation to change
• Interpersonal communication

Product Owner

The product owner is in charge of maximizing the product value and the work of the Scrum Team. It's really important to remember that there is only one Product Owner per project, and they are the person who makes the final decisions regarding the products. Product owners rely on other Scrum roles to clarify details and define criteria in order to make the best decisions.

Product Owner Responsibilities

• Develop and communicate the product objective
• Manage the Product Backlog
• Sort the items in the Product Backlog
• Sort and prioritize tasks for higher productivity
• Ensure that the product list is clear and understood
• Represent the customer and their interests to obtain the highest possible value for the business

Product Owner Skills

• Solid vision
• Mastery of business tools
• Collaborative
• Responsive
• Ability to make decisions
• Analysis of customer needs and competitive environment
• Interpersonal communication

Development team

They are responsible for delivering the products as per the set standards. Scrum Developers are highly structured and cross-functional team members with the authority to organize and manage their work and make their own decisions. No titles or sub-teams are set within the Scrum roles, as everyone is responsible for the results.

The ideal size of a Scrum team should be small enough to remain agile but large enough to complete all the work.

Development Team Responsibilities

• Deliver "Done" development tasks that can potentially be put into production at the end of each Sprint
• Only development team members perform deliverables

Development team skills

• Organized
• Efficient and effective
• Cross-functional. Must have all the necessary skills needed for development

Stakeholders

Stakeholders encompass people involved in the project who are not a part of the Scrum Team. 

They are a source of information for the Scrum Team. The organization should encourage them to work according to the team's needs to complete the Sprint. Stakeholders include end users, management, sponsors, client-side IT teams, and anyone else who will interact with the project.

See our other post, Why Teams Should Use Agile, to learn more about Scrum or Contact us today to get started!