When we talk about project management or agile project management methodologies, one name comes to mind more than anything else. That name is Scrum.
Scrum is an incredible framework that allows all of the teams and their included team members to work together.
This scrum framework is kind of a learning methodology where the team members get to learn the work that they have to do by living through experiences, self-organizing while working on a problem in the project development process, and reflecting on their successes and failures to continuously improve their game.
In this article, we are going to talk about the Scrum teams, how they can be managed in 2022 and how to improve scrum team productivity without any problems and obstacles. So, without further ado, let’s dive in and find out what scrum teams are and what do they contain.
Scrum Team
A Scrum team is a group of people that are working together on a project development process, generally, 5 to 9 in number, to complete the product increments that they have been entrusted with.
The scrum framework that we talked about before, helps the team members to improve the level of communication among themselves so that they can perform the following operations,
- Adhering to the same rules and norms to achieve a unified result
- Following a common goal and not straying from the recommended path to success
- Showing respect to each other and maintaining a professional environment to achieve success
Let’s now talk about the structure of a Scrum Team.
Structure of Scrum Team
The Scrum Team consists of the following players,
Let’s now talk about these players individually to find out their roles and responsibilities in a Scrum Team.
1. Product Owner
The product owner in a scrum team is the most advanced team member that knows exactly what the customer wants from the product or service that you are providing.
They also know the relative business value of those customer demands and whether or not they are going to make money for the company.
One of the main duties that they perform for the scrum team is that they translate the needs and wants of the customer to the team so that they can design service or a product that matches those demands.
If you are hiring a product owner or you want to assume the role yourself in the future, you need to make sure that you know the business case for the product, how it is going to operate and what features are required by the customer. This will help you in your duties as a product owner.
When they are burdened with such huge responsibilities, they should at least have the power to enforce them, and that is exactly what product owners have, being in charge of the product backlog. This responsibility includes many different things like,
- Ordering all of the product backlog items that have been requested by the team so that they can easily achieve the missions and goals of the company
- Make sure that the product backlog is visible to the scrum team so that all of the team members know what they have to do and there are no blank spaces when it comes to communication
- Expressing the product backlog items clearly so that the team members don’t get confused
- Optimizing the quantity and quality of the work that the scrum team performs for the company to generate value
Also Read:
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2. Scrum Master
The scrum master of the team is an integral part of the whole shebang as they are responsible for keeping the team members accountable for their commitments to the company i.e. the work that they have promised to perform for the company as part of the project development process.
The scrum master of the scrum team is also responsible for removing any and every obstacle and problem from the road to success for the team members so that their productivity is at its peak and their performance doesn’t falter when the company needs them so desperately.
They are also responsible for meeting with the scrum team members regularly to talk about all of the work tasks and processes that they are performing for the company and all of the deliverables that they have to send over to fulfill their oath to the business.
Here are some other duties and roles that the scrum master has to perform for the company.
- They have to remove all of the issues, problems, and obstacles from the team’s path to make sure that their productivity is not impacted and everything happens seamlessly without delay
- They have to ensure that the whole project development process goes smoothly and no scope creeps damage the project
- They also have to organize all of the different meetings and critical events for the scrum team, so that the team remains in communication with each other and there are no empty spaces when it comes to information about the project
Related:
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3. Development team
The development team members of the scrum teams are quite empowered by the company and they are responsible for managing and organizing their work.
This autonomous strategy helps the company improve the development team’s overall effectiveness and efficiency.
The development team members have the following characteristics,
- The development team is self-organizing as we discussed and they are responsible for every single task and activity that they perform as part of the project development process
- They have no individual titles assigned by the scrum team, no matter how important the task or process is that the development team members are performing for the company
- Individual team members of the development department may have specialized areas of focus and special skills to tackle complex situations, but when it comes to accountability, the effort and reward belong to every single member of the development team
Let’s now take a look at scrum ceremonies or events that the scrum team members have to perform as part of their duties.
Scrum Events or Ceremonies
The scrum framework has a lot of different events, meetings, or ceremonies that the scrum team members have to perform or attend regularly. Here is a list of those ceremonies.
Let’s take a look at all of these ceremonies in detail and find out what they contain.
1. Daily Scrum
The daily scrum is a short meeting that lasts only 15 minutes and is conducted so that the scrum team members can give a short update on what they did as part of their duties in the current sprint and what problems they faced while doing their work.
These meetings are usually conducted in the morning hours so that the team members are energized and not lazy, which causes the meeting to last longer than it should.
2. Organizing the Backlog
Sometimes the product owner has to organize the backlog or perform ‘backlog grooming’. This helps the product owners to maintain a list of the feedback that they are getting from the development team and the customers so that they can formulate a strategy to give everyone what they want.
3. Sprint Planning
Sprint planning is the activity to plan all of the tasks and activities that the scrum team has to perform in the upcoming scrum so that they can easily accomplish all of the goals and milestones that the company has set for them to generate more value.
4. Sprint
A sprint is a time period in which the scrum team comes together and pushes hard to make sure that the goals and milestones of the company are accomplished. This time period is usually two weeks long, but depending on the company’s needs and requirements, it can also be just a week long.
What are some tips and tricks on how to improve scrum team productivity?
Adopting Scrum methodology might become a bit of trouble, especially if you have never worked with Scrum. We have already explained the basics in the previous sections, up next are some tips and tricks on how to improve scrum team productivity.
Here is a list of some very useful tips you can use to improve the productivity of your Scrum team:
- Fully embrace Scrum methodology in the earlier stages, you can add your ‘personal’ touch in the later stages.
- Your goal should be to improve efficiency and productivity, not production. Production quality and quantity are bound to improve once you have optimized performance.
- Keep your Scrum team motivated and inspired so that they can keep up the spirit for continuous improvement.
- Encourage transparency throughout the team. Transparency, in teamwork, promotes healthier collaboration and makes it easy to identify and resolve issues before they become unsolvable.
- During Scrum retrospectives, communicate with the team members to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Conclusion
This was our guide to scrum teams and if you think that we should add something else then let us know.
