Scrum guide · The Scrum Team
Scrum Team Roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master and Developers
A Scrum Team is a small, cohesive unit with one goal at a time. Within it, three accountabilities share the work: the Product Owner, the Scrum Master and the Developers. There are no sub-teams or hierarchies.
Key takeaways
- A Scrum Team has three accountabilities and no sub-teams.
- Product Owner: value; Scrum Master: effectiveness; Developers: the Increment.
- Keep teams small, cross-functional and self-managing.
The Scrum Team
- Typically ten or fewer people, so the team stays nimble.
- Cross-functional: it has all the skills needed to create value each Sprint.
- Self-managing: it decides internally who does what, when and how.
- Focused on one objective at a time: the Product Goal.
The three accountabilities
| Accountability | Accountable for | Key activities |
|---|---|---|
| Product Owner | Maximising the value of the product | Product Goal; ordering and communicating the Product Backlog |
| Scrum Master | The Scrum Team's effectiveness | Coaching, removing impediments, facilitating |
| Developers | Creating a usable Increment each Sprint | Sprint Backlog, quality, Definition of Done |
Why "accountabilities", not roles
The 2020 Scrum Guide speaks of accountabilities rather than roles, to emphasise that these are responsibilities within one team, not job titles or hierarchy levels. "Developers" includes anyone doing the work, such as designers, analysts, testers and writers.
Common mistakes
- One person acting as both Product Owner and Scrum Master.
- A Product Owner without authority to make decisions.
- A Scrum Master acting as a project manager who assigns tasks.
- Splitting Developers into separate sub-teams such as "dev" and "test".
- Teams so large that coordination dominates the work.
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Frequently asked questions
How many people share the Scrum Team roles?
Typically ten or fewer, including the Product Owner and Scrum Master.
Can a committee hold one of the Scrum roles, such as Product Owner?
No. The Product Owner is one person, though they may represent the needs of many stakeholders.
What are the three roles in Scrum?
Product Owner, Scrum Master and Developers. The 2020 Scrum Guide calls them accountabilities rather than roles.
Is the Development Team still one of the Scrum Team roles?
The 2020 Scrum Guide removed the separate Development Team. There is now one Scrum Team, made up of the Product Owner, the Scrum Master and the Developers.
Can one person combine the Scrum Master and Product Owner roles in Scrum?
The Scrum Guide does not explicitly forbid it, but combining the two is widely discouraged because the accountabilities pull in different directions and the checks between them are lost.
Can one person hold both the Scrum Master and Developer roles in Scrum?
Yes, the Scrum Guide does not prevent it, though it can be hard to balance both. If they work on Sprint Backlog items, they take part in the Daily Scrum as Developers.
Which of the Scrum roles manages the Developers?
None. No one inside the Scrum Team manages the Developers' daily work. They are self-managing and decide how to turn Product Backlog items into an Increment.
What is the Scrum role of the Developers?
Developers create the plan for the Sprint, instil quality by adhering to the Definition of Done, adapt their plan each day towards the Sprint Goal and hold each other accountable as professionals.
What happens to the Scrum Team roles when a team grows too large?
The Scrum Guide suggests reorganising into multiple cohesive Scrum Teams focused on the same product, sharing the same Product Goal, Product Backlog and Product Owner. See Scrum of Scrums.
Is stakeholder one of the Scrum Team roles?
No. Stakeholders, such as customers, users and managers, are outside the Scrum Team but collaborate with it, especially at the Sprint Review.
Which of the Scrum roles do testers fill?
The Developer role. In Scrum, anyone doing the work to create the Increment is a Developer, including testers, designers, analysts and writers.