Scrum Roles

 Like any team, Scrum has roles assigned to it. The three roles of Scrum are Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Development Team. These roles, like the tri-force, are an integral part to comepleting the mission of project success.

Scrum has been  described as a "team sport", and all members of the team must work together for it to be an effective process.

 The Roles, brief definitions and their responsibilities are outlined below.

 Product Owner

The Product Owner is the single individual who is responsible for drawing out the most valuable possible product by the desired date. This is done by managing the flow of work into the team, selecting and refining items from the Product Backlog. The Product Owner may be supported by other individuals but must be a single person. The Product Owner, by choosing what the Development Team should do next and what to defer, makes the scope versus schedule decisions to lead to the best possible product.The Product Owner is typically charged by the organization to "get this product out", and is typically the person who is expected to do the best possible job of satisfying all the stakeholders. The Product Owner does this by managing the Product Backlog, and by ensuring that the Product Backlog, and progress against it, is kept visible.

 Responsibilities:

• Develop and communicate the product vision
• Backlog Grooming
• Assign priority to tasks
• Determines what items must be completed
• Represents the business
• Write UserStories
• Answers and clarifies questions from Scrum Team and ScrumMaster
• Communicate to Stakeholders and Scrum Team

Scrum Master

The ScrumMaster is a "servant leader", helping the rest of the Scrum Team follow their process.  The ScrumMaster must have a good understanding of the Scrum framework and the ability to train others in its subtleties. The ScrumMaster works with the Product Owner to help the Product Owner understand how to create and maintain the Product Backlog.  He works with the Development Team to find and implement the technical practices that will allow them to get to done at the end of each Sprint.  He works with the whole Scrum Team to evolve the Definition of Done. Another responsibility of the ScrumMaster is to see that impediments to the team’s progress are removed, they may be external to the team, such as a lack of support from another team, or internal, such as the Product Owner not knowing how to properly prepare the Product Backlog.

Responsibilities:

Scrum Master Service to the Product Owner

• Finding techniques for effective Product Backlog management;
• Clearly communicating vision, goals, and Product Backlog items to the Development Team;
• Teaching the Scrum Team to create clear and concise Product Backlog items;
• Understanding long-term product planning in an empirical environment;
• Understanding and practicing agility; and, Facilitating Scrum events as requested or needed.

Scrum Master Service to the Development Team

• Coaching the Development Team in self-organization and cross-functionality;
• Teaching and leading the Development Team to create high-value products;
• Removing impediments to the Development Team’s progress;
• Facilitating Scrum events as requested or needed; and,
• Coaching the Development Team in organizational environments in which Scrum is not yet fully adopted and understood.

Scrum Master Service to the Organization

• Leading and coaching the organization in its Scrum adoption;
• Planning Scrum implementations within the organization;
• Helping employees and stakeholders understand and enact Scrum and empirical product development;
• Causing change that increases the productivity of the Scrum Team; and,
• Working with other Scrum Masters to increase the effectiveness of the application of Scrum in the organization.

 Development Team

 The Development Team is made up of the professionals who do the work of delivering the Product Increment. They self-organize to accomplish the work. Development team members are expected to be available to the project full time. Scrum requires that the Development Team be a cross-functional group of people who, among them, have all the necessary skills to deliver each increment of the product. The whole Scrum Team is responsible for being as productive as possible, for improving their practices, for asking the right questions, for helping the Product Owner, and so on. The Development Team is responsible for determining how much work will be taken on in a Sprint, and for producing a usable Product Increment in every Sprint.

 Responsibilities:

• Self-Organize
• Work with Product Owner to forecast Sprint contents
• Work to reach the defined "Definition of Done" for the team
• Report Hours worked to ScrumMaster and Product Owner
• Participate in Meetings
• Report impediments to ScrumMaster
• Produce a Product Increment