Development Team

Definition

The development team is a group of professionals in Scrum who work collaboratively to deliver a potentially releasable product increment at the end of each Sprint. This team is responsible for turning the product backlog into usable software and is self-organizing, cross-functional, and empowered to make decisions about how to best achieve their goals.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. The development team typically consists of 3 to 9 members with diverse skills needed to deliver a product increment.
2. Members of the development team are collectively responsible for the quality and delivery of the product increment, emphasizing collaboration over individual contributions.
3. They self-organize their work, deciding how best to accomplish their tasks without being directed by outside authority.
4. Development teams are cross-functional, meaning they possess all the skills required to create a product increment, including design, development, testing, and documentation.
5. They hold key Scrum events like Sprint Planning, Daily Scrums, Sprint Reviews, and Sprint Retrospectives to facilitate continuous improvement and communication.

Review Questions

• How does the self-organizing nature of the development team impact their performance and decision-making within Scrum?
  • The self-organizing nature of the development team empowers them to make decisions on how to approach their work without external direction. This autonomy allows team members to leverage their collective skills effectively and promotes accountability for their results. As they collaborate closely, this leads to faster problem-solving and innovation, as they can adjust their processes based on real-time feedback during events such as Daily Scrums.
• Discuss the role of the development team in relation to other Scrum roles such as the Scrum Master and Product Owner.
  • The development team plays a critical role alongside the Scrum Master and Product Owner. While the Product Owner defines what needs to be done by prioritizing the product backlog, the Scrum Master facilitates the team's adherence to Scrum principles and removes obstacles. The development team takes these inputs and collaborates to execute on them, ensuring that each increment meets quality standards while maintaining transparency in their progress through various Scrum events.
• Evaluate how the effectiveness of the development team can be measured using Agile KPIs and metrics like velocity and cycle time.
  • The effectiveness of the development team can be assessed using various Agile KPIs such as velocity, which measures the amount of work completed in each Sprint, typically represented in story points. Cycle time can also be analyzed to understand how long it takes for a task to go from start to finish within a Sprint. By monitoring these metrics over time, teams can identify trends in their productivity and efficiency, allowing them to make informed adjustments that enhance their performance while ensuring alignment with stakeholder expectations.

Related terms

Scrum Master: The Scrum Master is a facilitator for the development team, ensuring that they follow Scrum practices and principles, and helping to remove any impediments that may hinder their progress.

Product Owner: The Product Owner represents the stakeholders and is responsible for defining the features of the product and prioritizing the product backlog to maximize value.

Sprint: A Sprint is a time-boxed period in which the development team works to complete a set amount of work, resulting in a potentially shippable product increment.