SCRUM – Roles and Responsibilities.

Learning to implement SCRUM… Before we dwell on details of same let’s get familiar with some Roles and their responsibilities. AGILE/SCRUM projects have different Roles and Responsibilities than that in the conventional waterfall model. Let understand them all.

If you read about AGILE Manifesto the first value is: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

So first thing first let’s create the team and understand who all we need to bring SCRUM to reality. So following are the Roles and their Responsibilities they execute.

1. Scrum Master: The person who ensures the team keeps to the values and practices of Scrum, sort of like a coach.

• The Scrum Master is considered to be the top-dog in every organization because companies usually hire them and don’t treat them as permanent employees that are why they are with no authority.
• It is their duty to remove all the hindrance or obstruction in the way of achieving any goal.
• It is also their role to enforce scrum ceremonies and processes.
• They are the ones who commit to goals and deadlines on behalf of the team.

2. Product Owner: He is one of the key stakeholders. Typically, the product owner will be the primary user of the product or at least have a deep understanding of who will. Despite this expertise, the product owner does not get to determine how much work happens in the sprint cycles or alter the goals for that sprint.

• The product owner is responsible for conveying the vision of the stakeholders to the team.
• They have the authority to alter the scope.
• The Product Owners are responsible for the return on investment (ROI) that is why they occupy an authoritative position in the firm.
• Because they convey the vision of the stakeholders that is why they are the voice of the stakeholders.
• Not only with the team, but they also communicate with the stakeholders about progress and problems.

3. Scrum Team: Everyone works together to do whatever it takes to complete tasks they’ve all agreed on for a sprint.

• The Scrum Team is responsible for all the activities that lead them towards their sprint goals.
• They have to work with the Scrum Master to prioritize the items from the product backlog in the sprint planning.
• Once committed, it is their responsibility to fulfill the commitment and deliver the agreed results on time with great quality.
• The Scrum Master is not responsible for keeping his team organized that is they it is the duty of the Scrum Team to get self-organized.
• They have to be agile in the office and have to attend every standup and other ceremonies.
• They have to participate in all the meetings despite their nature and have to ensure that all the findings of the meetings are getting practically addressed in the project.

4. Stakeholders: Anyone who is impacted by the project is stakeholders. The impact can be positive and negative both.

• The Stakeholder has to keep a healthy relationship with the Product Owner in order to share every detail regarding his project.
• The Stakeholder is responsible for conveying his wishes and concerns to the product owner or else the product owner would not be responsible for his project quality and time duration.
• The Stakeholder has to provide regular input to queries from the Product Owner.
• Prioritizing the work effectively with the Product Owner is another job that the Stakeholder has to do to ensure his project development.
• Keep taking updates or keep giving updates regarding any change in the plans.

In upcoming articles, we will be heavily using the above roles. So I would encourage you to do more google and understand these roles well. You may reach me in case any more details…

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