What Should An Ideal Scrum Team Be Like And Consist Of?

Scrum is a management practice, or a specialized technique which needs to be implemented in a proper manner to get the desired results. The real power of scrum is confined within its team, and how the scrum implementation process is carried out. The team, or rather the “development” team to be more precise, should be efficient, and possess certain characteristics to deliver optimum results. The characteristics can be summarized as follows:  

Be self organized

Scrum team members should be motivated individuals, who do not wait for their superiors to allot work or tasks to them so they can carry them out. They should be self-motivated, and undertake a proactive approach in everything they do. They should be ready to take on the responsibilities, share them amongst other team members, take proper decisions, and work in a unified manner to achieve the common goals and objectives.

Have empowerment

It is important to have a certain degree of empowerment in order to carry out the responsibilities. The team should be provided with enough power to decide, and take on-the-spot decisions regarding development related issues. It is important for the team members to have this authority, since a lot of time could be wasted in getting approvals from senior members or project managers. Scrum supports rapid development, and this can only be possible if the constituent team members are vested with enough authority to decide upon the further course of action.  

Support collaboration

Scrum is based upon collaboration and joint efforts put forward by all team members. Scrum projects are possible when each team member understands about, and pursues a shared value creation process in which everyone contributes something towards the development of the project. Ideally, the team should share ideas, knowledge, risks, and responsibilities. Team members should work in harmony to deliver the desired results.

Follow shared goals and objectives

It is very important to have a common shared goal. If each individual strives to pursue individual goals, or tries to achieve goals that are not defined by the project, it may become impossible to complete the project, simply because the projects goals will not be satisfied. Team members should be made aware about the overall picture regarding the project development, and made to understand about the common goals which ought to be pursued by them in a collective manner.  

Be of optimum size

Bigger projects have larger development related requirements, and need bigger teams to develop the projects. The size and nature of the project determines the size of the development team. Scrum levies a lot of emphasis upon time bound development work. Each sprint has a fixed iteration time associated with it, and cannot last indefinitely. It is important for the team to be of just the correct size. A much smaller team may lack the potential to successfully complete the sprint, since individual team members have a limitation, and cannot provide productivity more than they are capable of. A much larger team might prove to be cumbersome. It becomes difficult to be collaborative when the total number of individuals exceeds the optimum value. Ideally, the team should consist of six to ten members, but the actual value may vary depending upon the project, its deadline, and the levels of difficulty attached to it.

Possess diverse skills

Irrespective of the size of the team, it is equally important for the team members to possess the skill sets required to successfully undertake the development activity. It would be meaningless to employ several individuals, and still fail to deliver the development during the sprint. The product owner should carefully evaluate the experience levels and the skill sets of each team member, and if required take the assistance of the scrum master while choosing the team.    

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