A Scrum Team performs all product activities: cooperation with stakeholders, verification, maintenance, operation, experiments, research, development and all that may be required. They are structured and empowered by the organization to manage their own work. Working in Sprints at a steady pace improves the focus and consistency of the Scrum Team.

The whole Scrum Team is responsible for valuable and useful Increment creation in every Sprint. Scrum defines three responsibility zones in the Scrum Team: Developers, Product Owner and Scrum Master.

Developers are the people in the Scrum Team who are committed to creating any aspect of a ready-to-use Increment in every Sprint. The specific skills needed by Developers depend on the subject area of the work being done and can be very different. However, Developers are always responsible for:

• creating a plan for Sprint - Sprint Backlog24;

• striving for quality through compliance with the Definition of readiness (Definition of Done)25;

• daily adaptation of your plan to achieve the Sprint Goal;

• mutual accountability to each other as professionals.

SCRUM ROLES: PRODUCT OWNER

A Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. The ways to achieve maximum value can be very different and depend on organizations, Scrum Teams and specific people. The Product Owner is also responsible for the effective management of the Product Backlog, including:

• Product Goal developing and accurate communicating;

• Product Backlog elements creating and explaining;

• Product Backlog elements organizing;

• Product Backlog transparency, accessibility and understanding providing.

A Product Owner can do this work himself or delegate it to other persons. However, Product Owner remains responsible for it. In order for Product Owners to succeed in this, the entire organization must respect their decisions. These decisions are reflected in the content and order of the Product Backlog elements, as well as in the Increment being inspected during the Sprint Review26. A Product Owner is one person, not a committee. The Product Owner can reflect the needs of many stakeholders in the Product Backlog. Those who want to change the Product Backlog can do this by trying to convince the Product Owner.

SCRUM ROLES: SCRUM MASTER

A Scrum Master is responsible for applying Scrum in accordance with Scrum Guidelines. They do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory and practices, both within the Scrum Team and organization. The Scrum Master is responsible for Scrum Team effectiveness, helping the Scrum Team improve their working methods within the Scrum framework. Scrum Masters are true leaders who serve the Scrum Team and entire organization.

A Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team in several ways, including:

• advising team members on self-management and cross-functionality;

• helping the Scrum Team focus on creating Increments with high value that meet the Definition of readiness;

• helping to eliminate obstacles that hinder the progress of the Scrum Team;

• making sure that all Scrum events occur, are positive, productive and do not go beyond the time limits.

A Scrum Master serves the Product Owner in several ways, including:

• helping to find techniques for effective Product Goal detection and Product Backlog management;

• helping the Scrum Team realize the need for clear and concise Product Backlog elements;

• helping to apply empirical product planning in a complex environment;