There are many courses, certifications, and studies that teach and empower us to become good Scrum Masters (SM) or good Product Owners (PO). However, there is very little focused on developers and how they can be valuable members of the Scrum Team.
Many might argue that it's not really necessary, as being a developer simply involves performing assigned technical tasks to the best of one's ability and completing the work. However, from my point of view, a developer who commits to being a good member of the Scrum Team is someone who works according to the Scrum pillars and values, understands the agile manifesto, knows their responsibilities within the framework, and enjoys what they do.
When developers who understand Scrum well are part of the team, high performance is achieved. Each individual becomes more demanding of themselves and others, but not from a negative or authoritarian perspective, but rather the opposite. As a result, the person achieves:
For themselves: always striving to give their best.
For their PO: ensuring that Product Backlog Items (PBIs) are clear and understandable for development.
For their SM: ensuring that events are conducted effectively and efficiently.
For their teammates: encouraging self-organization.
In this way, the framework is applied in the best possible manner, and all its virtues and benefits become observable. Why doesn't Scrum work in some organizations? ❌ One of the reasons Scrum fails within an organization is because developers haven't internalized it. While theoretically, we know this is one of the main functions of the SM, it could also be a part of the developer's responsibility to make an effort and care about learning more about Scrum since, ultimately, it's for their own benefit.
And we could discuss that the origin of the problem lies with the SM for neglecting one of their main functions... and perhaps they are right, but I like the romantic idea 💔 of believing that when we work under Scrum, we all desire to fully understand and apply it as it should be.
Usually, when organizations talk about Scrum—even those claiming to apply it—only the SM and sometimes the PO truly understand the heart of Scrum and its purpose. Developers or stakeholders rarely understand and follow the Scrum pillars, values, and the agile manifesto.
Often, what happens in these organizations is that they don't see the benefits of applying Scrum, as they merely claim to do Scrum by changing the names of their meetings to more fancy ones ✨ where people involved in projects or product creation work in the same way they used to. Then they attribute the lack of expected results to Scrum.
How to be a good member of a development team? 👩💻
To be a good member of the Scrum team:
First, recognize the fundamental role you play in this ecosystem. You have the power to either work at a pace that motivates you to achieve incredible things or to do things in a mediocre way.
Second, remember that Scrum is an Agile framework, and its foundation lies in the principles and values of the Agile manifesto. These include working continuously to improve customer relationships, being open to change, flexibility, early identification of deviations from expectations, always keeping in mind the value you add, and working with good quality as a team.
Third, understand and internalize the Scrum values: focus, commitment, courage, openness, and respect. These are exemplified in "The Scrum Team commits to achieving its goals and supporting each other. Their main focus is on the work of the Sprint to make the best possible progress toward these goals. The Scrum Team and their stakeholders are open about the work and challenges. Scrum Team members respect each other to be capable, independent individuals and are respected as such by the people they work with. Scrum Team members have the courage to do the right thing and work on tough problems." (Schwaber Ken, Sutherland Jeff, 2020).
Fourth, understand the Scrum pillars: transparency, inspection, and adaptation. They remind us that it's important to do things with quality and that all involved parties know exactly where they stand, can inspect it, and can adapt if needed.
Fifth and finally, recognize that small actions make a difference. For example, attending the Daily Scrum and understanding its importance, synchronizing with the team, always seeking good work quality, updating the Kanban board, raising impediments, and being self-managed.
All of this is what sets us apart and turns us into excellent members of the Scrum Team.
Therefore, when developers connect with their role, a leap 🤸♀️ occurs within organizations, and the difference between before and after Scrum becomes truly evident. Teams achieve great results, become synchronized, know each other, complement each other, consistently achieve objectives efficiently and with high quality, help train their stakeholders, and constantly challenge their PO and SM to be even better 😊.
By Minimalistech´s editorial team.
Minimalistech has more than 10 years of experience in providing a wide range of technology solutions based on the latest standards. We have built successful partnerships with several SF Bay Area, top performing companies, enhancing their potential and growth by providing the highest skilled IT engineers to work on their developments and projects
Comentarios