PSM I - Certification

The Scrum Guide makes it clear that the role is "Development Team", although individuals within that team can be referred to as Development Team members.

Do you see why this role applies to the team itself, rather than the individual member?

Do you see why this role applies to the team itself, rather than the individual member?

@Ian Mitchell, Didn't see any reply to this, so thought I'd take a stab. In my opinion, the role applies to the team and not to the individual as the team members are supposed to have T shaped skills and there shouldn't be different functions/silos within the Dev Team. As a whole, they should be cross functional and the absence of a member shouldn't become an impediment. Anyone and everyone should be able to continue the work in such a case. Essentially the goal is to promote equality and collaboration, hence no titles within Dev Team.

Any feedback?

I wouldn't say it was about having T-shaped skills, even though this is very helpful. Cross-functionality is demonstrated at a team level. The Development Team ought to be able to self-organize even if they have extensive skill silos.

I'd suggest that the role is "Development Team" because team members have a collective and irreducible responsibility at all times.

they should be cross functional and the absence of a member shouldn't become an impediment. Anyone and everyone should be able to continue the work in such a case.

This is a key concept that I consistently communicate and coach on.   While the goal is to have cross-functional teams (even with extensive silos, as Ian mentions), there is inherent organizational fragility wherever silos are present.   Silos carry an inherent risk of work not progressing in the event that the individual working on it becomes unavailable.

One of my favorite powerful questions is asking what the team/department/organization plan is to keep the work moving forward in the event the silo-ed individual:

• wins the lottery
• takes personal time off
• gets hit by a bus
• etc.

Organizations/teams frequently don't have an answer, but it is critical to raise the visibility of this vulnerability as often as possible so that they recognize the need to mitigate it in some way.