Agile Team Roles and Responsibilities

As mentioned previously, we have two specialty roles on our Agile Teams. These two individuals work together to help the team become high-performing and to deliver value to the customer in small incremental batches.

Pro tip

In SAFe® 6.0 the Scrum Master role has been retitled to Scrum Master/Team Coach to reflect that SAFe® embraces not just Scrum but also Kanban and other team execution methodologies.

Figure 2.2 – Scrum Master/Team Coach and Product Owner Responsibilities (© Scaled Agile, Inc.)

Due to the importance of each of these roles, let’s take a look at each in more detail as well as outline the responsibilities for our Agile Teams.

Product Owner (PO) and the Agile Team

The PO role is a particularly challenging role in that it often requires both business and technology knowledge and experience. The individual has to manage numerous relationships including with the team, with customers, and with product management at a minimum.

There are some key characteristics you will want to consider when identifying a PO for your Agile Team:

• Vision: A PO contributes to the vision of what the product should be and what it should achieve. This vision should align with the company’s goals and should inspire the team to work toward that vision.
• Effective Communication Skills both Written and Oral: A PO must be able to communicate effectively with different Stakeholders. This includes the Agile Team, management, customers, and other parts of the organization. They should be able to convey ideas clearly, listen actively, and respond appropriately.
• Ability to Understand Customer Wants and Needs: A PO must have a deep understanding of the customers’ wants and needs. They should be able to identify customer pain points and prioritize stories that address those issues. They should also be able to communicate customer feedback to the team.
• Good Business Sense: A PO should have a good understanding of the business side of the product. They should be able to identify the market opportunity, competition, and potential revenue streams. They should also be able to balance customer needs with business goals.
• Technical Knowledge: A PO should have a good understanding of the technical aspects of the product. This includes knowledge of the software development life cycle, software architecture, and design principles. They should be able to communicate technical requirements to the team.
• Good Negotiation Skills: A PO should be able to negotiate effectively with Stakeholders. This includes customers, team members, and management. They should be able to resolve conflicts and reach agreements that benefit everyone.
• Trust: A PO should be trusted by the team and other Stakeholders. They should be able to build and maintain relationships based on mutual respect and trust.
• Courage: A PO should have the courage to make tough decisions. This includes making decisions that may not be popular or may require taking risks. They should also be able to take responsibility for the outcomes of their decisions.

Pro tip

Often, organizations consider the Product Owner role as a “staff-level” position as there is a perception that they just write User Stories. Consider the characteristics outlined previously and the responsibilities outlined as follows and look at individuals who are currently in management roles to become your Product Owners. To be an effective manager, they likely already possess the characteristics we are looking for and may already be informally serving in this role when providing and guiding existing team or individual work.

In SAFe® 6.0, responsibility wheels have been introduced for each role. Let’s look at the responsibilities of the PO in Figure 2.3, starting at the top right:

Figure 2.3 – Product Owner Responsibilities (© Scaled Agile, Inc.)

• Connecting with the Customer: A PO is responsible for connecting with the customer to understand their wants, needs, and pain points. They should gather customer feedback and use it to inform the product strategy in conjunction with Product Management.
• Contributing to the Vision and Roadmap: A PO is responsible for contributing to the ART Vision and Roadmap. They should ensure alignment with the priorities and help communicate the Roadmap to the teams and Stakeholders.
• Managing and Prioritizing the Team Backlog: A PO is responsible for managing and prioritizing the team backlog. They should collaborate with the team to ensure that the team backlog items are clear, concise, and achievable. They should prioritize the team backlog based on customer needs, business goals, and technical dependencies.
• Supporting the Team in Delivering Value: A PO is responsible for supporting the team in delivering value to the customer. They should be available to answer questions, provide guidance, and remove obstacles that prevent the team from delivering high-quality work.
• Getting and Applying Feedback: A PO is responsible for getting and applying feedback from various sources. They should gather feedback from customers, Stakeholders, and the team and use it to continuously improve the product. They should also be open to constructive criticism and willing to make changes based on feedback.

Pro tip

The PO role is a challenging and essential role and isn’t a part-time activity. To ensure the best possible success, we recommend a single 100% dedicated PO for each Agile Team. Finding a PO and ensuring they are set up for success will go a long way in creating a high-performing team.

Scrum Master/Team Coach and the Agile Team

The Scrum Master/Team Coach (SM/TC) is the servant leader and Coach for the team. They facilitate the team events, processes, and practices, and support the team in delivering value.

There are a few key characteristics a Scrum Master/Team Coach should possess:

• Servant Leadership: A Scrum Master/Team Coach should embody servant leadership, which means they prioritize the needs of the team above their own. They should listen actively, support team members, and help remove obstacles that prevent the team from being successful.
• Understands and Empathizes with Others: A Scrum Master/Team Coach should have a deep understanding of the team members’ perspectives, strengths, and weaknesses. They should be able to empathize with the team members and help create a safe and collaborative environment.
• Encourages and Supports the Development of People and Teams: A Scrum Master/Team Coach should encourage and support the professional development of team members. They should help identify areas for improvement and provide opportunities for growth. They should also foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement within the team.
• Uses Influence over Authority: A Scrum Master/Team Coach should rely on influence rather than authority to get things done. They should build relationships based on trust and respect and use their influence to facilitate collaboration and alignment within the team and with external Stakeholders.
• Thinks Beyond Day-to-Day Activities: A Scrum Master/Team Coach should be able to think beyond day-to-day activities and focus on the long-term goals of the team. They should help the team to continuously improve by identifying areas for improvement and experimenting with new approaches.
• Helps Without Diminishing the Commitment of Others: A Scrum Master/Team Coach should be able to help the team without taking over or diminishing the commitment of others. They should provide guidance and support when needed but should also empower team members to take ownership of their work.
• Protects the Team: A Scrum Master/Team Coach should protect the team from external distractions and disruptions. They should help create a safe and collaborative environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their opinions and ideas without fear of reprisal.

Pro tip

Often, organizations consider the Scrum Master role as an entry-level position. Consider a professional sports team – would you select someone who hasn’t coached before as the Head Coach? Probably not. Make sure you don’t overlook the importance of this role. Many organizations have “Team Leads.” These individuals may be good candidates for a Scrum Master/Team Coach as they have already demonstrated the desire already in that type of role.

The following Scrum Master/Team Coach responsibility wheel outlines five key responsibilities of an Scrum Master/Team Coach, in Figure 2.4:

Figure 2.4 – Scrum Master/Team Coach Responsibilities (© Scaled Agile, Inc.)

• Facilitating PI Planning: The Scrum Master/Team Coach facilitates the PI Planning Event, ensuring that the team understands the goals and objectives of the upcoming PI and that the PI plan aligns with the overall business strategy.
• Supporting Iteration Execution: The Scrum Master/Team Coach helps their teams to plan and execute iterations effectively via the team events. They help the team identify and resolve any impediments that may prevent them from achieving their goals.
• Improving Flow: The Scrum Master/Team Coach continuously seeks to improve the flow of value through the team. They identify and eliminate bottlenecks and impediments to ensure that the team can deliver value quickly and efficiently.
• Building High-Performing Teams: The Scrum Master/Team Coach helps to build high-performing teams by facilitating team-building activities and promoting collaboration and communication. They also encourage the team to continuously improve their processes and practices.
• Improving ART Performance: The Scrum Master/Team Coach works with the ART to continuously improve performance. They facilitate collaboration, build trust with Stakeholders, help the teams inspect and adapt, and facilitate Continuous Improvement events.

The Scrum Master/Team Coach role is critical to the success of the team and their ability to deliver. SAFe® recognizes that this can be a part-time or full-time job depending on the size of the team, maturity of the team, responsibilities, and context. Consider your organizational constraints and the experience and training of each Scrum Master/Team Coach when having them support multiple teams or deliver work for the team.

Pro tip

Organizational constraints may influence and push compromises for key Agile Roles and look to have the PO or Scrum Master/Team Coach be a single role or to even have one person fill both roles. You will want to avoid a single individual serving both roles at all costs. It is a conflict of interest and, ultimately, will hamper the team’s ability to reach high performance. The compromise I would be willing to make would be to Train and have team members rotate the responsibilities of the Scrum Master/Team Coach; this comes at a cost as the team won’t be able to deliver as much work each iteration. As teams mature and are kept together as long-lived teams, the need for a full-time Scrum Master/Team Coach may diminish.

The Agile Team Responsibilities

Just like the PO and Scrum Master/Team Coach have specific responsibilities, our Agile Teams have five key responsibilities, as depicted in Figure 2.5.

Figure 2.5 – Responsibilities of an Agile Team (© Scaled Agile, Inc.)

• Connecting with the Customer: Agile Teams are responsible for building products or delivering services that meet customer needs. They need to connect with customers regularly, to gather feedback, and incorporate it into their work to ensure customer satisfaction.
• Planning the Work: Agile Teams are responsible for planning their work, breaking it down into smaller, manageable tasks, and estimating the effort required to complete the work. They create a backlog of work items and prioritize them with the PO.
• Delivering Value: Agile Teams are responsible for delivering value frequently, typically in small batches within short iterations. They need to ensure that their work integrates with others and meets the Definition of Done (DoD).
• Getting Feedback: Agile Teams are responsible for getting feedback on their work from different Stakeholders, including customers, POs, and other members of the organization. They use this feedback to improve their work and ensure that it meets customer needs.
• Improving Relentlessly: Agile Teams are responsible for continuously improving their work processes, tools, and techniques. They need to identify areas of improvement, experiment with new approaches, and incorporate best practices to improve their performance over time.

Pro tip

Task switching, also known as context switching, is the act of switching between different teams and/or tasks. When it comes to team members that are not full-time on a team, task switching can be costly in terms of productivity and efficiency.

The cost of task switching with a team member can be significant. When team members are constantly switching between teams and tasks, it can lead to the following:

1. Reduced productivity: It takes time to switch between tasks and get back into the right mindset. This can slow down progress and reduce productivity.

2. Increased errors: When team members are constantly switching between teams and tasks, it can be easy to make mistakes or overlook important details.

3. Increased stress: Task switching can be stressful, especially if team members feel like they are constantly juggling multiple responsibilities and being pulled in different directions by different teams.

4. Reduced creativity: When team members are constantly switching between team tasks, it can be difficult to get into a state of flow and tap into their creativity.

People are often unaware of the cost of task switching so here is a simple exercise that I get an individual to run.

I ask the individual to horizontally create the following pattern on a flip chart:

I time the whole process. I then ask them to do exactly the same but this time, concentrating on one element at a time:

I compare the timings of the first run with the second; the results are significant. On average, the first run takes about 45 to 50 seconds. The second run was less than 30 seconds. For a simple task, this is a 30% to 40% improvement when not task switching between numbers, alphabet, and Roman numerals.

Now that we understand what an Agile Team is, who is on it, and the responsibilities of an Agile Team, let’s look at the types of teams and how we can organize them in our companies.