Scrum guide: understanding the Scrum methodology

A scrum project in short

The scrum team

• The scrum master is some sort of “facilitator”: she calls the meetings, ensures that there is an apt location, and then that each member of the team has what they need to work smoothly. She is the one in charge of resolving any issue that may happen to the group. She will assist the team in planning the steps and the things to be done during the sprints but she will not take any decision except for the sprint length. She is similar to a project manager except that she does not manage but gives assistance.
• The product owner is the key team member. She is in charge of defining, writing, inserting and prioritising the “stories” (the client requirements) into the backlog. She must also take care of how the team works and if it effectively produces value in the right time-span. She answers any questions the team members may have concerning the backlog items.
• The team members decide in full autonomy what they want to work on and which and how many of the backlog items can be done during the sprint duration. They take full responsibility for this. Of course, when choosing items the team members should take into account priorities and dependencies.