A Scrum Team has three accountabilities: the Product Owner, the Scrum Master and the Developers. Exam questions love to blur the first two. Here's how the 2020 Scrum Guide separates them, and the traps to watch for.
The short version
- The Product Owner is accountable for maximising the value of the product. They decide what gets built and in what order.
- The Scrum Master is accountable for the Scrum Team's effectiveness. They help everyone understand and use Scrum well.
- The Developers decide how to turn backlog items into a Done Increment.
Side by side
| Product Owner | Scrum Master | |
|---|---|---|
| Accountable for | Maximising product value | The Scrum Team's effectiveness |
| Product Backlog | Accountable: develops the Product Goal, creates and orders items, keeps it transparent | Helps find techniques for effective backlog management |
| Main focus | Stakeholders, value, priorities | The team, the Product Owner and the organisation's use of Scrum |
| Impediments | Not their accountability | Causes the removal of impediments to the team's progress |
| Can cancel a Sprint? | Yes, only the Product Owner, if the Sprint Goal becomes obsolete | No |
| Is it a committee? | No, one person, though they may represent many stakeholders | One person, often serving more than one team |
Common exam traps
"The Scrum Master assigns tasks"
False. The Developers are self-managing. They decide who does what. The Scrum Master coaches self-management, never assigns work.
"The Scrum Master runs the Daily Scrum"
The Daily Scrum is for the Developers. The Scrum Master makes sure it happens and is positive and productive, but the Developers own it.
"Stakeholders can change the backlog order"
Stakeholders can influence it, but anyone who wants to change the Product Backlog does so by convincing the Product Owner. The Product Owner's decisions must be respected.
"The Product Owner tells the Developers how to build it"
No. The Product Owner owns the what and why. The Developers own the how.
A quick scenario
A senior manager asks a developer to add an urgent feature mid-Sprint. What should happen? The request goes to the Product Owner, who decides whether and where it fits in the Product Backlog. The Scrum Master may coach the manager on how Scrum works, but the decision about the backlog belongs to the Product Owner.
Learn the rest and test yourself
Read the chapters on the Product Owner and the Scrum Master, then try the free 80-question Scrum Master mock exam. For the timeboxes of every event, see Scrum events and timeboxes.
Independent study material based on the Scrum Guide 2020 by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland (CC BY-SA 4.0). Not affiliated with or endorsed by Scrum.org or Scrum Alliance.