The Developers

Developers are the people in the Scrum Team committed to creating any aspect of a usable Increment each Sprint. "Developer" does not mean programmer: designers, analysts, testers, writers and anyone else doing the work are Developers. The specific skills they need are often broad and change with the domain of work.

The Developers are always accountable for four things: creating a plan for the Sprint — the Sprint Backlog; instilling quality by adhering to the Definition of Done; adapting their plan each day toward the Sprint Goal; and holding each other accountable as professionals. Nobody outside the Developers tells them how to turn Product Backlog items into Increments of value — not the Product Owner, not the Scrum Master and not a manager. The Developers also size Product Backlog items; the Product Owner may help them understand trade-offs, but the people who will do the work make the estimate.

Because the team is self-managing, problems between Developers are first theirs to solve. A Scrum Master can coach and facilitate, but does not assign tasks, approve estimates or act as a project manager for the Developers.

Study focus: watch for answers where someone outside the Developers assigns tasks, changes the Sprint Backlog or decides the technical approach. The Sprint Backlog belongs to the Developers, and only they change it.