Don't limit your thinking when it comes to defining “what” a Scrum development team is. It is not just those writing code. It's not just developers or programmers. The team is everyone that moves the ball forward.
Developers, testers, business analysts, scrum masters and product owners all play a role in the successful completion of a sprint and moving work across the Kanban board to done.
Without this understanding it becomes too easy to weight certain team members contribution as more or less than that of another team member. The Agile Scrum team succeeds or fails together as a team. Everyone is a “Developer” on the team. Everyone is as accountable as everyone else.
Roles should be fluid on a Scrum Development Team. At times coders will write code and QAs will test, but if there is a need roles can shift. Developers may be called on to test and QAs or the Scrum Master may have to get elbow deep in writing code. There is no hard wall between what team members do on a Scrum Development team.
The definition of a Scrum Development Team should be: A group of skilled team members following agile/Scrum principles accountable to deliver a committed volume of work within the sprint time box that delivers value to the organization.
Principles, Accountability and Value are the prime considerations in that definition.
Question: What is your definition of a Scrum development team?
