Scrum Mastery

by Geoff Watts

Members of a Scrum team should also be aware that they do not need to be busy 100% of the time—in fact, this can lead to sub-optimal results [38]. The most effective Scrum teams acknowledge that, in order for the team to be successful, each individual needs to have some spare capacity. If the spare capacity for any individual is too high, the team should address this in the retrospective. Is there a need for a full-time member with this skillset? Is there anything else this individual could be contributing to the team? How could the team better organise themselves to be more productive? Remember the goal is not for each individual to be as productive as possible but rather for the team to be as productive as possible. The former does not necessarily lead to the latter and, in many cases, individual optimisation leads to a diminishing of team productivity.