Scrum 2020 — Individual accountability creates silos (2024)

One of the misconceptions is that Scrum is soft. Scrum Teams can’t make promises ‘because the product environment is complex’. When Scrum Teams don’t deliver, they give the same excuse. No one can say anything about it because the team is self-managing. Outsiders aren’t allowed to intervene. This faulty perception of Scrum must sting the creators of the framework.

Scrum isn’t like this. Instead, Scrum requires relentless commitment. Without this commitment from the Scrum Team and its stakeholders, Scrum isn’t effective.

I assume this is why they decided to be clearer in the new Scrum Guide by adding Commitments and Accountabilities. I like the emphasis on the two, but I don’t like how they implemented Accountabilities. Scrum Master, Developers and Product Owners all have their own accountabilities. But what about the Scrum Team? Shouldn’t the team be the prime focus? Are the accountabilities an incentive for silos within the Scrum Team?

There’s so much to unpack here. Let’s get right to it.

To most of us, it is clear that Scrum always has been about cross-functional and self-organising teams. In complex environments, teams need to have autonomy and all the skills required to create valuable products. There needs to be purpose, mastery and autonomy (Daniel Pink — Intrinsic motivation). This is inhibited when someone is limiting the team, telling them what to do.

The new version of the Scrum Guide has many updates on this front. Almost all these updates are effective in underlining the importance of the team. The list of changes is impressive. I will first show how the Scrum Guide increases the focus on the team. Then I will address the issues I have with the individual accountabilities.

From self-organizing to self-managing

Scrum Teams are now self-managing, determining who does what, when and how. The previous Scrum Guide said self-organizing, determining how to do the work.

Scrum Teams always determined what, when and how. But The Scrum Guide did not state this…