Together we can turn an idea into a working product
According to the latest version of the Scrum Guide, a Scrum team is cross-functional, which means they’re able to provide value every Sprint. Cross-functionality doesn’t mean every team member has a similiar skill set, but rather they complete each other. Every team member has a different set of skills and that’s something that makes the team complete as a whole. As opposed to traditional Waterfall teams, the Scrum team consists of individuals whose skills combined together make it possible to deliver an increment of value. The team is not dependent on the people from the outside. Through this cross-functionality, team members can learn from one another. That is to say, a cross-functional team creates the environment conducive to learning.
They have a common goal
Cross-functionality involves focusing on a common goal. It’s so hard for many teams to see the common goal. The focus on the common goal isn’t based on Conway’s law like in component teams. It states that “organizations, who design systems, are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations.” What does that mean? If we want a product to work, the authors and designers of the component parts must communicate with each other to ensure compatibility between the components.
Learning environment
On traditional projects, team members were somewhat divided as to what skill they used on the team. For instance, a tester’s job was always to check software quality, and a Java developer was always dealing with Java, and so on. This made the team divide into subgroups according to the work they did. This doesn’t happen in Agile teams though. Despite doing different work from one another, Agile team members are open to learning from each other which might make the team more professional and independent when doing their tasks.
Cross-functional team vs traditional team
| Cross-functional team | traditional team |
|---|---|
| no job titles | job titles |
| every individual can do different work | all individuals can do one work |
| members can learn new stuff from colleagues | members learn the same stuff from colleagues |
| every member helps eliminate single points of failure | only certain people on the team can help eliminate failure |
| it’s easy to substitute a member who’s absent | if a member is absent, team’s capability goes down |
| work is done more quickly | work might be done more slowly |
