Skip to main content

Question for Ken or CST - > Cross-functional teams

Last post 07:39 pm June 2, 2016 by Steven Fraser
6 replies
04:50 am May 20, 2016

Hi All,

I saw related topic already - https://www.scrum.org/Forums/aft/1863#10015 and a lot of other discussions witting another resources.

Will be appreciate for the answer from a certified Scrum trainer. Ideally it's interesting to know what exactly Ken thinks about this :)

"Cross-functional teams have all competencies needed to accomplish the work without depending on others not part of the team. The team model in Scrum is designed to optimize flexibility, creativity, and productivity."

Does it mean that in team SHOULD be at least one cross-functional member?

Thank you very much!





12:24 am May 23, 2016

Scrum never say that the member should be cross-functional. It is the team that must be cross-functional.

Cross-functional team is not the same as cross-functional member. Does that make any sense?


Anonymous
04:39 am May 23, 2016


Posted By Joshua Partogi on 23 May 2016 12:24 AM
Scrum never say that the member should be cross-functional. It is the team that must be cross-functional.

Cross-functional team is not the same as cross-functional member. Does that make any sense?


I see this get misinterpreted everywhere!


09:37 am May 23, 2016

The key thing here is whether the "team' still considers itself cross-functional when one of their team members is unavailable for any reason (vacation, ill, leave company, etc).

The team can consider itself truly cross-functional if they have the expertise to complete work despite the absence of a technical or business expert on the team. If this is not the case, it is a vulnerability that the team needs to work on to mitigate (i.e. - cross-training, knowledge transfer, pair programming).


02:40 pm May 23, 2016

=> "truck factor" or "bus factor" ;-)


03:37 pm May 23, 2016

Think of teams as being cross-functional and of individuals as being cross-skilled. You need the former in order to create an increment without impediment, while there are potential efficiencies to be gained from the latter.


07:39 pm June 2, 2016

But it is more that just the "bus factor" that drives the need for cross functional teams.

The variability of complex work can mean an unevenness of work. You don't know everything about the what to do, or how to do it until you start actually implementing. Even when you try your best to create an evenness of work, one sprint may be dominated by database work, the next by work in the front end, the next by work in the service layer. In the first sprint most of the team pitches in on the unexpected database work, the next most of the team works on the unexpected front end work, the next most of the team works on the unexpected service layer work. That is why you want a cross functional team, in which its members are cross trained. For each sprint most of the team member will work on that one thing that often unexpectedly dominates.


By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.