Scrum Teams are self-managing, so they decide internally who does what, when and how.
The 2020 Guide widened this from "self-organising" and applied it to the whole
Scrum Team rather than only the Developers, which is a small wording change with a
large consequence. The Product Owner and Scrum Master are inside the team, not
above it.
What self-management does and does not cover
It covers how the work happens. It does not extend to what is worth building,
which the Product Owner is accountable for ordering, nor to the standard the work
must meet, which the Definition of Done fixes. Exam scenarios often blur these lines. A team deciding it will skip the Definition of Done this Sprint is not exercising self-management, it is discarding a commitment.
The Scrum Master's part in it
The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team by coaching it in self-management and
cross-functionality, helping it focus on high-value Increments, and causing the
removal of impediments. Every one of those verbs is indirect on purpose. Assigning tasks, running the Daily Scrum as a status meeting, or reporting on
individuals all sit outside those verbs.
Common misconceptions
“The Scrum Master assigns work to the Developers.”
Only the Developers select work from the Product Backlog into the Sprint Backlog and decide who picks up what. Assigning work sits outside the accountability; the Scrum Master coaches the team in self-management instead.
“Self-managing means the team has no accountability to anyone.”
It means the team decides how the work gets done. What gets built is still ordered by the Product Owner, and the Increment still has to meet the Definition of Done.
“A team that is struggling should be given a manager until it improves.”
The Scrum Master serves the team by coaching it in self-management and by removing impediments. Adding supervision removes the mechanism the team would otherwise use to resolve it.
1 question test this concept
A delivery manager assigns each Product Backlog item in the Sprint Backlog to a named developer at Sprint Planning, so that progress can be tracked per person. What is wrong with this in Scrum terms?
ANothing, provided the assignments are agreed with the Developers first.
BOnly the Scrum Master may assign work to Developers.
CThe Developers decide internally who does what, so an external assignment removes the self-management the framework depends on.
DOnly the Product Owner may assign work, because they own the Product Backlog.