Definition
Feature Teams are multidisciplinary teams responsible for delivering complete functionalities (features of the product).
These teams consist of various professionals who collaborate to deliver these functionalities. This includes developers, testers, designers, etc.
Characteristics of Feature Teams
- Multidisciplinary – These types of teams are made up of team members with diverse skills and expertise needed to develop, test and implement a feature from start to finish.
- Full responsibility – These teams take full responsibility for the entire process from idea to implementation of a feature. This includes design, development, testing, and implementation.
- Joint focus – Each team member focuses on delivering value to the customer or end-user with the help of the collective Sprint Goal.
- Autonomy and self-organization – These teams often have a degree of autonomy and self-organization, making them flexible to respond to changing requirements and priorities.
- Minimizes dependencies – A team that organizes itself to have all the necessary skills in-house minimizes dependencies on external teams. This also promotes the speed and effectiveness of the development process.
Note: Scrum promotes the use of Feature Teams over the use of Component Teams. The idea behind this is to avoid silos within an organization and promote flexible product development. A positive consequence is also that the organization can respond more quickly to changes in the market or customer needs.