Forming Cross-Functional Teams

by Ken Schwaber

A cross-functional team comprises people from all of the disciplines necessary to accomplish the work. The entire team -- not specific individuals -- is responsible for the success or failure of the effort. Agile development teams are cross-functional. They are responsible for the creation of an increment every iteration; if the increment isn't successful, the team has failed, not the individuals in the team. For instance, if user documentation is part of an increment, the team collectively is responsible for that user documentation being completed as part of the increment. If the documentation isn't there, it's not the fault of the documentation person on the team; it is the fault of the entire team.