What is the tactic a Scrum Master should use to divide a group of 100 people into multiple Scrum Teams? (Choose the best answer)

The Scrum framework is founded on the principle of self-management. The Scrum Master acts as a facilitator and coach, guiding the team in Scrum principles but not directing their work or composition. The most effective way to form teams that are committed, motivated, and balanced is to allow the individuals who will be doing the work to organize themselves. This process, often called self-selection, leverages the group's collective knowledge of individual skills, working relationships, and personalities to create cohesive, cross-functional units. The Scrum Master's role is to provide the context and constraints (e.g., team size, desired cross-functionality) and facilitate the self-organization event.

A. This is a directive, top-down approach that undermines the team's self-management. It also risks creating component-based teams instead of cross-functional feature teams.
B. The Product Owner's accountability is to maximize product value by managing the Product Backlog. Assigning people to teams falls outside the scope of this role.

1. Schwaber, K., & Sutherland, J. (2020). The Scrum Guide. Scrum.org. Page 5 states, "They [Scrum Teams] are also self-managing, meaning they internally decide who does what, when, and how." This core principle extends to team formation.

2. MIT OpenCourseWare. (2016). 16.842 Fundamentals of Systems Engineering, Lecture 18: Agile. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The lecture notes emphasize that a key principle of Agile and Scrum is the "self-organizing team," which is empowered to make local decisions, including how they structure themselves to accomplish the work.

3. Hackman, J. R. (2002). Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances. Harvard Business Press. In Chapter 2, Hackman outlines the conditions for team effectiveness, one of which is a "real team" with clear boundaries. He discusses that self-managing teams have authority over their own processes and, in some cases, their own membership, which aligns with the self-selection approach.