Team setup

Team Setup

Define the team structure for "$ARGUMENTS". Establish Scrum roles and responsibilities, create a skills matrix, identify capability gaps, and set working agreements.

Prerequisites

None — this is a Phase 0 (Initiate) skill and can run first.

Process

1. Read existing context:

   • Read .project/$ARGUMENTS/00-initiate.md if it exists (for project charter and stakeholder context)

2. Define Scrum roles and responsibilities:

   • Product Owner:
     • Owns and prioritizes the product backlog
     • Defines acceptance criteria for user stories
     • Represents stakeholder interests
     • Makes scope and priority decisions
     • Availability commitment (e.g., accessible during sprint for clarifications)
   • Scrum Master:
     • Facilitates Scrum ceremonies
     • Removes impediments and blockers
     • Coaches team on Scrum practices
     • Shields team from external disruptions
     • Tracks and reports on team metrics
   • Development Team:
     • Cross-functional and self-organizing
     • Define team size (recommended 3-9 members)
     • List team members with their primary and secondary skill areas
     • Identify tech lead or architecture responsibilities if applicable

3. Create skills matrix:

   • Define key skill areas needed for the project (e.g., frontend, backend, infrastructure, testing, design, domain expertise)
   • For each team member, rate proficiency: expert, proficient, learning, none
   • Present as a team member x skill area grid
   • Identify bus factor risks (skills held by only one person)
   • Highlight cross-training opportunities

4. Identify capability gaps and mitigation:

   • Compare required skills against team matrix
   • For each gap, define mitigation strategy:
     • Training: internal knowledge sharing, courses, pair programming
     • Hiring: timeline and requirements for new team members
     • External: contractors, consultants, or partner teams
   • Prioritize gaps by impact on project delivery
   • Set target dates for closing critical gaps

5. Set working agreements:

   • Core hours: overlapping availability window for collaboration
   • Response time expectations: Slack (within X hours), email (within X hours), code reviews (within X hours)
   • Code review SLAs: maximum time to first review, approval requirements (e.g., 2 approvals)
   • Tool usage: which tools for what purpose, naming conventions, tagging standards
   • Meeting etiquette: cameras on/off, agenda required, notes published within X hours
   • Work-in-progress limits: maximum items per person, maximum items per sprint
   • Definition of Ready: criteria for stories entering a sprint
   • Branching strategy: trunk-based, GitFlow, or other — with naming conventions
   • Documentation standards: what gets documented, where, and when

6. Write the artifact — append to .project/$ARGUMENTS/00-initiate.md under a ## Team Setup section:

   • Scrum Roles — PO, SM, Dev Team with named individuals and responsibilities
   • Skills Matrix — team member x skill area grid with proficiency levels
   • Capability Gaps — identified gaps, mitigation strategy, timeline
   • Working Agreements — core hours, response times, review SLAs, tool usage
   • Definition of Ready — criteria for story readiness

Output

Team setup appended to .project/$ARGUMENTS/00-initiate.md. Present a summary highlighting:

• Team composition and role assignments
• Key capability gaps and mitigation plans
• Working agreements highlights (core hours, review SLAs, WIP limits)