Scrum Master duties
A Scrum master is one of Scrum roles. To put it simply, it’s an individual that ensures that Scrum is understood as well as correctly-applied in both the Scrum Team and the whole organization. If Scrum isn’t understood, then it can’t be applied in the correct way whatsoever. While making sure the Scrum framework is used properly is relatively simple, using it in the correct way is pretty often a bit of a challenge for many companies. Let’s see what Scrum Master duties towards the team are.
not the team manager
Although the role of a project manager isn’t mentioned in the Scrum Guide, it doesn’t mean Scrum has nothing to do with projects. It does indeed. A general definition of a project says that it’s a time-boxed human endeavour to reach a specific goal. In fact, that’s what we do in Scrum. Within a time box (Sprint), we want to deliver a potentially releasable product (goal). To realize it, three roles were created: the product owner, developers and the scrum master. These three entities constitute the Scrum team. Unlike the project manager, the Scrum master has no management authority: they don’t manage anything in the process. Neither does SM decide about risks, scopes, budgets, schedules or project deadlines. PM is at the top of the team, while SM is a servant-leader, an individual on alert in the background. Much of this work is done by the Product Owner.
the servant-leader
It’s not sort of leading as the title indicates. It’s harnessing the collective power of the team. In the latest version of the Scrum Guide ‘servant leader’ was replaced with ‘true leader’. I like the former much more, as it’s more specific and clear, while ‘true leader’ may mean anything! Rather than managing the team, SM serves it by a number of actions to help the team with their cross-functionality and self-management. SM sees it that Serving doesn’t mean being a secretary of the team though. or We will elaborate on what it means for SM to be a servant-leader in a separate post.
active observer and listener
As Scrum takes full advantage of an empirical development process, observation is a powerful tool for the Scrum Master. SM should insightfully observe and listen to behaviour, interaction and communication between the Team members during Sprint Planning, Review, Retro or Stand-Up. What for? In order to sweep away future potential problems that the team might encounter on their way later on. Writing observations down makes observation an active process. A Scrum Master is like a teacher who jots strengths and/or weaknesses of their students. This data collection may be a stimulus for the teacher to inspect and adapt the process of learning. The same goes for the Scrum Team. It’s much more than sheer looking or listening.
obstacle remover
The Scrum Guide reads SM’s responsibility is to remove impediments and take any (business) distractions away from the team so that they can focus on the job. SM helps to solve conflicts in the team. It doesn’t mean SM does it for the team at a time. Rather they try to enable the team to do it themselves. The more harmonious and consistent the work of the team is, the lesser work there is for SM to do. It’s an ideal state, especially in the beginning though.
teacher
SM teaches team members how to apply Scrum and what Scrum events are for. SM teaches them to stick with the Scrum theory, rules and practices (events). A good teacher provides their students with a fishing rod rather than fish. SM is like that. They guide the team along Agile practices making sure its members understand why they’re doing it.
coach
This function concerns an experienced SM. Unlike teaching, coaching someone means to teach them how to learn. It refers to unblocking someone’s potential, their capabilities. You guide someone rather than prescribe. SM coaches the individual, the team and the whole organization. We will talk about what effective coaching should like later on.
conflict navigator
Conflicts happen and will happen. That’s the way it is. The clash of stronger personalities on the team is a matter of time. Conflicts are pretty normal though. We need to bear in mind that the best teams are those whose member can freely express their disagreement. The problem is how they do it. Good criticism is about criticising opinions and not people. What’s more, it needs to be relevant and bring on new ideas to solve the problem. It must be constructive then. Scrum enables people to meet and discuss matters they disagree on too.
facilitator:
By definition, a facilitator is ‘a person who helps somebody do something more easily by discussing problems, giving advice, etc. rather than telling them what to do’. It’s someone who set people thinking by asking powerful questions. There is one condition that must be met so that SM might serve a useful function as a facilitator, though. The person need to remain neutral in their judgement and as objective as possible. For this reason, it’s harder for a developer who performs the function of SM to be a good facilitator, as it’s harder for them to assess the work they’re doing. SM must be content neutral and promote collaboration to achieve synergy. To sum up, it’s not only facilitating Scrum events that SM is obligated to do. Facilitation also concerns collaboration, communication, integration of Scrum in the whole organization. SM creates ‘a container’ for the content) provided by the team .
mentor: Shu-Ha-Ri model
Mentoring requires in-depth practical knowledge. In context of mentoring, the Shu-ha-ri model is relevant to bring up. It’s a Japanese martial arts concept that Agile makes use of. It describes the stages of learning to master something. We will go through 3 stages: Shu, Ha, and Ri. In the Shu part, we follow the rules given by our teacher. We try to do a task the same way our teacher does. The teacher demonstrates, we simply copy their behaviour. We listen, copy behavioural patterns. Our teacher helps us all the way. In another stage, Ha, is about breaking the rules we learnt to use. We keep experimenting. It’s learning by trial and error. In the last stage, Ri, we go beyond the rules that we actually understand and are able to practise successfully. We become a teacher for ourselves by reflecting them. That’s how Team members might pick up Scrum.
change agent
Scrum is a culture of feedback. It welcomes changes. Changes of thinking. Changes of behaviour. Most of us do not like changes. This is one of the reasons why Scrum is so hard to implement. It’s leaving kind of comfort zone. SM makes sure everything is talked over and transparent. SM helps the Team to notice a need for change. A small change might have a huge impact. It’s a very difficult process for a company to go through.
Scrum Master duties: compound role
Taking everything into consideration, Scrum Master duties involve a variety of functions. SM services the team, PO and the whole organization. It’s not someone who knows all the answers. On the contrary, it’s an individual that is driven by common sense and empathy. SM keeps learning all the time themselves.
