5 Things I wish I knew when I first started as a Scrum Master

5 Things I wish I knew when I first started as a Scrum Master

Having worked as a project manager for nearly a decade, it was a paradigm shift, moving from waterfall to the agile way of working. But, it was a paradigm shift for the better.

At first, it was days of learning, and relearning repeatedly. It was also difficult to get out of complacency and try Agile. We were comfortable doing what we did over the years and Agile took us out of our comfort zone. Especially for me, serving in my role as Scrum Master, it was a learning experience, not just for my improvement, but also for the team’s.

Looking back now, I am glad that things have changed. Moving to Agile had clear benefits and good results. But with the power of retrospection, if I were to think back about the early days of my experience switching from waterfall to Agile and what I could have done better as a Scrum Master, even if it were something as small as a mindset change, I feel that knowledge would have been useful. But perhaps I can help you, if you are either thinking of switching to Agile or are currently doing it.

Here are 5 things I wish I knew when I first started as a Scrum Master

1.??????Daily stand-up is a not status meeting

When I first switched to Agile, I thought stand ups were initially seen as status meetings to track each team member's input and progress. I was convinced that the goal was to ensure delivery at the completion of the sprint. So, I went beyond the allotted time to ask for updates and to determine why the task was not completed as expected. Until I realized it's a team meeting to figure out how to work together to reach the sprint goal.

And likewise for the team, as they started to realize it was a shift from execution to ownership, people began to get more involved than they were when we ran in the traditional waterfall way of working. As they moved away from top-down management to autonomous, personal ownership of the work, they grew more passionate and happier.

2.??????Team owns, not you

When I first switched to agile, I struggled to accept the fact that ownership in agile is shared by the entire team, not just me, as the Scrum Master. As a team, we decide and work together to achieve our goals. Previously, I focused on individuals rather than teams, which worked for me, but it didn't work in an agile environment.

In a team environment working in the Agile way, everyone owns the outcome of the sprint goal and collectively decides what to work on and how to accomplish the goals. And when teams own the work, they take responsibility for the outcome. As a result, the teams are motivated to do their best to deliver the desired value to the users which is also beneficial to the organisation’s growth.

3.??????Focus on outcome over output?

Years of training in the waterfall way of working taught me to focus on the output and stick to the plan. When I switched to agile, I was trying to fit my old practice into agile. Changes were difficult to make in the waterfall; we simply carried on as planned. In fact, I would fight the changes. Later, I realized in agile that the changes that were suggested resulted in better outcomes and added more value to the organization.

In waterfall, we work on the plan, while scope, time and budget are decided by the stakeholders. We focus on the deliverables and don’t think about the outcome. ?In agile, our objective is to deliver an increment that adds value to the customer.

?My earlier assignment was with a Fintech organization. Pre-Covid, we would ask the customer to verify their KYC documents physically by visiting our store. During covid, we worked on a feature to upload these KYC documents and verify them online. This was done within a sprint. This adaptability and feature addition was not part of the plan. We responded to change based on the unexpected, pandemic situation and prioritized this feature that inevitably helped customers stay with us during this difficult period. In turn, it brought us more business, more profit, better customer delight, and brand recognition.

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4.??????Agile is a culture not just a process

?Years of practice have been put in to ensure that the process is followed and that the output is delivered as planned. I attempted to carry out an agile team adoption as a process, but it did not work. This was due to the many gaps in the teams' understanding and adoption, as well as their inhibition of transitioning from individual contribution - which is mapped with performance and career growth - to transition as a team player, which was much more difficult.

Until I realized it is a culture based on the agile mindset. Culture is an ingredient for successful organizations. Respect for people and empathy brought them closer. We became more open to ideas and had lots of interactions which amplified the sense of belonging as a team.

?The outcome was visible. We were able to estimate effectively, deliver results and respond to unexpected changes fast. Continuous delivery and Continuous integration were possible with a regular release cadence.

5.??????Don’t just push, use the agile address

Earlier in my career, I used to assign tasks to team members and make them work according to the plan to meet deadlines. This carried over when I switched to agile. Obviously, this top-down approach didn't work in the agile environment.

When I was pushing them without understanding the true problem, it was a major impediment to the team. I realized this and so, as a group, we sat down to address the issues. Suffice it to say, this helped to improve our way of working and people were happier as a result.

Conclusion

When we start anything new, it is natural to have teething problems. One core thing about agile is, we learn the art of retrospection and focus on improving as a team. When you do it properly, the team will fare well, and you will experience a paradigm shift in your leadership abilities. You will learn how to work as a team, which is always preferable to working alone. You will also learn and improve because of the team's constant feedback.

Great organizations are built by passionate teams who work in alignment with each other to achieve organizational objectives. In waterfall, we were groomed to deliver output that is owned by the leaders and product managers. We had less room for interaction. In agile when the development team and product team started working together as one team, it created good synergy. This synergy allowed us to deliver valuable outcomes which helped improve customer delight and contribute positively to company growth.