#7: The primary responsibility of a Scrum Master

Hi,

After a few weeks of lovely weather, I’m writing this today in the dreary rain so common in British springtime. However, the sun occasionally peeks out and improves my mood, which is nice.

In your Agile journey, you may well have had the conversation about what a scrum master does all day. The role is much more than booking meetings, but before digging into what we do, I want to tackle the whole “scrum masters remove impediments” that invariably crop up with each new - and sometimes not so new - group I explore Scrum with.

Have a great Thursday.

One Insight I’ve Had

To be a great scrum master, you need to master a number of skills.

As the glue that binds the scrum together, the scrum master must have a great working knowledge of agile or scrum, and they need to be great communicators, facilitators and coaches. They need to work well with individuals within the team, with entire teams, and with individuals throughout the organisation.

There are a lot of moving parts and it can be easy to be pulled in multiple directions with many competing priorities.

So, how do you ground yourself as a scrum master and stay focused on what truly matters?

When I ask the question of ‘what the scrum master’s primary responsibility is’?within my Certified Scrum Master and Advanced Certified Scrum Master classes, the answer is invariably around removing impediments. Sure, the scrum master plays an active role in helping the team remove impediments but they have much bigger fish to fry than running around removing roadblocks for people.

If all a scrum master did was put out fires, how would they help the team improve? Why would they need to be great communicators, facilitators and coaches if their job consisted primarily of removing impediments for other people?

In my experience, people are incredibly busy. If you offer to take something off their hands, they will give that task to you within a heartbeat. If you grow a reputation for being the person that ‘takes care of things’?for other people, you are going to be swamped with requests to handle problems and that is all you will be doing on a daily basis. Removing impediments.

But that isn’t what you are employed to do. It isn’t what great scrum masters and agile coaches aspire to be. And it isn’t something you should be doing if you are serious about making an impact and cultivating high-performance teams that excel.

Instead, you need to focus on your primary responsibilities and help your team create an environment where others can excel.

In itself, that is a big task and will require all of your knowledge, skill and will to achieve. Stay focused on what truly matters and make sure that each of your intentions, actions and commitments align with your primary responsibility of helping the team create an environment where individuals can unleash their creativity and passion.

One Quote

“As a scrum master, you need to be asking yourself every day whether your actions and the actions that the team are taking helping the team to create an environment where each member can excel and the team are able to achieve the goals and objectives that they consider important.

That’s the primary role of a Scrum Master.”

– John McFadyen,?What is the primary responsibility of a Scrum Master?

And a Question for You

What stands in your way of focusing on your primary responsibility?

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