Build Your Own Scrum Master - Facilitation Guide

What is the Workshop about?

Build your Own Scrum Master is an activity (workshop or game) to allow all the team to generate insights on their expectations from their scrum master

Why

This activity is particularly helpful when a new scrum master (junior or senior) is joining an agile mature team who knows what they need and expect from their scrum master

This workshop is also helpful for an existing team having their existing scrum master to create more alignment on mutual expectations.

The workshop helps build a collective understanding or the scrum master role.

This workshop helps build an alignment among the different team members between each others and between the team and the SM on their expectations from the SM.

Recommendation: In my opinion this workshop is better suggested by the scrum master if she/he feels ready and in need to open such a topic and receive team's feedback.

Who should be present?

All Team Member as well as the scrum master.

Ideally the scrum master will facilitate this workshop with the assistance of a coach

The coach will be here to make sure that the workshop is going smoothly, clear input is shared and alignment is created on the expectations. As well as having some actions at the end of the workshop.

When to run it?

This activity can be the topic of a retrospective or a stand alone workshop done during the IP Sprint or in different occasions.

How to run the workshop

Option 1

Draw a Scrum Master on a flip chart with three sections on him/her: brain, heart, stomach.

• Round 1: 'What properties does your perfect SM display?'
• Round 2: 'What does the perfect SM have to know about you as a team so that he/she can work with you well?'
• Round 3: 'How can you support your SM to do a brilliant job?'

Note: Its is good to choose a different sticky note color each round.

For Each Round Ask them to silently write down one trait per note.

Let participants explain their notes and put them on the drawing.

Alignment:

• Grouping of answers by topics
• The SM asks for clarifications, precise examples and share input if needed
• Alignment can be done each round or at the end. 

Actions: The SM and the team decide on some specific actions to apply next 

 Option 2

Draw a Scrum Master on a flip chart with four sections on him/her: Know, Feel, See, Act. 

One Round: Ask the following questions: To be a sharp scrum master and do his job optimally what should she / he:

• KNOW: What does he need to know? About people, methods, formalities, the organization?
• SEE: What does he have to see (even without being informed)? What does he have to say? Which tone should he use? With whom does he have to speak like?
• ACT: What should he do? When does he have to act? What about concrete examples?
• FEEL: How should such a Scrum Master tick? How must he be on it, in what emotional state?

Give some time for the attendees to think silently about the different aspects and answer all of them in the same time on sticky notes

Let participants write one trait per note, explain their notes and put them on the drawing.

Alignment:

• Grouping of answers by topics
• The SM asks for clarifications, precise examples and share input if needed
• Alignment can be done each round or at the end. 

Actions: The SM and the team decide on some specific actions to apply next Actions: The SM and team decide on some specific actions to apply next 

Tips for facilitators and Coaches:

Before the Workshop

• Decide with the SM which exercise to use.
• Coach the SM on facilitating the exercise herself/himself
• you can use physical drawing if all the team is co-located and you can use white boards like Miro or others if there are remote members.

During the workshop

• Make sure the SM is ready and comfortable to run the exorcise
• Prepare the exercise with the SM and incorporate his/her input before running the exercise with the team.
• Set a safe environment in the room to make participants understand the importance of constructive contribution
• Try to understand exactly what is meant when sharing general comments like "resolve impediments" or "communicate with people outside the team" try to ask specific questions like what kind of impediments, how to resolve them ect...
• Make it clear for the attendance that each Scrum Master is different having different skills and different aptitudes and will deal with the team differently it is good to share our expectations but this doesn't mean the the SM will fulfill them or will fulfill them all

After the workshop

• Encourage high bandwidth communication flow between the team and the SM after the workshop
• after few iterations the SM and the team can revisit the drawing and see what they are 
• The SM takes the drawing and stick it in the team space if he/she wishes

Variations

• You can change the questions, drawing based on the need of the team and the SM
• You can adapt this exercise for POs, BAs, PMs....

 Source: Fabian Schiller  

Reference1 : Retromart  

Reference 2: https://avenirconsult.com/2017/01/02/build-your-own-scrum-master/