Scrum masters are the facilitators of scrum, the lightweight agile framework with a focus on time-boxed iterations called sprints. As facilitators, scrum masters act as coaches to the rest of the team. “Servant leaders” as the Scrum Guide puts it. Good scrum masters are committed to the scrum foundation and values, but remain flexible and open to opportunities for the team to improve their workflow.
In the ideal agile world, a team would manage its own processes and tools. Yet we’ve found that many teams making the leap to agile often rely on the scrum master as the owner of their process. It takes time for responsibility and authority to diffuse through a team. In this transformative context, the role can be as lightweight as scheduling the scrum ceremonies or as involved as any other scrum team member. Although the Scrum Guide lists how the scrum master serves other scrum roles, this is not an exhaustive list of responsibilities. Indeed, we find scrum masters often perform some or all of the following, not all of which are defined by scrum:
- Standups?-?Facilitate daily standups (or the daily scrum) as needed.
- Iteration/sprint planning meetings?–?Protect the team from over-committing and scope creep. Aid in estimation and sub task creation.
- Sprint reviews?– Participate in the meeting and capture feedback.
- Retrospectives?– Note areas for improvement and action items for future sprints.
- Board administration?–?Work as the administrator of the?scrum board. Ensure that cards are up to date and the scrum tool,?Jira software?or otherwise, is working well.
- 1 on 1s?– Meet individually with team members and stakeholders as needed. Iron out team disagreements about process and work styles. While many scrum practitioners are anti-1on1, as they believe these communications should happen during standups, some teams, particularly for new teams, prefer to have these regular face-to-face interactions with specific team members. The scrum master may decide that these individual interactions are crucial for team development and getting to know one another.
- Internal Consulting?– Scrum masters should be prepared to consult with team members and internal stakeholders on how best to work with the scrum team.
- Reporting?– Regular analysis of?burndown charts?and other portfolio planning tools to understand what gets built and at what cadence.
- Blockers?– The scrum master aids the team by eliminating external blockers and managing internal roadblocks through process or workflow improvements.
- Busy work?– If the scrum team isn’t humming, that’s the scrum master’s problem. Maybe that means fixing broken computers, moving desks around, or even adjusting the thermostat. Scrum masters should be comfortable doing just about anything to help their team and should be not slink away from grabbing coffees or some snacks if that’s what the team really needs.
