Scrum Master

Scrum without automation is like driving a sports car on a dirt track – you won’t experience the full potential, you will get frustrated, and you will probably end up blaming the car…

Scrum master?

A Scrum master is a facilitator who ensures that the Scrum team follows the processes that they agreed to follow. The Scrum master skillfully removes obstacles and distractions that may restrain the team from meeting goals. This individual is the connection between the Scrum team and people or teams outside the Scrum team.

Key Scrum master responsibilities

Coach team members :

The Scrum master makes sure that team members are well trained and understand Agile processes. The Scrum master also ensures that team members know their respective roles, that they have a sense of project ownership, that processes are followed, and that teams are self-managed.

Host daily stand-up meetings :

Daily Scrum, or stand-up, meetings last no longer than 15 minutes and give each team member the opportunity to answer these questions :

- What did you do yesterday?

- What will you do today?

- What is impediments in your progress?

Team members may be asked to estimate how much time they will need to complete specific tasks. The Scrum master hosts this meeting, tracks team progress, and notes any obstacles that may keep the team from completing tasks.

The Scrum master makes sure that all team members, including those who work remotely, are able to attend and participate in the daily meeting. They also make sure that the meeting stays focused and ends on time.

Assist the product owner with the product backlog :

The product owner is responsible for creating and maintaining the product backlog. The product backlog is a list of work that the team needs to do. The Scrum master helps the product owner refine and maintain the product backlog using the information gathered from the daily stand-up meetings.

The product backlog is a live document that changes based on current status and development needs. The Scrum master can assist with the product backlog by scheduling meetings and writing user stories.

Remove roadblocks :

To help the team stay focused on the tasks that need to be done during each iteration, the Scrum master looks for distractions and roadblocks that can impede progress.

For example, if team members are being pulled into too many unimportant meetings, the Scrum master can work with meeting organizers to determine who really needs to attend the meetings. Or, if a team member is being pulled in too many directions and being assigned tasks on multiple teams, the Scrum master can work with product owners and other stakeholders to redistribute the workload.

Teach Scrum practices and principles :

To ensure that work does not slow down, a key Scrum master role is to act as a mentor and teacher to smoothly onboard new employees and new team members.

As a teacher, the Scrum master helps new team members to understand the scope and vision of a product and ensures that team members understand Scrum theory and that they adhere to Scrum practices and rules. The Scrum master teaches the team how to be self-organized and how to stay focused.

The Scrum master’s qualifications do not include people management. Also, the Scrum master is not held individually responsible for project outcomes; instead, the Scrum team as a whole is responsible for outcomes.