The Scrum Master is probably the most misunderstood role in many Scrum implementations. Even though, this role is described quite specifically in the Scrum Guide. But still, some organizations struggle to find Scrum Master. And once they hired a candidate, they probably will lose them again soon because of the gap of expectations what this role actually means. This article will help you to better understand the Scrum Master role and act accordingly.
Why is it so hard to find a Scrum Master?
When hiring for Scrum roles, some organizations are searching for similarities in the roles in traditional management. They tend to staff the Product Owner role with a former “project lead” or “manager”. Despite this being an anti-pattern for itself, we will continue focusing on the Scrum Master. Because, when it comes to the Scrum Master role, they struggle and fail to find a corresponding role in traditional management.
When the manager plays the role of Scrum Master, it’s highly unlikely the Team will ever begin to self-organize
Pete Deemer
From the agile manifesto, we learned, that we value individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Surely you can still expect your Scrum Master to be an expert in agile methodology. But ultimately, a Scrum Master should also help you to fix your people problem. (Check out my article: “Do not try another tool until you fix your people problem“) And when we become agile, we start seeing employees not as “resources” but as “humans” with complex desires, flaws, and emotions. In Taylorism, we were able to ignore those dimensions and use simple command and control schemes to steer those “resources”. But in agile leadership, emotional intelligence is a key success factor for managing people. This new leadership style requires a new capability that has never been required before. Consequently, there is no corresponding role to the Scrum Master in traditional organizations.
What does it mean to be a Scrum Master?
According to the Scrum Guide, the Scrum Master is helping everyone understand Scrum theory, practices, rules, and values. He acts as a servant-leader and helps everyone to change their interaction with each other in order to maximize the value created by the Scrum Team. Consequently, his/her actions include:
- teaching theory, practices, rules, and values on a day-to-day basis
- developing helpful working models
- developing organizational transformations towards Scrum
- coaching teams and individuals (in- and outside the team) in order to improve interactions
Unfortunately, the Scrum Master role is often reduced to the moderation of retrospectives. But this meeting is just one platform the Scrum Master can use for his/her intervention. In fact, a Scrum Master will also use interventions outside the retro to develop the organization, the team, and individuals. Moreover, interventions are just the visible part of the Scrum Masters job. But before initiating an intervention, good Scrum Masters invest time in observing the system. From those observations, they derive coaching hypotheses which will eventually lead to interventions. So don’t expect your Scrum Master to inspire you with interventions all the time, but give them time to observe and understand the complex system of people interacting with each other.
How many Scrum Teams can a Scrum Master take care of?
Whenever the Scrum Master role is reduced to moderation of Scrum Events, managers expect them to handle more than one team. And they are right. A good Scrum Master can easily facilitate Scrum Events for 2-3 Scrum Teams. But great Scrum Masters are effective in many ways beyond the facilitation of Scrum Events. As described above, they strategically place interventions to influence a system. That requires thoughtful preparation. In addition to that, the quality of facilitation can largely differ between Scrum Masters. Almost every Scrum Master can easily collect random points for improvements during a retro. But only great Scrum Masters will use the retrospective meeting to inspire an effective change. It is important to realize, that a highly effective 2h retrospective might require weeks of observation and many hours of methodical preparation.
Key Takeaways
- avoid the temptation of just re-labeling existing roles with agile titles
- Scrum Mastery is far more than moderating retrospectives
- When hiring Scrum Masters, look for high Emotional Intelligence and a Systemic Mindset
- Give your Scrum Master time to prepare highly effective interventions
