Scrum Master Transition

Originally written in May, 2020

I was working as a Scrum Master for 3 teams until yesterday. I had to transition my responsibilities to 3 part time Scrum Masters, one for each team, as I am moving on to take up a newer role.

The project specific responsibilities were fairly easy to make them understand. Hosting & facilitating the daily scrum, getting the information radiators updated, making sure that the JIRA tickets are up to date, PRs are reviewed — these are the easiest part of a Scrum Master’s job and are highly visible.

One of my colleagues once said that Scrum Masters are like “Salt” — you might make the world’s best dish, but if you miss adding salt, it’s incomplete.

The harder part of the job of a Scrum Master, the most important actions, are not quite seen, similar to salt. Things continue to happen and teams get better at work.

It’s difficult to say or explain what a Scrum Master does the whole day! For weekly sprints, certainly the first and last days are busy with operational tasks; but what about the other 3 days — Facilitate? Facilitate what? Facilitation is easier said than done.

This is what I attempted to explain — a Scrum Master wears several hats and act differently at different times with different team members so that everyone is aligned to the common goal to be achieved. Easy, right? I don’t think so.

Continued…

Here are some of the soft (but harder) skills that a Scrum Master needs to have & continue switching hats to keep the team rolling and producing better:

1. Listener — Listening is a key skill that every Scrum Master need to have. It helps the Scrum Master understand the team better and be empathetic towards them; which further helps in taking emotionally intelligent decisions.

   
   

2. Friend — Gaining trust of the team is a huge bet! A Scrum Master should always be approachable by the team. They should feel the willingness to help so that they are extremely comfortable to put forward their issues and problems. Very important for a Scrum Master to be an individual who gives shoulder to the team members when needed.

   
   

3. Shield — A Scrum Master needs to protect the team from external interruption so that they can stay focused. It is extremely important to also stand for the team whenever necessary.

   
   

4. Mentor — Scrum Master needs to act as a trusted advisor to the team — guiding them the right path to follow towards achieving the defined goals. As a mentor, the Scrum Master empowers individuals to do and deliver their best. A mentor sees the true potential of individuals and the team to go above and beyond their visible capacity.

   
   

5. Critic — As the team is independent to choose their share of work, it is important to assess what and how the team is doing. It is important to also act as a soft and honest critic for the team which helps them to find out any available flaws in the process and progress.

   
   

6. Vigilance Officer — In a few cases, the version of reality and that of what the team speaks, may have some variability. If the Scrum Master has the ability to listen to the unspoken, s/he can do wonders. Being vigilant helps the Scrum Master to proactively solve future problems and mitigate any risks.

   
   

7. Torch bearer — A Scrum Master should always educate and continue to remind the team to stay aligned with the Agile Values and Principles, act as a torch bearer.

We can add other roles as well of a Leader, Coach, Teacher, etc. but I believe, that the above covers it all.

In order to effectively and efficiently fulfil the above roles, the Scrum Master needs to be omnipresent! Always available with willingness to help.