What is a Scrum Master?

A scrum master is a key component of an Agile development team. They pretty much run the show. The scrum master is responsible for managing communication between team members and keeping projects on track. In my last post, I wrote about how the term “scrum” comes from its similarity to a rugby scrum. An Agile scrum refers to the daily scrum/huddle/meeting to start the day and the next play. The three questions that the scrum master asks in each daily scrum are: What did you do yesterday? What are you doing today? Are there any obstacles in your way?

It's important not to mix up the roles of the scrum master with the roles of the project manager. The scrum master is not solely responsible for the project’s results. The scrum master is there to facilitate working Agile principles into the team’s behavior. Being a scrum master is not an easy job. They help guide the development team to understand what can be completed in a sprint--a specified amount of time set aside to complete a task, usually between 2-4 weeks. A good scrum master will keep the team focused and away from outside distractions, resolve any problems team members have with completing their work and help the team come together in agreement to move forward with the project.

The role and responsibilities of a scrum master are specific. You might notice a new scrum master is unsure of how to proceed. They might be checking on the status of each team member, organizing the product backlog and scrum board, checking to see if each team member has something to work on, assigning and dividing work among developers, communicating with senior management and stakeholders on the status of a project or managing work schedules and meetings for a team. None of these tasks are meant for the scrum master to take control of. These tasks are most often the responsibility of a traditional project manager. One position isn’t more important than the other, but they are distinct.

A good scrum master will have working relationships with each team member and many others throughout the organization. Their primary role is to assess each situation, build relationships and provide counsel and guidance. As I established in the last article, one does not simply “turn Agile”. Implementing scrum in one team might be wildly different from another team within the same organization. Each scrum implementation is dramatically affected by the people involved, their personalities and work habits. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to implementing scrum. Building relationships, gathering as much knowledge as possible and observing everything are essential to performing as a scrum master.

Observation will enable one to have the information and understanding needed to successfully implement scrum. A scrum master should attend as many meetings as possible, even if they seem irrelevant. Paying attention to detail and nuance provides the information needed to effectively communicate between personality types and build team cohesion. If more in-depth knowledge is necessary, a scrum master can schedule meetings with specific individuals. Coaching and mentoring are a big part of the job, as it can take teams quite a while to successfully transition into Agile.

What Does a Scrum Master Actually Do?

All this theory sounds great, but if you’re wondering what a scrum master actually does all day, I’ve made a little list. Here’s what I came up with after some research:

• Find and diagnose areas in need of improvement
• Tons of research, seriously
• Although it typically gets assigned to someone else, coaching the team and the organization is a huge part of being a scrum master
• Facilitate, don’t lead scrum events. It’s not a scrum master’s job to steer the ship, just to make sure those who are steering are doing it in the right direction
• Build relationships everywhere, with everyone in the organization
• Organize scrum events, with caution to not become the office manager. A scrum master will facilitate, not take charge
• Remove obstructions to progress. Make it easier for the team to move a story to “done”
• Create training materials
• Collect and analyze metrics for the team. Make decisions based on experience and empirical data
• Visualize and provide important information to the team
• Actively work with the product owner. A scrum master can help maintain the product backlog and communicate priorities

There’s much more information I could get into with this subject, but if I do that I may as well write my own scrum master certification course. Hopefully this provided a decent intro into what a scrum master is and what a scrum master does each day.