When you are an experienced Scrum Master, than you probably know how hard the way was, until you achieved that level. When you are a rookie Scrum Master, than you probably value the following article as it should give you an (most probably incomplete) overview of what is expected from you being an awesome Scrum Master (and also what not).
Value Proposition/Expectations
I am a Scrum Master. I coach the team so that they can deliver valuable product increments in sprints.
That’s the core intention of having a Scrum Master in the team. The SM identifies, solves or removes blocking issues within the team but even from the outside. You can compare it a little with a shepherd dog, which takes care of his fellows so that they can focus on their work.
Responsibilities of a scrum master
- Keep attention on following the Agile Manifest
- Keep attention on following agile rules and principles as well as best practices (like on Scrumplop.org)
- Scrum master is responsible to facilitating daily scrum, sprint planning, sprint demo and retrospective meetings.
- Organize and moderate scrum meetings (Standup, Grooming, Planning, Retro)
- Check sprint status on a daily basis – make sure the team reaches it’s sprint commitment
- Check Burnup/Burndown charts daily with your team during standup – derive concrete next steps to reach sprint commitment
- Possesses conflict resolution, does conversation by focusing on scrum values of openness, honesty and respect.
- Should be a friendly communicative person, because when team is moving fast in Agile, communication is the effective force which holds the team together.
- Needs to forecast the numbers of deliverables possible in an iteration, which is based on evidence and reliable source.
- Needs to be expert in estimation and planning. He knows how to create useful, reliable and practical plans for software development projects.
- Doing Retros for Stories that where under- and overestimated to foster learning feedback loop for future planning poker rounds
- Escalate early when stories are foreseeable to overun so that PO/PM can make proper decisions
- Should be a good coach in Agile practices. S/he can coach individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
- Help team or individual to clarify goals and actions to achieve them.
- Ability to shield his team from outside distractions and interferences.
- Ability to ensure the correct use of scrum process.
- Ability to track and remove impediments (remove impediments for the scrum team – take over this tasks so no developer gets stuck with it)
- Check and avoid known risks
- Keep information flowing (e.g. by having regular meetings with team to inform about latest news (rules, staffing, project info, …))
- Improve the efficiency of the development team (keep an eye on your teams velocity)
- Check and emphasize quality goals
- Check and emphasize technical performance goals
- Check and adapt sprint goals, release goals, product goals together with PO
- Help product owner so that there is a prioritized and filled backlog
- Make sure that all necessary information is visible for your team (e.g. in a physical project room or digital knowledge system, …)
- Consequent Professional Training
- Read books about Agile, Lean, Motivation Science, Leadership (see further ressources at the bottom of this article)
- Follow Blogs (to name a few like James Clear, Boris Gloger, luis-goncalves.com, …)
- Check ScrumLab Prime
- Check Scrumplop.org
- Public speeches at Meetups, Conferences, …)
This list is does provide you with a “complete list”, but it should give you a good point to start from.
Further Read Recommendations
- Best Practices for Scrum Master
- Every great product owner needs a great scrum master
- James Clear
- My Book Recommendations for Scrum Master