“Do or do not; there is no try.” While this is certainly Jedi Master Yoda’s most famous quote, it doesn’t exactly apply to agile development. In fact, it’s kind of the opposite of agile. If Yoda were a Scrum Master, however, the quote would look a lot more like this: “Try and again try; that is how you do.” Show
The Scrum Master facilitates the Scrum team, leading them to hopeful victory. It’s rewarding, but the Scrum Master role is filled with pressure. The success of the Scrum and wellbeing of the team falls on the Scrum Master’s shoulders. If you’re a Scrum Master or aspire to become one, you’ve come to the right place. Master Scrum theory and your leadership skills with our six strategies for Scrum Masters. Scrum is an agile practice commonly used for product development. It’s based on completing a set amount of work in short bursts — called sprints — so that teams can continuously create iterations as they learn more about a product and its stakeholders. Ken Schwaber co-created the Scrum framework in the early 1990s to help teams manage complex development projects. He also founded Scrum Alliance and established Scrum.org, an online resource for agile teams. At the beginning of a Scrum, the product owner decides which product backlog items will be moved to the sprint backlog. From there, the Scrum Master takes over, leading the team through Scrum events, including:
The role of the Scrum Master is to guide the team through the Scrum process. They facilitate the process, helping the team to master the framework and improve from one sprint to the next. Read our six strategies for Scrum Masters to improve your skills or prepare for your future role. Do you live by agile principles yourself? How agile are you in your leadership style? Effective Scrum Masters know that they also need to continually improve based on new experiences, successes, and failures. It’s important to learn from your mistakes so that you don’t make them again, but it’s just as important to learn from your successes. Take the time to review your process, including what went well and what didn’t, so you know how you can improve as a leader and facilitator. Your ability to lead your team is tied to how well you know them. You should continually get to know your team’s strengths and weaknesses. How well do they work together? Who brings out the best in one another, and who doesn't work so well together? Dig deep to truly understand the root dynamics of the team. Learn more about each individual on the team as well. What do they need help with? What do they excel at? What feedback can you provide to help them grow in their role? How can you help them succeed? Build rapport with your team members by asking how they’re doing, giving and receiving feedback, and finding common ground. The agile methodology is based on continuous improvement. How will the individuals on your team improve if you don’t provide them feedback? Likewise, how will you improve if you don’t ask for, and accept, feedback from the team? Feedback is a two-way street, and it only works if it’s constructive and continuous. Don’t wait until you have something negative to address — you need to regularly provide both positive and negative feedback. Doing this on a regular basis will help you and your team become accustomed to hearing feedback, so it won’t be jarring or off-putting when you do. As the Scrum Master, you should foster an environment in which all members give and receive constructive feedback. Being in charge doesn’t mean you’re always doing the talking. The opposite is true: Great leaders are great communicators. As a leader, you need to constantly listen to your team, keeping both ears open for any issues your team or the individuals on it may be dealing with. Actively listen to the concerns of the development team, and consider how each individual on your team prefers to communicate. Do they prefer bold and to-the-point interactions? Or do they need time to ease into a conversation? Everyone communicates a little differently, and understanding your team's preferences will help you make the most of each interaction. Scrum Masters need to hone their communication skills in order to be effective leaders for their teams. Regularly assess your communication style and its effectiveness, and ask your team for feedback on how you are doing. The retrospective is the final event of a Scrum. They are an incredibly important part of the Scrum process, and they should not be overlooked, rushed, or underutilized. As the Scrum Master, you need to take responsibility for making sure retrospectives are effective and occur after each Scrum. Go in with a plan to make the most of every retro meeting. That doesn’t mean you need to take charge of everything. It’s helpful to let your team run the occasional retrospective. Everyone involved should continually contribute their own ideas for improving the meeting. Collect regular feedback from your team on how they think your retrospectives are going. Ask for ideas on how they could improve, and change things up. Repeating the exact same questions and retrospective activities will bore your team and lead to reduced engagement. For more retrospective perspective, read our five steps to holding effective sprint retrospectives. A Scrum Master certification can take you from simple Scrum Master to masterful Scrum Master. While certification isn’t required to become a professional Scrum Master, it certainly helps. Scrum.org, the website founded by the co-creator of Scrum, offers a three-part certification program called The Professional Scrum MasterTM. The program has three assessment levels that validate your knowledge of the Scrum framework and practical application of Scrum theory. We’re also big fans of Pretty Agile’s SAFe training programs:
A certification is a great addition to your resume, and it will help you fine-tune your facilitation skills and Scrum knowledge. “Try and again try; that is how you do.” The beauty of agile is that regardless of how many certifications or years of experience you have, there’s always more to improve. Agile is an iterative process in which learning continues from sprint to sprint and project to project. As a Scrum Master, it’s up to you to continue learning the craft and perfecting your facilitation skills, the Scrum Master role involves life-long learning. Easy Agile builds products designed to help Scrum Masters and agile developers work more efficiently and effectively. Our tools are specifically designed for teams that use and love Jira but need more functionality in order to prioritize customer needs. Try Easy Agile TeamRhythm to support your team agility from planning through to review. TeamRhythm supports user story mapping, backlog refinement, sprint and version planning, and team retrospectives, building a continuous cycle of improvement right in Jira. It’s a win-win-win for Scrum Masters, development teams, and customers. Try our products absolutely free for 30 days. Reading time: about 7 min Posted by: Lucid Content Team According to the 15th Annual State of Agile Report, 66% of companies use Scrum as their approach to Agile. As this number continues to grow and Agile gains more popularity, there is a high probability that the demand for Scrum Masters will increase. Whether you are interested in becoming a Scrum master or want to ensure that you're establishing effective practices on your Scrum team, learn about these important Scrum master skills and responsibilities.
First, as a reminder, Scrum is a subset of Agile software development. The 2020 Scrum Guide explains that “Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.” A Scrum master is a facilitator and coach who helps the Scrum team and broader organization understand and apply Scrum theory and practice. The Scrum master helps the Scrum team work more effectively by skillfully removing obstacles and distractions that may impede the team from meeting goals. This individual is the liaison between the Scrum team and people or teams outside the Scrum team. 4 key Scrum master responsibilitiesDespite having the word “master” in the title, the Scrum master is not in charge of the project or the development team. Bryan Stallings, Lucid’s Chief Evangelist and a Certified Scrum Trainer who’s trained and coached thousands of individuals, describes the Scrum Master role as a combination of two types of mastery: “A Master-of-Ceremonies ensures that events progress as planned, facilitating the movement between phases and intervening should anything unexpected occur. A Quartermaster provides soldiers with everything they need to achieve their mission. A Scrum master brings these two forms of mastery together, ensuring that Scrum events progress effectively, intervening when impediments arise, and providing the team everything they need to be successful.” The Scrum master role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities (referred to as accountabilities in the 2020 Scrum Guide): 1. Coach team membersThe Scrum master makes sure that team members are well-trained and understand the Agile values and principles and the Scrum events and artifacts. The Scrum master also ensures that team members know their respective accountabilities. In a way, the Scrum master functions like a metaphorical mirror for the team, making visible their current state so that they may adapt and function at a higher-performing state. With coaching and a bit of time, a Scrum team becomes self-managing and develops a shared sense of ownership and commitment. The Scrum master helps team members understand the scope and vision of a product, Scrum theory, and how to adhere to Scrum practices and team norms. The Scrum master works by influence and persuasion; they do not have formal people management accountability as there are no hierarchies in Scrum teams. Additionally, the Scrum master is not held individually responsible for project outcomes; the Scrum team as a whole is responsible for outcomes. 2. Assist the product owner by incorporating techniques to improve processesThe product owner is responsible for creating, maintaining, and communicating the product backlog, a dynamic, ordered list of work that, once delivered, will be of value to customers. The product owner is also responsible for developing and clearly communicating a product goal, or long-term objective that the product backlog aims to fulfill. The Scrum master looks for ways to assist the product owner in these responsibilities. The Scrum master helps the product owner find techniques to effectively define the product goal and better manage the product backlog. One common approach to accomplish this is a regular backlog refinement session where the product owner and developers collaborate to discuss and clarify the context, description, and expectations of upcoming product backlog items. The Scrum master also works with the product owner to help establish an empirical process for product planning.
To stay focused on the tasks that need to be done during each sprint, team members identify the distractions and roadblocks that can impede progress. For any impediments that the team can not quickly resolve on their own, the Scrum master works within the team, with other teams, and across the organization to ensure impediments are removed. For example, if team members are being pulled into too many unrelated 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 asked to work on something unrelated, the Scrum master can work with product owners and other stakeholders to clarify the situation. 4. Teach Scrum practices and principles to the broader organizationTo ensure that work does not slow down, a key Scrum master role is to lead the organization in implementing Scrum through training, coaching, and advising. This includes teaching and advocating for Scrum philosophy, values, and structure. A primary focus here is helping the organization adopt an empirical approach in the work they do. The Scrum master also facilitates interactions between stakeholders and the Scrum team to foster openness, respect, and learning. Scrum master job description qualificationsDo you have what it takes to pursue this role? Many companies will look for these prerequisites in a typical Scrum master job description: Get the required experience and educationTypically, most Scrum master job descriptions require applicants to have at least a bachelor’s degree, and experience in technology-related roles is preferred. You will also need to demonstrate competence in working with people, teams, and stakeholders on time-sensitive initiatives. Develop excellent verbal and written communication skillsOne of the most important Scrum master skills you will need is communication. As part of your Scrum master responsibilities, you will be a primary communicator within the team and with other key stakeholders. If you do not have effective verbal and written communication skills, or if you are uncomfortable interacting one-on-one or in groups, this may not be the job for you. Keep in mind that visuals, such as Scrum task boards and burndown charts, can help you effectively collaborate with team members and report to key stakeholders. Consider Scrum master certificationThere are Scrum master training and certification courses available, and although some companies will consider certification as one of their Scrum master prerequisites, it's not always necessary. However, if you have the right credential, it may help to give you an edge over other applicants when applying for Scrum master jobs. How to get a Scrum master certificationThere are several certifying organizations from which to choose. Each offers its own twist on the requirements. Some require that you attend a training course and others offer flexible online training. All programs require that you pass a test or assessment to complete the certification. Scrum master certification coursesMost recruiting experts recommend that you become a Certified ScrumMaster® or a Professional Scrum Master™. These two programs carry more weight with hiring managers and HR professionals. In addition to the basic Scrum master certifications, both programs offer additional levels that build on the previous ones to give you a deeper understanding of Scrum practices and applications. There is also a full range of other Scrum certification programs that you may be interested in, including:
Getting Scrum master certified can potentially further your career and can mean significant pay increases. The opportunities are wide open. What is a typical Scrum master salary?As with any skilled position, your salary as a Scrum master is going to depend on the industry, your location, and your experience. In 2022 according to PayScale.com, the salary range for a Scrum master falls between $63,000 to $126,000 with the median being $89,666.  The Scrum Master is just one role in Scrum—learn how to build a complete Scrum team structure. Learn how |
What action should a Scrum Master take?
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