Scrum Master

Scrum, a model of agile pro­duc­tion man­age­ment, has three roles. Besides the actual de­vel­op­ment team and the product owner, who are re­spons­ible for quality and func­tion­al­ity of the products, there is also the role of the scrum master. Even if they aren’t involved in de­vel­op­ing a product, they play an important role in the scrum structure. A scrum master is a trainer, mediator, moderator, and assistant combined.

The scrum model was ori­gin­ally intended to be used for de­vel­op­ing software. To make de­vel­op­ment teams more dynamic and efficient, this agile method was developed and concrete rules (the framework) were es­tab­lished. The processes can also be applied to other teams and products just as well. No matter whether software, hardware, or services are deployed – the scrum master always needs to be part of the action.

If the company or specific team is working with scrum for the first time, it is up to the scrum master to establish this agile method. This may require per­sua­sion, extensive training of all parties involved, and a com­pre­hens­ive re­struc­tur­ing of the or­gan­isa­tion. And none of this should be done lightly. Pro­duct­ive co­oper­a­tion can only be guar­an­teed when everyone knows their tasks, duties, and rights, as well as the ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages of the scrum method.

Even if the initial training is finished and scrum is used, the scrum master is still available as a coach. The scrum master is the right source or contact for any and all questions about the scrum process – both for the product owner if they need help with creating backlogs, and the de­vel­op­ment team who might have questions about the sprint process.

Scrum can only work properly and pro­duct­ively if all team members follow the rules. Therefore, one of the scrum masters’ roles as an expert is to monitor processes. Scrum masters intervene when teams violate the rules of the framework and they remind people of guidelines – like daily scrums, or com­pli­ance with sprint length. Of course, they should not appear as or be con­sidered to be draconian guardians, threat­en­ing with pun­ish­ments (which they have no way of carrying out!) but instead act as guides. Mistakes in the process often don’t have to do with lack of mo­tiv­a­tion, but with mis­un­der­stand­ings or other problems. In cir­cum­stances like this, the scrum master has to intervene sup­port­ively.

The scrum artifacts “Product Backlog” and “Sprint Backlog” are the re­spons­ib­il­ity of the product owner or de­vel­op­ment team, but the scrum master supports, checks, and helps them. For example, a scrum master can develop the backlog together with the product owner at the beginning. They should also available for questions through­out the course of de­vel­op­ment.

In the circular course of scrum, regular meetings are a part of ob­lig­at­ory scrum events: sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review, and the final ret­ro­spect­ive organised by the scrum master. They take care of both time and space planning. During the meeting, the scrum master often takes on the role of a moderator. However, this depends on the type of meeting: whilst it should only be the de­vel­op­ment team that has a say in the daily scrum, the scrum master’s influence is much higher in the ret­ro­spect­ive.

In order for the scrum team to work as suc­cess­fully as possible, com­mu­nic­a­tion is crucial. The scrum master also helps here. They are the contact person for each team member and ensure that all par­ti­cipants always have access to the same in­form­a­tion. Lack of or faulty com­mu­nic­a­tion is often the cause of problems within the team. If this is the case, the scrum master becomes a mediator and tries to solve conflicts together with team members.

To avoid conflicts in the first place, a scrum master can also implement team building measures. Strictly speaking, these kinds of actions are not part of the scrum framework, but can still help the team be more pro­duct­ive. They also fall within the scope of the scrum master. They do not have to organise an event like this in­de­pend­ently – they can also give reminders, for example, so that team members can organise te­am­build­ing events in­de­pend­ently.

Under certain cir­cum­stances, a scrum master also becomes the team assistant. Although he usually provides guidance, he can also offer practical help if obstacles stand in the team’s way. And since their primary goal is to help the team achieve higher pro­ductiv­ity, one of the scrum masters tasks is to document faults and get them out of the way. Sometimes these obstacles (scrum im­ped­i­ments) are quite banal: For example, if workplace con­di­tions are char­ac­ter­ized by a lack of space or high tem­per­at­ures, which stand in the way of efficient work, then it is the scrum master’s job to find a solution.

But if a software is outdated or in­ad­equate, or the team needs some kind of external know-how, a scrum master takes care of these problems. In addition, these obstacles should be doc­u­mented in the im­ped­i­ment backlog. This is a list that can be viewed by anyone, and should outline any problems as quickly as possible.

In order for a team to perform at its best, they need to be left un­dis­turbed as much as possible. Pro­tec­tion against external in­flu­ences is therefore also an important task of the scrum master. Man­age­ment or others in the hierarchy are often not well in­teg­rated into team processes, and sometimes do not un­der­stand the im­port­ance of focusing on a task. Therefore, these people often make ad­di­tion­al inquiries to the team, which can ruin the sprint’s success or even in the worst cases, prevent it. In these situ­ations, the scrum master needs to intervene. In general, the scrum master can also act as a mouth­piece for the team in relation to the rest of the company.

Even if you already know what the typical re­spons­ib­il­it­ies of a scrum master are, you should also be aware of what are typically not their tasks:

• No developer: The scrum method can only be used mean­ing­fully if roles are not double assigned. The scrum master should not par­ti­cip­ate in de­vel­op­ment. This in­ev­it­ably leads to the fact that they cannot exercise one or even both roles to the best of their ability.
• No Product Owner: The same goes for mixing the roles of scrum master and product owner. Since both work next to the actual de­vel­op­ment team and are not in the team, the tempta­tion to use just one person is great. However, this would lead to a conflict of interest as well as a com­pet­ence problem – since it’s also the scrum master’s job to supervise the product owner’s work. On the other hand, both roles must meet very different re­quire­ments.
• No boss: The scrum master is part of the scrum team and therefore cannot be superior to col­leagues. Although one of the scrum master’s tasks is to assume a leading position, this cannot be equated with a boss. Within the team, there is only a hierarchy for very specific elements (e.g. who is allowed to change a backlog), otherwise all roles act at the same level.
• No handyman: It is true that in some situ­ations a scrum master becomes the team assistant, but this doesn’t mean they can do everything for the team. It often makes more sense to explain to the team how they can do the required tasks them­selves.  

Before asking how to become a scrum master, you should first find out what kind of person is suitable for the role. Certain character traits can make a person more suitable to become a scrum master from the outset. For example: a high sense of re­spons­ib­il­ity is necessary. Scrum masters cannot hide away or avoid con­front­a­tion or conflict with others. After all, a scrum master has to deal with people around the clock, and these in­ter­ac­tions can often lead to conflicts.

In addition to soft skills, there are also cer­ti­fic­ates that you can study towards. In a scrum master course, which usually lasts about two days, you learn the basics of scrum as well as tech­niques for working suc­cess­fully with a team as a scrum master. Two official documents are in com­pet­i­tion with each other. Scrum master training courses can be completed in com­pli­ance with the rules of Scrum.org or the Scrum Alliance. After the course, you can call yourself either a pro­fes­sion­al scrum master or a certified scrum master.

There is dis­agree­ment over the im­port­ance of expertise in the team’s area of work. In the early days of scrum, this question did not even arise: the first scrum masters were probably software de­velopers who underwent further scrum master training. Therefore, expertise was a given from the outset. However, in the meantime, Scrum is used in so many companies that there are plenty of people changing careers and the pro­fes­sion now resembles that of a coach who supports a team. But many people still believe that a scrum master should have pro­fes­sion­al ex­per­i­ence in the field they are sup­port­ing. Others believe it is more important that the scrum master is an absolute expert in the scrum method.