Have you ever wondered what a Scrum Master does? If you have, do not worry, you are not alone. The Scrum Master role is something that has been greatly confused by many for quite some time now. In most cases, this role is confused with that of a Project Manager. The Scrum Master is neither a Project Manager nor is he a product owner.
So who is a Scrum Master?
The best way to explain it is to use this analogy:
If the product owner is the ultimate decision maker and head of the project, and the Scrum Team is the body tasked with ensuring that everything is executed according to plan so as to bring the project to life, then the Scrum Master is the one thing that holds it all together. He/she is like the glue that brings all the pieces together and facilitates the smooth completion of the project.
The Scrum Master takes on a number of roles during his or her reign. They are the coach, the mentor, the leader, the administrator, and a one-man/woman think tank that makes the scrum development possible.
So what do they do?
The Scrum Master will often spend their days doing any one or all of the following things:
– Facilitating, while not participating in the scrum’s daily standup
– Doing all they can to help the scrum team to maintain their burndown chart
– Setting up sprint reviews, retrospectives, and sprint planning sessions
– Making sure that the scrum team is not interrupted during the sprint
– Making sure that all possible obstacles that could affect the team are removed
– Making sure that the product owner understands the most technical aspects of the product and user stories
– Making sure that there is useful and viable collaboration between the product owner and the Scrum team
What are the ideal goals of a scrum Master?
From the explanation above, we can clearly see that a Scrum Masters’ job is to ensure that everything runs smoothly for both the Scrum team and the product owner. Therefore one of the most important goals that any Scrum master should have is to ensure that there is complete synergy between these two factions.
Improve Synergy between the product owner and Scrum Team
The Scrum Master is the one link between the product owner and the Serum Team. He or she will act as the go-between. He or she should seek to clarify the product owner’s vision to the scrum team and pass any concerns from the serum team to the product owner. At the end of the day, should there be complete synergy and understanding between these two factions (resulting in an excellent end product that both factions are proud of) then it can be said that the Scrum Master has achieved his or her goal.
Help with prioritization
As a Scrum Master, one of the most important aspects of your job would be to understand the project thoroughly. You would have to know the ins and outs of it all and quite essentially, master it. This, in turn, allows you to come up with the right order of priority.
Let’s face it, as much as the Scrum Team is in charge of implementing and executing the project itself, it is not unheard of for scrum team members to spend lots of time on less important aspects because they lack the full understanding of the project. That is why one of your main tasks as a Scrum Master is to offer guidance and coaching services to the Scrum Team as a whole as well as be a go-between for them and the product owner. You alone fully understand how both side of the isle work and as such, are best placed to identify the priorities.
Providing the right working environment for the Scrum Team
Every Scrum Master is ultimately responsible for giving his or her Team everything they need to see the project through. This, more often than not, includes ensuring that the team is not unnecessarily interrupted or bothered by non-essential events or occurrences. It also means being able to foresee what possible obstacles the team may face and do everything in their power to make sure that these obstacles are removed or at the very least, reduced to a point where they are a non-issue. One can read up these Scrum books to understand more about it.
Galvanize the team towards the project
Since one of the Scrum Master’s roles is that of a coach, it is only natural that they should find ways through which they can galvanize the serum team towards the project. Find the means to make the team look at the project as their own and take ownership of it. One of the best ways to measure this is to give them free reign for a few days and see what kind of progress is made. If the team can come up with excellent ideas and make good strides as far as progress is concerned, then you, as the Scrum Master, are doing your job right. This shows that you have done your duty in ensuring that the scrum team fully understands the project.
Creating a self-sufficient Scrum Team
When all is said and done, a Scrum Master is said to have thoroughly done their job when his or her Scrum Team can fully interpret and complete the project without his or her constant supervision or interjection. Also, when the team can chart a seamless path towards the completion of the project and do so with minimal re-orientation by the Serum Master.
Conclusion
Since you will almost always be working with different teams on various projects, one of your primary goals as a Scrum Master would be to perfect your own people skills. If you are going to bring about synergy, better relations between product owners and scrum teams as well as facilitate project understanding in every project you manage, then your communication skills will also have to be top notch. Ultimately, the most important goal for a Scrum Master is the success of the project.
