Top 3 Things a Scrum Master Must Have

Top 3 Things a Scrum Master Must Have

What does it take to be a great Scrum Master? Well here’s the top 3 traits you must have (in order of importance!)

have a deep understanding in Scrum

This doesn’t mean you have just taken the Scrum Master Certification. This means you understand what Scrum is. Why we do certain things in Scrum. What the value of the ceremonies are. As described in Scrum:

“The Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. Scrum Masters do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory, practices, rules, and values”

There’s not much of a trick here, if you are to promote and support a scrum team, then you must understand Scrum theory, practices and rules. I expanded on this in a blog I did in my consulting company Chunk Munk Technologies. You can see that  blog here. It’s worth a read.

You have to understand why we have certain meetings in Scrum, why we estimate using points, why we task and track hours remaining. It’s not arbitrary, there is a specific value, and more importantly specific type of conversation that comes with each part of Scrum. Understand them, why they are there, and be able to talk to that reasoning to your team. You should never answer something like, “I don’t know, that’s just what Scrum says to do”.

For those hiring for this position, make sure you fill this with the right person. It does not have to be an employee over a contractor, an FTE over a coach, it just has to be someone who can instill the values you’re looking to get out of your Agile implementation. If you want this to be an employee, but don’t have anyone who fits the role right now, don’t just shove someone in it. It simply doesn’t work. Hire a contractor or coach who can foster the right environment in your team, training those inside the team on proper Scrum values. The most important impact is your people will feel and understand what it’s like to be on a properly working Scrum team. This will grow their understanding of Agile, and better position them to be in this role on their own. If you know nothing about cars, can you lead a team of mechanics?

Be able to think past your experience

You must be able to resist the temptation to fix things “the way you always have”, especially as a new Scrum Master. Even Scrum Masters who have worked on 1 to 2 projects before have problems with this. It’s best to learn the ins and outs of every team as they will learn, adapt, and scale differently. What could work on one team, could be damaging to another depending on the members and dynamics. I’ve seen “agile experts” with 1 to 2 implementations try to jam their strategies into new teams with disastrous results. You must be Agile (pun intended) in the way you approach each situation. You must be able to find what works best in each situation, try things out, and move forward. 

Remember the theory, practices, rules and values. If a tool or process you’ve used in the past fundamentally breaks Scrum rules or values, don’t use it. If it worked before but might not work in this team, don’t use it. This is tricky, because you won’t always see the negative impacts or how it can be harmful for your team. Remember, we want collaboration, interactions, working software, and the ability to respond to change. Are the right people talking at the right time? How do I get those people to talk at the most optimal time? Do I need to always have a milestone in place for that to happen? Does there have to be a status meeting? Does that communication have to go through me? Do I need to template my documentation? Will that replace people talking? Does this slow our process to working software? Does it limit our ability to change? Does it actually create value, or make me feel better about my control on the situation?

Don’t be scared to throw those old tools away and learn how to use new ones. Don’t be scared to try something out and, more importantly, throw it away because it’s not working. Which leads me into my 3rd point;

Check your Ego at the door

When I took my Scrum Certification course in early 2000’s, the first thing the instructor did was had everyone stand up and put their hands in the air, then he had everyone repeat after him. Here I thought it was going to be some sort of cult-like chant “Agile is the best, Scrum is my friend, Though shalt Agile at home as they do in the office…” but nope, we had us all say:

“I’m sorry… it’s my fault“

Everyone had a laugh. He followed it up with, in all seriousness, if you can’t say that, this methodology is not for you, there’s no where to hide. I’ll always remember that, and I’ve done similar things in my classes.

To break this down, ego is a killer. I bring a lot of Agile tools to my clients, but I’m always willing to try new things in different environments, and I’m always learning. I have a deep understand of Agile theory, practices, rules and values, but that doesn’t mean my tools are the only ones that will work. I don’t question ideas that are different than mine, I only scrutinize if I think it breaks theory, practices, rules or values and only in the areas where those are challenged.

Sure Mrs Client, we can book a more in depth grooming session, I know it will force these 3 people to have a conversation, as long as it can be cancelled if there’s nothing new to talk about. I’m getting the conversation I need at the right time by being able to put input into the meeting agenda and facilitating the meeting. Often, when people get into the routine of having this conversation, the meeting will no longer be needed.

“The more you can involve those around you in the solutions, the more they have an invested interest into it’s success. “

Ego is what forces you to come up with all the answers. Well you are the Scrum Master right? Ego is what stops you from admitting something you suggested trying isn’t working. It’s what forces you to micromanage instead of teach. Ego is what blinds you to new ideas and suggestions that could work over your own and prevents you from engaging with your team to find solutions. It prevents you, yes you, from being a good Scrum Master.

I recommend saving this article, and referring back to it from time to time to remember these items, and to ensure you stay on target. Learning something is easy, Scrum is no different. Mastering it means always being able to self-reflect and progress… learn – adapt – learn. The micro-corrections you do with the wrong tools can be small, and fairly insignificant on their own, but over time, and sometimes it’s not that long, you will no longer be running an Agile team. 

Remember, a great Scrum Master is like a ninja – you will never see them coming, they come and go with the wind, their corrections are small, teams learn and grow and feel ownership, ultimately, you shouldn’t even know you’ve been ninja’d… er, I mean Scrum Master’d.