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What Is The Role Of The Scrum Master? This Might Surprise You!

The Scrum Master serves all participants of a Scrum Project and the external stakeholders to comprehend and apply the Scrum Framework correctly.

He or she supports the Scrum Team to execute the Scrum Framework successfully and helps them improve their productivity and performance continuously.

The role of the Scrum Master is to establish the Scrum Process in its organization, the new way of thinking and acting.

Furthermore, the Scrum Master acts as a change agent. He or she coaches the team to develop new team norms and standards. The Scrum Master works closely with the team, whether people are co-located or distributed.

Essential responsibilities of a Scrum Master are:

• To establish the Scrum Framework in his or her business and IT ecosystem,
• To act as a change agent and support the adaptation of existing processes to maximize productivity of the Scrum Team.
• To coach the Scrum Team to understand and live the values of the Scrum Framework,
• To ensure efficient and close collaboration between the Scrum Product Owner and the Scrum Team,
• To remove impediments which hinder the continuity of work,
• To lead progress of work by serving,
• To moderate the Scrum Rituals (Scrum Events).
• To guard the Scrum Team from external interference and interruptions while the team does work it has originally committed for a Sprint.

Easily Learn Scrum and Officially Prove Your Know how

To effectively do this work, a Scrum Master needs to possess savvy moderation and coaching skills. He or she needs to be a continuous learner to inspire others to learn, change, and grow.

To learn more about Scrum Master's duties as a facilitator, I recommend you to have a look at this article: If I had 5 Minutes to explain Scrum Master As a Facilitator.

The Scrum Master is part of the Scrum Team and acts as a servant-leader for the Scrum Team. In the beginning, establishing a new team may require full-time coaching effort, leaving little capacity for other Sprint work. However, after a few Sprints, while the Scrum Team approach to the Performing phase of the Tuckman model, the initial workload as moderator and coach may reduce. So, the Scrum Master could actively contribute to the Sprint goals.

Since there must be trust between the Scrum Master and the Scrum Team members, it can always be a good idea that the Scrum Team chooses its Scrum Master. However, in reality, the management usually imposes who the Scrum Master will be. To get the required trust, the Scrum Master should have no line management responsibility above the Scrum Team members. Otherwise, open communication in the Scrum Team and joint ownership of work and decision-making ability of the Scrum Team can suffer.

Guarding The Scrum Team, Removing Impediments

An essential job of the Scrum Master is to safeguard the Scrum Team from a false sense of urgency. Line management and the Scrum Product Owner often attempt to add unplanned user stories to the Sprint Backlog while the team focuses on the work of a planned Sprint.

However, one of the critical aspects of the Scrum Framework is that the Sprint Goal must be protected while selected scope can be clarified and renegotiated with the Product Owner as the Developers learn. The Scrum Team cannot be forced to take over new user stories. The Scrum Master helps the team keep new requests visible in the Product Backlog and assess them without endangering the Sprint Goal.

Alternatively, if the ongoing Sprint does not make any business and/or technical sense to continue, the Product Owner may cancel it if the Sprint Goal is obsolete, and a new Sprint can be planned.

Scrum Team members should only concentrate on delivering client value by building potentially shippable product increment. The Scrum Master helps by removing impediments that block or slow down the progress of work.

Examples of removing impediments could be:

• To arrange support, resources,
• To find missing know how, and
• To do hands-on work to help the Scrum Team Members.

Scrum Master as a Change Agent

One of the cornerstones of the Scrum Framework is the continuous improvement through Inspect & Adapt.

The Scrum Master hosts and moderates the Scrum Retrospective Meeting, and his or her job is then to help the team implement and inspect improvements to the identified shortcomings.

Facilitation of Scrum Rituals (Event)

The Scrum Master ensures that Scrum events take place effectively and may facilitate when needed. Examples of events and supporting activities are:

• Scrum Grooming (Backlog Refinement) Meetings,
• Sprint Planning Meetings
• Daily Scrum Meetings,
• Sprint Review Meetings, and
• Sprint Retrospective Meetings