In her book The Great ScrumMaster, author Zuzana Šochová reminds us that we may have lost our way in understanding the role of the ScrumMaster in agile. She describes the role using the #ScrumMasterWay concept which, according to the author, finally provides ScrumMasters the answer to their most common question: “What will the ScrumMaster do once the team is self-organized?”
She starts by stating that the ScrumMaster is one of the most undervalued roles in Scrum and agile. Particularly new agile teams don’t understand the value that a ScrumMaster brings to the high performing team. In my opinion, this belief that the ScrumMaster is just a secretary to the team actually comes from some of the training materials that I remember from when I was preparing for my ScrumMaster certification. I remember learning that the ScrumMaster role is not a full-time role and that a ScrumMaster may either be shared across more than one Scrum team or that the ScrumMaster may perform team member tasks on a part time basis in addition to serving as ScrumMaster. Additionally, I remember learning that the ScrumMaster role does not necessarily have to be fulfilled in the form of a particular person, because it can be shared on a rotating basis among the team members.
We have come a long way since then and we know that becoming agile is a process. Training the team and following the Scrum guide does not make the team agile. This is where the role of a great ScrumMaster becomes invaluable. In the book, the author proposes many aspects of the ScrumMaster’s role, among others:
- to support the team rather than individual behavior and encourage team members to help each other
- to apply soft skills in promoting self-organization, ownership and responsibility which makes people more active and accountable
- to remove impediments by asking the team to resolve issues on their own, rather than solving problems for the team
- to facilitate Scrum meetings
- to maintain Agile and Scrum values
- to continuously educate himself on Agile and Scrum mindsets
The ScrumMaster embodies a servant leader, according to the author. To be successful, he must be self-aware as a leader and aware of others; he must have empathy and good listening skills; must keep the big picture in mind and link past lessons with future decisions; be committed to the growth of others.
The author further explains that the ScrumMaster approach is made up of 4 states of mind:
- teach – share experiences to suggest additional practices and methods
- remove impediments – delegate responsibility and ownership to the team so they solve their own problems
- facilitate – ensure that team meetings run smoothly and that communication flows efficiently
- coach – reveal opportunities for improvement to the team and let the team members take initiative
Then she introduces the three levels of the #ScrumMasterWay model:
- Level 1 – My Team: At this level the ScrumMaster feels responsible for the development team only
- Level 2 – Relationships: At this level the ScrumMaster emphasizes all the relationships and connections the Scrum team has with customers, users, product people, marketing, support groups, and other teams and line managers
- Level 3 – Entire System: At this level the ScrumMaster focuses on the organization or one of its parts as a whole system, by guiding the organization to become prosperous and sustainable, to inspire people, and to create value for society
In subsequent chapters of the book, the author introduces various topics related to individual competencies and team behaviors. She lists the various competencies that are relevant for ScrumMaster, such as facilitation, coaching, technical expertise, change management, business skills, experience, explaining, agile mindset. She explains the stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing. Next, she quotes the Five Dysfunctions of a Team based on the book by Patrick Lencioni: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, inattention to results. And she discusses how to overcome toxic behaviors of the team such as blame, defensiveness, stonewalling and contempt. Finally, she quotes the responsibility model with several levels of responses: denial, blame, justification, shame, obligation, quitting and taking responsibility. She then compares these levels with the stages of tribal leadership.
After the above mish-mash of stuff pulled from various sources, there is a chapter about change management and how to apply some of the ideas in practice by implementing change. This is followed by an explanation of the Shu Ha Ri principles and the power of positivity.
Take-aways
The book is very short, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The author says that keeping it short was intentional so that the book can be read in a few hours during the weekend. I find that some of the ideas and concepts introduced in the book are useful, but overall most of the content is just quoting other sources that many of us who have project management and agile training under our belts have already seen elsewhere. The content can serve as a refresher and a reminder of what a great ScrumMaster should be doing towards building not only a great Scrum team but also contributing to a great agile organization.
