aarons, inc.
Paul was sitting in the middle chair of the conference table. On the left were the product developers and lead architects. To his right were the UI specialists, Sr. BA and quality analysts. In front of him, a very incensed Product Owner. As the Product Owner pounded his fist on the planning table claiming lack of results, instant messages furiously flew onto the screen of his open laptop from team members wondering why he is allowing this barrage of insults to continue. Paul's one thought was...
"I dont recall this being part of Scrum Master certification."
Whether Paul felt it was lack of training, lack of knowledge or lack of preparedness, he knew something was lacking!
ScrumAlliance.org has a definition of what a Scrum Master is and their role. You see phrases like "understanding of the Scrum framework", sounds good, "helps the product owner understand how to create and maintain the product backlog", no problem, "remove impediments to the team’s progress", got it, "facilitate meetings and always acts as a coach for the Scrum team, helping it execute the Scrum process", perfect....sign me up!
So, what's Paul's issue then?
Unfortunately, organizations attempting to make an Agile transformation make the mistake of assigning this role to team leads, command and control style PM's or staff managers without taking the time to understand all of the in's and out's (or nuances) of the more impactful aspects of the role.
With that in mind, many mature Agile adopters have evolved to defining this role as much more of a team facilitator (I've heard the title "Team Steward" used) as opposed to Scrum Master (by the way, what do you call them if you are using Kanban? WIP-Limit-Samurai!?).
The truth is, skillsets such as conflict resolution, keen observation, identifying individual communication styles, creating rapport and motivational techniques are all equally as important (sometimes more so) than helping someone increase their velocity or groom\prioritize a backlog. My father has been a software implementation manager for a large ERP system development firm for many years and one of his first nuggets of advice he gave me on successful "project management" is that it was 80% people and 20% process. This is no less true for team facilitators.
Scrum Alliance has it right in that this person has to be an evangelist for the Agile mindset and in the case of a Scrum Master, Scrum best practice. But what we're seeing is that the role is being asked to do much, much more. In the Practical Agile workshops I teach, I specifically rotate the responsibility of the Scrum Master amongst different team members. After each sprint I ask if they thought it felt like a full-time job. Inevitably the answer is Yes! Not only that, many say they dont want the job! Conversely, there are a select few who embrace the role; even find that it suits their personality so much that they leave the workshop with the professional goal of grooming themselves into that facilitator and in turn a servant leader of their team. I call this the "Diamond in the Rough" scenario. You simply can't have enough servant leaders who actually embrace the struggles, conflicts, understanding and humility it takes to place the team above self and make it their goal to help others achieve their own successes.
For those of you who fall into this category...I salute you. The world is a better place with you in it.
Either way, not having the right person in that role or giving that person the tools to be successful at it, can have adverse effects on the team and its success. I often liken these teams to a dogsled team, with the facilitator being the harness tying everyone together. The harness gets no credit, is rarely noticed, but if not there the team scatters, product goes no where and ultimately no success is seen. Imagine if it was a weak harness, unbalanced, not fitted right.
Please, dont minimize this role by drawing names out of a hat. For Paul? Perhaps this is not the professional arena he would choose to embrace (understatement). There is nothing wrong with that! It takes a brave person to say "yyeeaahh....this isn't for me." Hopefully we dont place anyone in that position to begin with.
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