Being a scrum-master isn’t difficult

That phrase is probably considered blasphemy, but I guess it’s a case of perspective. My wife tells me  “brain surgery isn’t rocket science” J.

Over the last few years I’ve seen a lot of people (testers and BA's in particular) move into scrum master and iteration manager roles.

When you look at the criteria , it’s really not that difficult. A CSM certification is essentially bought. You spend a few thousand dollars on a 2 day course, and BAM – you’re a Certified Scrum Master.

When I was at Pillar, we were anti-certification for that reason. You also wouldn’t have seen scrum-master or agile coach on any job description either. From a mercenary perspective, it’s coaches that are usually the first ones cut when budgets get tight – but also because it’s only a small portion of the role that our delivery leads played.

So what makes a good scrum-master?

You're going to hate the answer.

The best scrum masters are those that are masters of the intangibles. It’s not whether they run the agile ceremonies. It’s how they run it. It’s how their team interacts. It's the vibe on the floor.

The best scrum masters are like good shepherds. They are keen observers. They protect the flock. They make sure the team are moving in the same direction and don’t go wandering off. 

Most of the time – you won’t notice them as they go about their work.

You will notice if the role in't being fulfilled.

Do you need a dedicated person?

Sometimes.

With new immature teams, bring in the experience.

Once the teams are established and humming, It's rare that i've seen enough work to keep it as a single person in the designated role. A lot of places have a scrum-master that looks after a few teams, or someone within the team playing the role. If you decide to do this - be careful of having the Tech lead/Dev Manager fulfil the responsibilities. That takes it back to a manager/team-member relationship and can affect the dynamics. It's too easy to slip back into a directorial position.

Remember - we're looking for self managing teams.

Leadership refined

One of my favorite questions to ask when I was interviewing with companies was why they switched or wanted to switch to Agile. What problems were they trying to solve?

At one of the interviews the Program Director that was interviewing me answered:

“It gave me visibility so I could micro-manage the teams better. The teams need that sort of oversight.”

I didn’t take that role.

Good agile teams are self-managing. They take initiative; they learn from mistakes, they unblock themselves without requiring intervention. It’s a far cry from being micro-managed. In fact – I’ve seen situations where the teams were successful in spite of poor management.

Unfortunately that success just reinforces the bad managers behavior.

The concept of agile scares a lot of mid-level managers.  Some got to their positions with a very direct management style.

If you’re at an organization that still has an “old boys club”, It is usually one of the toughest things to change when trying to do an agile transformation.

If someone has been rewarded and promoted throughout their career for behaviors that are now disruptive to the team and productivity – How do you change those behaviors?

Being able to guide them through their new roles and responsibilities will be crucial to your success, as they will likely be the loudest and vehement detractors if you don’t get them onside. Despite my dislike of mechanical agile, I find that being very prescriptive helps with the transition for these personalities.

It’s easy to assume bad intent when you run into these situations – but think of it a different way. Do they have the necessary skills? Do they know how to lead and manage any other way?

You may find it’s not a problem of motivation – it’s a problem of skill, and all skills can be learned. Even sailing.