Joshua Barnes
The scrum best scrum master roles and responsibilities are to guide the team to solve a problem, but not necessarily by itself.
Scrum is an overall plan we make to complete a work within a time span. We divide scrum into sprints that usually last two to three weeks.
For instance, your team plans to develop an app. It is the overall subject. So, the subject of the scrum is “App development”.
Now, app development involves various stages, such as analysis & planning, design, preparing architecture & workflows, wireframes, mockups, etc. Rather than messing up with all the processes in a single go, you work step-by-step. Each one is assigned a particular time to focus, work, & review them. It is called sprint. Here, the name of your first sprint shall be ” analysis & planning”, the second one is “design” and so on.
Major Roles in Scrum:
There are three major roles of a scrum. The first one is the Product Owner, the second is Scrum Master and the third is the Team.
Product owner: The product owner is the head of the project. Take the above example. The product owner knows which app needs to be developed. Its purpose, features, and requirements. She/He assigns the work to the respective teams with deadlines.
The team has to follow the guidelines laid down by the product owner, with deadlines for each sprint. The teams can be divided into the development team, QA, Marketing, Sales, etc.
Scrum Master: Scrum master monitors and supervises the work. There can be a single scrum master for all teams or dedicated scrum masters for each team. He ensures everything is going smooth as per the guidelines, with productive outcomes.
6 Responsibilities of a Scrum Master:
The major difference between the product owner and the scrum master is:
Scrum Master does not assign and manage work. It is done by the product owner.
The scrum master coaches and guides the assigned work and ensures that everybody is working as a team.
So, what exactly does scrum master do? Here we will go through the exact roles and responsibilities of a scrum master.
1. Resolving issues:
The issues that can’t be solved by the team, come to the scrum master for resolution. Hence a person should be competent enough and fit for a scrum master job.
When the team or any member is stuck in making a decision or moving forward, the scrum master guides and clears the obstacles.
There can be numerous forms of obstacle that comes from different directions. Such as technical, operational, missing project resources, or project blockade issues. Scrum master handles it all.
Scrum master also deals with external issues like unfavorable weather, or poor health of any member. Or lack of skill and knowledge of teammates for the assigned work.
Altogether, these are called impediments that might obstacle the team’s progress. And the scrum master’s responsibility is to resolve them one by one.
How does scrum master resolve obstacles?
Scrum Master has their own ways to resolve issues. Most importantly, they use connections to the executive or management level.
Basically is the team is stuck on an issue and requires help, the scrum master needs to produce that assistance right away. In this way, they remove obstacles that might hinder the progress.
Lastly, the scrum master does not solve the problem by himself, rather he helps the team to understand the problem and guide them on how to solve the problem.
2. Organize all Scrum Events:
The scrum master facilitates and organizes all scrum meetings, stand-ups, retrospections, sprint reviews as requested by the product owner and the development team.
He is responsible for cultivating the right working environment for the entire team. From physical workspace to availing communication tools, it ensures that the team members follow the scrum values.
For example, the scrum master ensures that each member of the team gets an equal opportunity to share their viewpoint. They have their choice or chance to state their opinion.
Help the team to make important decisions that would increase productivity as a whole.
So, the scrum master never orders the team. Rather he helps them by coaching and guiding.
3. Servant leader:
Scrum master is also called the servant leader of the scrum team. So, what is the scrum master’s responsibility as a servant leader?
As a servant leader, the scrum master acts as a supporter(not commanding) and is responsible for setting up scrum teams.
4. How Should be the behavior of Scrum Master?
The scrum master should be humble, able to have foresight, should be a good listener and observer.
Should be able to coach and guide the team members
Basically, the scrum master should have an approach like “What should I do for the team to achieve the goal”? Rather than ordering and saying – do this task by the end of the sprint.
So, the scrum master energizes the team and makes them realize their potential to complete a project successfully.
5. Mediate between the Product Owner and the Team:
Product owners maintain the backlog or known as to-do-list. They are in charge of prioritizing the user stories for each sprint.
The scrum master makes sure that the product owner and the team are on the same page. Skilled scrum master knows when and how to resolve issues between the product owner and the team.
Moreover, teams may also have conflicts in-between them. Conflicts can continue and may become personal. That disrupts the team’s progress.
Scrum masters need to make sure that all the members are treated fairly, and personal conflicts are resolved easily. A good scrum master mediates disputes. If he fails to address that, he might seek external help.
6. Safeguard the Team from Outside Interference:
There may be outside influences that control and disturbs the scrum team. It dictates strategies, architecture and the overall plan of a team.
The scrum master ensures that the outside decisions should not affect the team. He protects the members to make their own decisions.
The scrum master must use connections from the support to the executive level or management to avoid external influence.
Conclusion:
Scrum master coaches and guides the team in a scrum. He should be the most families with the scrum practices and guidelines.
So, they may coach and direct the team through the entire scrum procedure. When team member values and operate effectively within the scrum team, they achieve the best results. And scrum master makes sure that this happens.
Related Questions:
How scrum works?
Scrum has three main roles, the product owner, the development team, the scrum master and. In scrums, teams are put in a time box and told to complete certain tasks assigned in the form of the product backlog. The product backlog is created in the sprint planning meeting and reviewed in the end, i.e sprint review meeting. During the sprint, the team performs daily standups. And if asked by the product owner, the team reports their work in status, updates, and progress meetings.
What best describes a scrum team?
The scrum team is responsible for completing the product backlog and fulfilling the sprint goals. An ideal scrum team consists of 6 members. The team has the authority to make any decisions, do whatever it needs to do, and ask for any impediments that need to be removed.
How to calculate velocity in scrum?
The velocity is scrum is calculated by the amount of work completed during a sprint. The scrum velocity also known as sprint velocity is affected by incomplete or returned job cards.
Which is the best scrum master certification?
The best agile scrum master certification is “Agile Certified Practitioner” by Project Management Institute. It comes with 2000 hours working on teams, and 21 hours training on agile practices. You can renew the certificate every three years.
What is the difference between scrum and kanban in Jira?
The scrum board in Jira includes creating sprints assigning user stories in the form of backlog at the start of the sprint. The kanban in Jira allows users to start work without necessarily having a structured plan like scrum.
How to implement agile scrum?
Implement agile scrum by starting with the planning meeting to create sprint backlogs, which include work items assigned to each team member. The team meets daily for a short status meeting known as daily scrum. At the end of the sprint, the team gets together with the management at a sprint review meeting, to discuss the work accomplished.
Which scrum master certification is best?
CSM(Certified Scrum Master) certification is best because it has more job openings than PSM(Professional Scrum Master) certification.
When to use kanban and when to use scrum?
We use kanban for bug fixing and scrum for software development and architecture. In other words, the tasks or issues which cannot be planned as it is liable to occur anytime, kanban is used. While scrum is structured and planned which has to be performed during the sprint.
