Oct 16, 2020
Joining Dan today is his
colleague and collaborator, Sam Falco, to discuss whether or not
Scrum Masters are expendable. Is it possible for things to be
running so smoothly that you’re working yourself out of a job as a
Scrum Master? Is there anything left for a Scrum Master to do once
best practices become team culture, the team is self-sufficient,
and the organization reaches a high level of performance? Why or
why not should an organization keep a Scrum Master around? How does
the role evolve over time? Tune in as Sam and Dan answer all of
these questions and more on this week’s episode!
Key Takeaways
- Can
or should a Scrum Master be trying to “work themselves out of a
job”?
-
- The
idea that they can work themselves out of a job is an inherently
flawed concept as it arises from the common misconception that
they’re only a team coach
- A
Scrum Master can always serve an organization (as there is no such
thing as 100% perfection; the goal post is constantly
moving/evolving)
- Sports analogy: If a team is doing really well,
you don’t fire the coach! The same goes for Scrum (you still need
the Scrum Master to keep the team and organization at a high-level
and help finetune their performance)
- Why
is a Scrum Master necessary?
-
- To
help the team and organization continually improve (there is no
ultimate level of performance)
- What
is perfect now, may change — there
is no pinnacle; there is always room for improvement
- If
you reach a plateau, more experiments need to be conducted and
other areas need to be examined
- Even
if everything seems perfect, it is important to stay on top of
things and continue retrospectives, etc.
- Qualities of a high-performing Scrum Master
that delivers continuous improvement and value to the team and
organization:
-
- Help
the entire organization embrace empiricism in what it’s doing; not
just team development
- Make
decisions based on sound data (through transparency, inspection,
and adaptation)
- Teach
about empiricism with the Product Owner, finding better ways to
refine the product backlog, experiments to run, etc.
-
- Help
the whole organization improve; not just the team
- Value
outcomes rather than output
- Make
sure that the whole organization is living the Agile values and
Scrum principles
- Help
the team and organization resolve problems themselves and remove
impediments
- Don’t
trade efficiencies for throughput (a bit of slack in efficiency is
actually beneficial for higher throughput)
- Know
that in any complex endeavor, there are many variables and you will
never get everything correct; situations always change, so be sure
to not be overly optimized and be willing to adjust and
adapt
- How
does a Scrum Master’s role evolve over time?
-
- Through innovation, experimentation, and
creating new best practices
- Always have something to do, reevaluate, and
ask yourself, “How can I be of service? How can I help? What can I
do that’s useful?”
- Look
at the overall system and figure out hidden/less obvious
impediments
- Always find opportunities to further optimize
within an organization
- Always find new ways to deliver
value
Mentioned in this Episode:
Live AgileThought Community Event: “Agile Heard
Around the World” with Special Guests — Oct. 29th
Peerfit
Cynefin Framework
The Age of Agile: How Smart
Companies Are Transforming the Way Work Gets
Done, by Stephen
Denning
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing
Improvement, by Eliyahu
M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox
Clean Language: Revealing
Metaphors and Opening Minds, by Wendy Sullivan and Judy
Rees
Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art
of Asking Instead of Telling, by Edgar Schein
Want to Learn More or Get in Touch?
Visit the website and catch up
with all the episodes on AgileThought.com!
Email your thoughts or
suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com
or Tweet @AgileThought using
#AgileThoughtPodcast!