Agile and the Scrum Master

The Scrum Master is the primary responsible for implementing Scrum, one of the most popular Agile frameworks.

Agile methodologies have prevailed over traditional ones, particularly in complex environments such as software development. Additionally, companies need agility in their internal processes. Hence, the Scrum Master rises as facilitator, coach, and servant leader, who helps adopt Scrum and Agile.

In this whitepaper, Danila Cordero and Leandro Mastakas, Senior Delivery Managers with over 5 years at Spark Digital, describe a job with simple bases that can be rather complex: the job of a Scrum Master.

Scrum Master Skills

The three main skills of a Scrum Master are leadership, flexibility and communication.

Leadership: ‘Servant leader’. Scrum Masters must lead and coach the team members, not only in the Scrum framework but also in Agile. They must be able to set both the mindset and the spirit of that methodology. They must have the necessary skills to transform an old method into a new high-performance method in the IT industry.

Flexibility: Scrum Masters are agents of change, mostly in companies undergoing digital transformation. Flexibility is the key feature that turns problems into learning opportunities for themselves as well as the team and the clients.

Communication: As stated in the Agile Manifesto, individuals and interaction over processes and tools. This is why Scum Masters play a key role both by communicating clearly with the team and by facilitating and refining the communication among team members.

Responsibilities of the Scrum Master

The Scrum Master is accountable for implementing the specific Scrum framework. The core responsibility of a Scrum Master is to guarantee the framework is being used properly and moves in the right direction.

Depending on how mature the team is, the Scrum Master will facilitate framework events.

The Scrum Master removes any impediments the team may come across, as dependencies or blockers. Those impediments come in the form of any situation preventing the project from keeping its rhythm and velocity. Here are some examples: missing devices, lack of interaction with other teams, any kind of blockers.

The Scrum Master also holds time-boxed meetings called Daily Scrums, where status updates and blockers are reported. The Scrum Master needs to be proactive in solving blockers and impediments.

Agile

Agility is a cumulative way of working that is based on sprints. In order to work with an Agile methodology, the processes that “get the engine running” should come from the teams. The Scrum Master is the guardian of this method.

Some companies incorporate someone from outside the company to help them implement Agile. Scrum Masters do this while also developing the projects they were assigned to.

Scrum Masters are the agents of change who facilitate the Agile transformation. They establish the Agile framework and assess its performance while making sure the team makes all necessary adjustments to improve their performance through change and/or adapt to it.

What about talent?

You could say there is not so much talent available to do this job while conveying Scrum as a philosophy. Many colleagues understand the method, but are not able to convey its spirit and to assemble the right team.

This stems from a much more complex matter: you need to “feel” and live this way. You need to enhance your environment. The framework guidelines are simple. However, implementing this as the way you work and becoming a person who handles himself or herself this way is a much harder challenge. The same happens with leading roles: many people can perform the duties of a leader, but finding people with leadership skills “running through their veins” is a completely different story.

Learning and training

There are many courses and certificates for people who want to become Scrum Masters. However, most Scrum Masters learn how to play the part ad-hoc, within agile teams.

Agile principles are easy to understand, but there are many anti-patterns Scrum Masters and their teams may fall into. Anti-patterns are common responses to recurring problems that are usually ineffective and risks being highly counterproductive.

For example, a team that does not synchronize daily (because its members consider it is a waste of time) ends up wasting more time because the parties are not on the same page.

Here is a list of examples of certificates and courses:

• Scrum Alliance: Introductory course to the role with an internationally valid certificate. They offer advanced courses, as well: Advanced Certified Scrum Master and Certified Scrum Professional, Scrum Master.
• Professional Scrum Master (Scrum.org): Issued by Scrum.org, this validates the depth of knowledge of the Scrum framework and its application in 3 levels: fundamental, advanced and distinguished.
• Scaled Agile Academy: With Agile methodologies, companies felt the need to escalate their frameworks. In response to this need, SAFe Scaled Agile Framework comes to being.

Current scenario: Scrum Masters and the pandemic

Ever since the pandemic started, many Scrum Masters have faced the challenge of working completely remotely as opposed to working on-site. This situation entailed the need to adapt tools and work even harder on facilitating daily interaction of remote teams. The pandemic made the most of their supportive skills to help team members.

Regarding the adaptation of tools, we refer not only to communication tools for meeting and getting together, but also to the incorporation of tools to help us move forward in our projects. For example, retrospectives changed and we had to improve interactions using any tools available. Tools for assessment (as well as other tools) were also included. Luckily, Spark Digital’s work scheme was not entirely on-site, so our dynamics were not shaken by the new work schemes. However, the pandemic did accelerate the addition of the facilities mentioned.

Regarding teams that do not share the location, Scrum methodology bases on communication. Communication runs fluently in teams sharing the workspace. Therefore, the main change needed as a consequence of the pandemic was to support and enhance communication, by whatever means possible. Communication and interaction.

An example of this is the use of cameras for video calls. Scrum Masters need to foster the people to connect with open cameras in order to have a true perception of their expressions during conversations. Just holding a meeting is not enough. The Scrum Master digs deep in order to keep communication fluent and to keep the project moving forward through good interaction.

To sum up

Talking about a Scrum Master is talking about Agile and Scrum framework. Scrum is a solution to complex problems that could happen (by any reason) in companies, despite their size.

Therefore, if you want to implement Scrum in a multinational corporation, a SME or a startup, you may face some issues regarding costs and company size. But the method is the same in every case. To start the transformation into Agile, you can take your first steps down the Scrum path on a daily basis.

Danila Cordero & Leandro Mastakas — Senior Delivery Managers @ Spark Digital