6 essential skills that made me a better scrum master
I have been a scrum master for several years now. Over the time I have found a few skills which have really given me an advantage towards becoming the supporter for the team. I think these skills are essential to help them grow towards independence and coherence. Below are the skills which I think give me an edge towards being a great scrum master and I hope they will help you too.
Being a scrum master is all about adjusting yourself to the organisation and situation you’re in. Maybe not all of these skills are directly applicable to you, but I have found these invaluable. Whilst working for three companies as Scrum Master, filling in the role in a totally different way in each of them.
In the list below, I link the skills to the five scrum values, because as a Scrum Master, the values should be the basis of your activities. The values are Courage, Focus, Commitment, Respect and Openness.
Be forgiving, especially towards your teammates
Mistakes happen far and wide, and if a developer comes to me about an issue, he is probably beating himself over the head about what he did wrong. The last thing he needs is someone scolding him or judging his actions. He knows what happened and I want him to come to me again when the shit hits the fan. So I accept the pains and help the team through the tough times too.
This directly relates to the scrum value of respect. Respect for my teammates that whenever someone makes a mistake, it is not their intention or will to do wrong. However, this does not mean that I don’t address the mistakes, evaluate and implement lessons learned. Feedback is important for teams to grow. I just make sure it’s feedback and not payback. Especially for a scrum master there is no room for grudges.
Be prepared, even for the unexpected
Sometimes things tend to creep up on me in ways which I don’t expect. Something which looks like a quiet day without too many big meetings might turn into an entire day of phone calls, meetings and escalations. So I leave some room in my agenda to manage the unexpected and teach myself not to be caught by surprise when a colleague or manager calls with just another problem. Train yourself to quickly assess the situation and find a way to prioritize and move on.
I associate the scrum values of focus and commitment with this skill. Have the focus to aim at the things that are important for the team, and commitment to handle your job as you’re supposed to. What really helps me is to know what the important areas are where I should focus, so I always know in which direction to guide the team.
Have a way to keep track
If I say I’ll do something, I make sure I do it. I don’t make colleagues ask stuff two or three times, because that only results in them nagging me instead of them being able to focus on their job. I deliberately don’t keep track of others’ work, but allow my colleagues to take up their responsibility in the way they see fit.
David Allen’s Getting Things Done has been a great revelation to me. Knowing how to keep track of everything that’s going on is essential to building trust in your team and surrounding. Have a to-do list, know what your goals and priorities are for the team, and focus on that. No surprise you will find the scrum values of commitment and focus here.
Surprisingly, I also see the scrum value of courage in this skill. The courage to pick up the work instead of saying yes but doing no. Also picking up the hard stuff and finding the motivation to do the things which are not in your comfort zone but help you, the team or the organisation a long way.
Know the scrum guide and live it
Being a scrum master means knowing what you’re about and what your goal is. So know the scrum guide, know where your team is supposed to go and use it like that. If the team is not following the guide yet, that’s OK, you need to pick your battles. At least be able to answer the basic scrum questions based on the guide, this helps you a long way towards explaining situations for your team or yourself.
Don’t beat your team over the head when they don’t follow the guide to the letter — that’s not how a self-organising team works. As a scrum master, I have learned to have the commitment to my team in the first place, and scrum in the second place. There is no use in fighting over the details of the scrum guide when you can’t explain the added value of daily scrums or when the team doesn’t see it. It greatly helps to steer the team towards scrum when they run into a problem that can be solved by following the guide more closely.
There is a lot of commitment and respect here. Commitment to grow the team to being a true scrum and agile team, but also respect to the team. Respect to what it is and, important but often forgotten, respect to what it is not. Knowing the scrum guide also gives you an insight into which other skills you need to learn outside the scrum guide to get what you need.
Keep yourself in shape
If you are the one who is overworked or out of energy at the end of the day then you don’t have the energy to get your teammates to go the extra mile. Everyone has the right to have a bad day and so do you, but being a supporter for the team means I have to be there for them. The least I can do is my best to make sure I am in top shape — be focused on my work and be there when I’m there.
I do this by concentrating on my job and keeping my body in shape by going for a run and regular exercise. It doesn’t only help me clear my mind and focus, but also helps me be reliable and go the extra mile when something unexpected happens and I need to support the team.
Keep cool when things get heated
As a scrum master, I have been in quite a few discussions where I either couldn’t influence or shouldn’t influence. The only thing I could do is to keep my cool and obtain an overview of what’s going on. I have found that meditating really helps me focus, but also keeps my head clear when I need it. I usually meditate once a day for ten minutes for a quiet break in between the noisiness of all the meetings.
This also means that I have to keep an eye on myself mentally — OK, I don’t expect scrum masters to go crazy, but it can happen that your head is not in it and you can’t support your team. That doesn’t directly mean you’re not meant for the job, it could mean you just need a break. Step out of the situation, go fetch a coffee or take a few days off if you need it. Recharging yourself means both physically and mentally.
Staying cool has a lot of scrum values in it, it grows the respect the team has for you to support the team, and it gives you the courage to let the team figure things out for themselves. Also, keeping cool helps you to focus on the things that are important to you. Finally, it gives you commitment to your cause and your goals for the team and organisation.
But there is one thing missing…
If you kept an eye on the scrum values I mentioned, there is one I missed. Writing this article I noticed that openness is not a value. That is an important lesson to me, to look at my current activities and see how I can integrate openness into my job. Nobody is perfect, of course, I don’t pretend to be the perfect scrum master, but I am always ready to learn. And that is where you come in. Which skill is missing from this list that could bring more openness into my work?
Conclusion
I have shared what I consider to be the six most important skills and attitudes with you, which I have heard my colleagues value in me, or which have helped me a big deal to make my life easier. This is my story from my own point of view and I hope it helps you to get inspiration on how to be a better scrum master.
