Myth: The Scrum Master is a Junior Agile Coach
Scrum is intended as a simple yet sufficient framework for complex product delivery. Scrum is not a one-size-fits-all solution, a silver bullet, or a complete methodology. Instead, Scrum provides minimal boundaries within which teams can self-organize to solve a complex problem using an empirical approach. This simplicity is its greatest strength but is also the source of many misinterpretations and myths surrounding Scrum. In this series of posts, we — your ‘MythBusters’ Christiaan Verwijs & Barry Overeem — will address the most common myths and misunderstandings.
If you prefer, you can also listen to us reading this post.
Myth: The Scrum Master is a Junior Agile Coach
Are you a Scrum Master and ready for the next step as an Agile Coach? Do you need an Agile Coach to help facilitate organizational change while Scrum Masters focus on the teams? Do you have experience as a Scrum Master and want to become Agile Coach with a 3-day course? Ever considered changing your job title to ‘Agile Coach’ because it nets you a higher salary?
These statements exemplify the myth we intend to bust today: the idea that the Scrum Master is a junior Agile Coach. The Agile Coach addresses larger organizational issues, while the Scrum Master focuses on Scrum teams. In a way, busting this myth has been our mission over the past years. And one that we’ll continue to pursue, considering just how tenacious it is.
We’ve written several articles, spoken at seminars, provided training, and facilitated workshops related to explaining the purpose of the Scrum Master. In this blog post, we’ll share our views on this topic and explain why this myth requires much busting.
This myth concerns us for several reasons:
- It is based on a poor and incomplete understanding of what it is that a Scrum Master does and should do according to the Scrum framework;
- It positions the Agile Coach as being higher in a traditional hierarchical structure. Especially within organizations that are used to ‘vertical growth paths.’ The Scrum Master is the junior, the Agile Coach is the medior, and the Enterprise Coach is the senior;
- Consultancy firms and training agencies encourage this thinking because it’s easy to match with their increasing hourly rates and expensive training programs. Notice the contradiction with the services these organizations provide: advising clients to think in ‘horizontal structures’ that promote the self-organizing capabilities of the teams, yet promote a ‘vertical structure’ because it works well from a commercial- and marketing-perspective;
This myth leads to artificial boundaries between what Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches do. The Scrum Master is only “allowed” to act on the team's level. Therefore, creating the necessary Scrum-friendly culture is far more complex, decreasing the chance of a successful Scrum adoption. The Agile Coach is expected to “implement” the required organizational changes but fails because of limited experiences “from the trenches” and not knowing how to deal with “outside-in” change management.
Busting the Myth
Busting today’s myth is remarkably easy and requires only a simple reading of the Scrum Guide, as has been the case with every myth we’ve addressed. The Scrum Guide describes the services a Scrum Master provides to the team, the Product Owner, and the entire organization. This includes coaching the team in self-organization and cross-functionality, helping the Product Owner find techniques for effective Product Backlog management, and supporting the organization in delivering high-value products through the empirical process established through Scrum. To make this happen, the Scrum Master works with other Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and people within the organization.
The 8 Stances of the Scrum Master
Another useful perspective on the role of the Scrum Master is offered in the white paper “The 8 stances of a Scrum Master”. It captures the various responsibilities of the Scrum Master in eight stances that are closely linked to the Scrum Guide. The Scrum Master is ….
- An Impediment Remover that helps resolve issues that are blocking the team’s progress, taking into account the self-organizing capabilities of the Development Team;
- A Facilitator that sets the stage and provides clear boundaries in which the team can collaborate. This includes facilitation of the Scrum events to ensure they’ll achieve the desired outcome and — most importantly — that the empirical process is optimized;
- A Coach who helps individuals and groups to continuously improve in how they deliver valuable outcomes as a team or as an organization;
- A Teacher that ensures that Scrum and relevant techniques are well-understood and enacted;
- A Servant Leader that creates environments where teams can work effectively with stakeholders to create valuable outcomes;
- A Manager who is responsible for managing (true) impediments, eliminating waste, managing the process, managing the team’s health, managing the boundaries of self-organization, and managing the culture;
- A Change Agent that helps to enable a culture in which Scrum Teams can flourish — on every level of the organization;
- A Mentor who transfers agile knowledge and experience to the team.
Scrum Masters should be aware of these stances and their diversity, knowing when and how to apply them, depending on the situation and context, all to help people understand the spirit of Scrum.
PS: check the updated version of “The 6 Stances of a Scrum Master.”
Dealing with “senior” challenges
“A good Scrum Master helps a Scrum team survive in an organization’s culture. A great Scrum Master helps change the culture so Scrum teams can thrive.” — Geoff Watts.
It’s up to the Scrum Master to help create a Scrum-friendly culture. Thankfully, the Scrum Master is in a perfect position to do this because (s)he can enable change from the inside out.
“The Scrum Master enables change from the inside out.”
Being part of a Scrum team, the Scrum Master knows exactly what needs to be changed and why this change is necessary. They help teams uncover the impediments holding them back and the other ways the organization can deliver (even) more value with Scrum. This puts them in an excellent position to work with HR departments to find practices that are better aligned with Scrum. Or to help sales departments move from ‘fixed-price / fixed-scope' contracts to more agile-friendly contracts. Or to increase collaboration between Scrum teams and stakeholders.
Working with the other Scrum Masters, they ignite the necessary organizational changes by influencing the system from the inside out. From the perspective of the Scrum team, the Scrum Master truly is a ‘Change Facilitator.’
“The chances of successful Scrum adoption will increase drastically when you consider your Scrum Master as the true “inside out” change facilitator!”
When organizations implement an empirical process primarily through Scrum, there should be almost no need for Agile Coaches. Instead, Scrum Masters should be enabled and supported to promote the empirical process at all organizational levels. If they can, and if they do, no other roles are necessary to help organizations generate valuable outcomes with Scrum.
“When organizations choose to work with the Scrum, there should be almost no need for Agile Coaches.”
Should we fire all Agile Coaches?
No, you shouldn’t. By busting the myth that Scrum Masters are junior Agile Coaches, we do not mean to say that Agile Coaches are worthless. We do mean to say that the need for Agile Coaches diminishes greatly when Scrum Masters are allowed to perform their intended role. We also mean to say that the hierarchical differences we often see between Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters are based on a (very) poor understanding of Scrum.
Where Scrum Masters use an “inside-out” approach, Agile Coaches use an “outside-in” approach. We prefer the “inside-out” approach to driving organizational change. However, both can add value to the organization from an organizational change point of view. They only have a different perspective on creating a Scrum-friendly environment (if that’s the goal of the Agile Coach).
An “outside-in” approach can work, but it’s tough. It’s our experience that many (external) Agile Coaches offer little value in this regard. They cannot affect change and have a superficial understanding of what happens inside the teams (where the value is generated). They are not part of the team, lack the necessary support from management, and don’t have the extensive experience needed to drive change from “the outside in.” Furthermore, many Agile Coaches barely have experience with Scrum or as a Scrum Master. Yet coaching Scrum Masters is frequently a part of their daily work.
“The reality is that most Agile Coaches are junior Scrum Masters.”
So our advice for organizations is:
- Focus on enabling Scrum Masters to facilitate change from “the inside out.” Support Scrum Masters in creating great teams that build awesome products. Help them build the experience and toolkit to do this together.
- Get rid of ‘Seagull Coaches’ that fly in, make a lot of noise, crap all over the place, and fly on to the next customer, leaving a big mess behind;
- If you want to hire an Agile Coach in addition to the Scrum Masters already present within the organization, ensure they have real, proven experience in affecting change “outside-in.” They focus on helping the teams and the Scrum Masters drive change themselves. Don’t create the artificial distinction between “change on the management level” (by Agile Coaches) and “change on the team level” (by Scrum Masters);
What if we use Kanban/XP/DevOps?
Scrum is just one framework for improving organizational agility and creating engaging workplaces where people work with stakeholders to build great products. Scrum should not be a goal in itself. No matter what framework or methodology you choose, it will involve organizational change to some degree. The people in the best position to effect this change are part of the teams doing the work. They may have titles like Scrum Master, Kanban God, XP Dude, DevOps Guru, or no title at all: we don’t care.
“Organisational change should be driven from the inside-out by people that are truly part of the teams.”
Closing
In this blog post, we’ve busted the myth that “The Scrum Master is a junior Agile Coach.” Effective change is driven from “the inside-out.” The Scrum Master — being part of the team — is in a better position to facilitate this change than an (external) Agile Coach. This is also how the Scrum Guide intended the role of the Scrum Master.
When organizations implement an empirical process primarily through Scrum, there should be almost no need for Agile Coaches. Instead, Scrum Masters should be enabled and supported to promote the empirical process at all organizational levels. If they can, and if they do, no other roles are necessary to help organizations generate valuable outcomes through Scrum.
What do you think about this myth? Do you agree? What are your lessons learned?
