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Making the Case for a Full Time Scrum Master

June 22, 2023 No Comments

Many organizations continue to struggle with grasping the true value of a full-time Scrum Master. The role of a dedicated Scrum Master often faces scrutiny and is not fully understood. One common argument against having a full-time ScrumMaster is the perception that it’s not justified or affordable. Here is a conversation I had with a hiring manager who was budgeting for roles in his Scrum Team. Me[Amit]: “Hey Steve!”. “I heard you have decided against hiring a full time Scrum Master for your team?” Steve: “Exactly! We need to optimize costs and make the most of our resources. Hiring a full-time ScrumMaster seems like an unnecessary expense.”  Me: “I completely understand the budget concerns, Steve. However, having a full-time ScrumMaster allows for dedicated focus and expertise, leading to faster resolution of issues and increased team efficiency. The impact on project success and customer satisfaction is remarkable.”  Steve: “Hmm, I hadn’t considered that perspective. But what about the team’s self-organization? Won’t a ScrumMaster hinder their autonomy?” Me: “Great question, Steve! A skilled ScrumMaster empowers teams by coaching and mentoring them in self-organization. They foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and knowledge sharing. Ultimately, this strengthens the team’s ability to make informed decisions and adapt to change.” Steve: “Amit, thanks for your perspective. I’m curious to know if you have any data or evidence to support the value of full-time Scrum Masters? Some concrete examples or statistics will help.” Me: “I’m glad you asked, Steve! I’ve collected data over several years that shows significant improvements in teams with dedicated Scrum Masters. Let me share a few compelling insights with you.”  I pull out relevant artifacts working with different teams in various organizations and show them to Steve. Me: “Here, take a look. The data clearly shows that teams with a dedicated Scrum Master demonstrate higher productivity, improved delivery quality and are happier. They help remove impediments, facilitate collaboration, and ensure everyone is aligned with the Agile principles.” Metric 1: Team Throughput (Velocity) This study working with a team shows average velocity increased ~20% in about 4 Sprints by transitioning to a full time dedicated Scrum Master and, it started to fall down when we switched back to a developer playing the role. Metric 2: Number of Defects per Sprint Another controlled study done over a 4 month period showed average number of defects moved up from 8(S1-3)  to 13(S4-6) and then dropped to 8(S7-9) and dropped further to 3(S10-13) and stayed low at 3(S14-16) Without a full-time Scrum Master(1-6), the team faced challenges in quality control and defect prevention. However, with the roles and responsibilities of a dedicated Scrum master, the team raised impediments that helped them receive support in implementing effective quality assurance practices, organizing training sessions, and improving their skills. This resulted in a gradual reduction in the number of defects over time.  Metric 3: Timely Delivery Initially, not having a full-time Scrum Master(Project 1 and 2), the team was challenged with coordination, communication, and working out dependencies. With the introduction of a full-time Scrum Master(Project 3, 4 and 5), they experienced improved collaboration, better communication channels, effective teamwork, trust, and camaraderie. This resulted in shorter project delivery times as we moved forward. Steve: “Well, that’s interesting. But can’t we assign these responsibilities to someone part-time? Keep that part time role dedicated to playing Scrum Master for an extended time? We have budget constraints, you know.” Me: “By having a full-time ScrumMaster, you’re investing in the long-term success of your teams. They become more self-reliant, adaptable, and resilient, which contributes to higher employee satisfaction and retention.” Steve: Deeply thinking….I see and couldn’t agree more. We need to break free from the misconception that a full-time ScrumMaster is an unnecessary expense. The benefits they bring to the table far outweigh the costs.   Steve was convinced and decided to invest in increasing agility for his teams and organization. He decided to hire several Scrum Masters in full time dedicated capacity. The Scrum Masters were nurtured and empowered to play their roles effectively. Conclusion: The data demonstrated clearly, there is value in having a full-time Scrum Master. Honestly, there were challenges in the beginning. But, with time, the dedicated Scrum Master (nurtured and empowered)  played a crucial role in improving team velocity, reducing defects, and shortening project delivery times.  The support provided by the Scrum Master, including coaching and training the teams, facilitating effective teamwork and collaboration, improved team behaviors and allowed the team to overcome obstacles. As a result, teams improved continuously.  Investing in a full-time Scrum Master does prove to be beneficial and impactful. It helps in achieving higher productivity, improved quality, and timely project deliveries. Remember, agile is not only about the process. If implemented wisely, it also impacts collaboration, transparency, and continuous learning. Invest in full time dedicated Scrum Masters. Support, nurture and empower them to see their full value. They will indeed help your teams achieve greatness!

Scrum Managers: Agile Leadership Roles With Agilonomics

Managers in Scrum

December 28, 2022 No Comments

We all know that the Scrum Team consists of the three main roles – Scrum Master, Product Owner and Developers (erstwhile Development Team)  Where do Managers fit in then?  Many think that Managers do not have a role in Agile and Scrum. Some even say that Managers are not necessary and teams can survive and even thrive without them Well, Agile being “agile”, is all inclusive and so Managers can live and actually help Agile grow and thrive in a number of ways Let us explore all different roles and places where Managers can fit in and how they can positively impact their Agile and Scrum teams and what do they need to avoid that would weaken agility in their environment and organization Manager and Scrum Team: The Manager role has been in place long before Agile and Scrum came into being. Managers were responsible for taking care of people, what they work on, how they accomplish the work and would help with tracking the work However, Agile encourages self organizing teams. Per the Agile manifesto:  The best architecture, requirements and design come from self organizing teams (Principle#11),  and  Build projects around motivated individuals. Provide them with the environment and support they need and trust them to get the job done (Principle#5) Furthermore, the Scrum roles and responsibilities outline the Scrum Master as one who owns the process, team effectiveness and team happiness. This includes conflict resolution, making sure the impediments are resolved in a timely manner, mentoring, guiding, coaching, facilitating, …  You may benefit from reviewing related blogs.  What Does A Scrum Master Do? | Agilonomics and An Ideal Career Path for a Scrum Master | Agilonomics for in-depth understanding of the Scrum Master role Scrum Product Owner is the one who understands the market, the users and customers, brings in the requirements and prioritizes them. He/she creates the vision for the product and aligns it with the team and stakeholders. He/she works with the team to groom the backlog, is available to clarify requirements and accept the “done” work throughout the Sprint The Scrum Master coaches the developers and the Product Owner to work effectively keeping in mind the tenants of Agile, focused on value delivery and team effectiveness What is the role of a Manager in this setup then? And, where and how does a Manager fit in this whole picture?   Well, there are a number of ways Managers show up with Agile teams. I discuss a number of scenarios I have come across with examples and suggestions that can make the role effective Manager as the team boss: Developers report to the Manager and Scrum Master is an independent role with reporting lines in another department (example – PMO) Manager’s micro-managing the team can conflict with the Scrum Master role and create an impediment to Scrum effectiveness. If Scrum Master wants to experiment with the process or coach the team for following Agile Principles but the Manager opposes it, it will weaken the SM role and team effectiveness can suffer It is important that the Manager, Scrum Master and Scrum Master’s boss have a working agreement so that the Scrum Master feels empowered and the role is supported In the case the Scrum Master role is played by one of the developers then the Scrum effectiveness can be weakened further as there is no one for the Scrum Master to intervene if needed. Such Scrum teams work towards only perfecting “doing” Agile Manager as the Product Owner: This is common in many companies where Manager transitions to the PO role since she has been working with the same team managing the what, how and tracking prior to transitioning to Agile Scrum Master belonging to an outside-the-team department such as PMO may find it hard to coach the Manager in Agile ways. Example: Manager failing to agree-upon/cooperate on how to address change and repeatedly brings scope (creeping) in the middle of Sprints and justifying her being the PO, can call the shots on scope. Such reasoning can hamper with correct and effective agility Here, too, having a working agreement with the Manager and PMO can help empower the Scrum Master Again, If the Scrum Master happens to be a developer, then coaching one’s own Manager-cum-PO can be even harder and challenging Manager as the Scrum Master: This is a tough one. There is a conflict of interest in the two roles. A servant leader Scrum Master coaches the team, adheres to the Agile values and principles but experiments with the process to see what works best for his team. He is open to the team challenging his assumptions and disagreeing and in fact uses such disagreements to foster powerful conversations and bond the team However, when this role is played by the team Manager, it is difficult for developers to oppose or challenge the choices the Manager makes. The subtle thought, “my performance review will be impacted if I oppose my Manager”, is always in the back of the mind of the developers Best is to avoid this anti pattern in the roles because however hard you may try, you will find it will never achieve the right balance between the two conflicting roles Manager as both the Scrum Master and the Product Owner: This is a double tough one. One for the reasons mentioned above and second for the two conflicting roles being played by the same person  Scrum Master role is to protect the team from being overly and unreasonably pushed by the PO and stakeholders while the PO role is to push and drive the team to achieve business goals. A delicate tension between the two roles is healthy for effective Scrum Remember, when the same person plays both the Scrum Master and Product Owner roles, it is like being a 2 headed dragon. At any time, one head will end up eating the other. In other words, you cannot be a good Scrum Master and a good Product Owner at the same time! How can a Manager effectively support Agile? Whichever orientation a Manager is in, she

What Does A Scrum Master Do?

September 21, 2022 2 Comments

Scrum Master is a mystical role in Scrum. I say mystical because many companies and leaders are unable to comprehend the importance and essence of this role. As a result, the Scrum Master continues to be an under-appreciated role.  Such leaders often ask, “What does a Scrum Master actually do?  The developers or the team does the work. The product owner talks with the customers, stakeholders, business partners, understands the competition and the market, brings requirements etc., but what is the role of the Scrum Master?” I once had a conversation with a leader who questioned the Scrum Master role and wanted to get my insights [Leader] Amit, do you think we can cut down on the Scrum Master role? [Me] I asked him, “What do you think they (the Scrum Masters) do?”  [Leader] Well, “they facilitate Scrum ceremonies and are supposed to manage the work?”  [Me] Hmmm, “Manage the work?”, “What do you mean?”  [Leader] “What else do they do? Does this need to be a full time role?  [Me] “Who facilitates the Scrum events? Coaches the team? Inspires the team to self organize? Encourages them to plan to their capacity taking only what they can do and deliver to their commitments? Helps them to stay focused on value delivery? Communicates and re-communicates the vision? Resolves conflicts? Scrum Master Protects the team, and …” [Leader] “Hmmm, a lot of this effort is invisible, and we give credit only to the team and Product Managers who work hard” [Me] “Invisible?” [Leader] “Amit, isn’t it like, if your kids do well in their junior or middle school, they get all the glory? But as parents we work hard to help them be successful, but our work stays invisible, no?” [Me] “Wow, you got that right! What would you do with that knowledge?” [Leader] “I got to fix the deeper understanding of this role. I know some people playing the Scrum Master role are not doing it well. They do not have the passion, the deeper understanding of this role and/or may not be suited for this role. But there are others who are serving well in this role: their teams look happier, are highly productive, swarm over problems and find new ways to improve. We gotta acknowledge them, highlight their work, selfless servant leadership effort and take their help to grow other Scrum Masters!” With the advent of Agile and Scrum, the demand for Scrum roles, especially the Product Owner and Scrum Master, has been high. While Product Managers could learn to play the Product Owner role more easily, growing Servant Leader Scrum Masters has not been easy.   As a result, the role is quickly or hurriedly filled up by project managers, program managers, or developers which does not bring the depth of this role to life. While the people filling up this role are humans (and, humans are inherently nice), there’s a number of reasons why they implement Scrum in a minimum viable manner.  The result is that leaders do not see Scrum and Agile implemented wisely and will not understand the value of Scrum Master role-played in its full potential. Additionally, the minimum viable role then becomes a benchmark for filling other SM roles in the same organization. Who is a good Scrum Master? Related article: Ideal career path for Scrum Masters Succeeding with Agile with a well played Scrum Master role is much easier.  At the depth of this role lie all the qualities of a good Scrum Master. These include: These powerful traits of a good Scrum Master are often visible when this role is played by the right people: – passionate about Agile Principles, striving to uplift Human Values, and, Empowered. Such Scrum Masters demonstrate many (highlighted below) aspects of the role through their day-day work seamlessly switching between them with context: A key concept many miss out on is one that Ken Schawber explained years ago. The Scrum Master role played well brings about a balance or completion to the Scrum Team structure in that each of the 3 primary roles(Scrum Master, Product Owner and the Developers) hold a delicate tension with one another to keep a robust and healthy structure(relationship) This is analogous to a 3 legged stool or a tripod stand with all its legs intact. Imagine what will happen to the stool or the tripod stand when: One leg is short (analogous to the Scrum Master role being played ineffectively) OR  One leg goes missing (analogous to the Scrum Master role not visible) OR Two legs sticking closer to each other (analogous to the Scrum Master role played by the Product Owner or a developer) In the first case, the table will be imbalance and unstable; In the second case, the table might tip over; In the third case, the table will be less effective That is exactly the state of many Scrum teams I have observed and on closer look, it does have to do with how the Scrum Master role has been set up! How to move from good to great in your Scrum Master Role? An effective Scrum Master is one who teaches how to fish, and not one who provides fish every day. This calls for  Scrum Masters to work towards and help the teams to self-organize. A self-organized, empowered team is quick, resourceful and adaptable. It does not lose time due to sudden impediments that come on and off. I often come across Scrum teams dependent on the Scrum Master to run their Scrum events and postpone or cancel the events if the Scrum Master was not available for any reason.  Example: In my early days, once, I fell sick and could not go to work. That was the start of a new Sprint. My team members struggled to run through the different aspects of the sprint planning and many things went wrong: Sprint goals were missing, half-baked stories were included, capacity checks were not done right. As a result, the team could not complete its commitment that Sprint. Getting

Scrum Master VS an Agile Coach

February 8, 2022 No Comments

The reason for Agile Coach role being so much in demand is that, the growth of Agile and Scrum has been exponential in the last 7-10 years. The Scrum Master being such an important role could not grow with the same speed. As a result, the Project Managers, Program Managers, the TPMs, Team Managers and even the Developers stepped up as Scrum Masters for their teams. Lack of proper understanding of the Scrum Master role, especially the Servant leadership aspect, has resulted in ineffective Agile and Scrum implementation. Some symptoms of this ineffectiveness are: teams do not finish their work, they do not understand the meaning of commitment, deeper understanding of roles and responsibilities is not clear, self-organization is lacking, command and control and finger pointing are at play. This tends to push the team more into so much of doing rather than being Agile This is the reason why Agile coaching has become very popular.  However, do all the Agile Coaches serve the way they are expected to? Or fulfill that expectation as well? No. Not at all. The People who succeeded with Agile and Scrum, are the ones who worked hard at Servant Leadership, Soft Skills, Professional Coaching Skills, deeper understanding of Agile Values and Principles. They patiently worked to help bring up highly effective, happy, cross-functional, self-organizing and empowered teams. These are the people who having worked as  Scrum Masters for years stepped-up into the role of an Agile Coach, helping enable more and more people to understand how to play the Scrum Master role effectively. However, just like in the case of inexperienced Scrum Masters, many people have taken to Agile Coaching without gaining enough experience in Agile, Scrum and the Scrum Master role. They haven’t succeeded in creating greatness in teams but stepped up into the role of an Agile Coach and struggled to deliver as expected. This has brought a lot of confusion and reduced credibility for the Agile Coach role which has no clearly defined standards as in professional coaching.  Let’s review the similarities and differences between Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches. To be successful in the role of an Agile Coach or a Scrum Master calls for Servant leadership, deep expertise in Scrum and Agile Values and Principles, a lot of passion for serving, and years of experience working with people and teams. Such people thrive among conflicts, have strong communication skills, are able to positively influence without getting impacted by the (negative) environment, build relationships with stakeholders, are innovative and creative on different ways of applying Agile – Scrum, Kanban, etc., (depending on the context) without violating the Agile Values and Principles. They are the overseer of the health of Agile and Scrum, catalyst change agents who can bring about change without getting impacted. What makes great Agile Coaches?  3. The best of the Agile Coaches are exemplary Servant Leaders. They have Servant Leadership deeply engraved in their hearts. For them success and failure is first and foremost about people, and they are also committed to self-work (self-improvement), self-growth. Meaning, they invest a lot of time in contemplation of wisdom and practices to have high degree of Awareness, a strong sense of Belongingness with people and Charisma. This Charisma is where they have positive influence among the people they work without carrying any personal agenda. Does it mean that only great Agile Coaches have these qualities and not the Scrum Masters? No, not at all. Every once in a while, you will see a Scrum Master who has stepped to this level and sooner rather than later, they will be pulled into coaching multiple teams.  A good Agile Coach will not shy away from playing the Scrum Master role when needed. As an Agile Coach serving for many years, I have done the role play and played the Scrum Master role many times to help new/learning Scrum Masters understand the deeper essence of this role. It is only when somebody starts to serve into the role of a Coach (Agile Coach) is where they really start looking in the competencies of Coaching. It is important for Scrum Masters who are passionate about their role that they invest some time learning the competencies of Professional Coaching. Example, Creating Trust and Intimacy, Asking Powerful Questions, Active Listening, Managing Progress and Accountability, etc.  They need to work on understanding the importance of meeting the client where the client is, rather than wanting or pulling the client to where they think the client should be. These are some of the things that good Scrum Masters can highly benefit from learning. As a matter of fact, these skills are not only limited to Scrum Masters. Anyone who shows maturity in these skills can benefit in whatever role they are playing because these skills uplift the Human Values. Conclusion:  There is no shortcut to success, and the same applies to playing the roles of a Scrum Master or an Agile Coach. Working hard at the foundations of Agile and Scrum, Servant Leadership, Professional Coaching, People Skills and Spending years together genuinely working on creating greatness in People and Teams will help you succeed in becoming an exemplary Scrum Master or  an Agile Coach. Amitabh Sinha is a servant leader entrepreneur, visionary, mentor, trainer and coach. Amit is highly passionate about Agile, its principles, values, and the human side. Amit is a people champion and strives to bring out the best in his teams. Amit leverages his expertise in Agile, Scrum, Kanban and people skills to increase team effectiveness and happiness. See more

Scrum Master and Project Manager

September 4, 2020 No Comments

It is very common for Scrum teams to deal with a plethora of issues not to mention the transitioning to scrum itself. Where do you think these issues originate from? They arise from stakeholder management, team dependencies, conflicts among team members, pressure of meeting Sprint commitment, waterfall environment surrounding the team, command-and-control management, silos in the team, ambiguity in contracts, demands of reporting data to executives, etc. These issues pop up throughout the sprint.  Well, now that we know the types of problems that can spring up for a Scrum team, guess, who is responsible to shield the team from getting diverted from these external issues? YES it is the Scrum Master. But how ? In a scrum team, a Scrum Master’s foremost priority should be to take care of the team and it’s needs first. He/She works towards helping the team to stay focused on delivering the committed work. In many scenarios, due to existing silos, a team may need to work with other specialized units like design or infrastructure team to constantly get their work going.  Many a times, several teams need to work together to create a bigger product increment. This often results in companies investing in Program managers, project managers or other similar roles to support Scrum teams. It is also likely that many companies transitioning from traditional waterfall to Agile already have program and/or project managers. In such scenarios it is but natural that the Scrum Master and Project Manager will need to work together. How best the two can help the teams? One way could be for the servant leader Scrum master to play the role of a guide, a coach for the team and work cohesively with the project manager as they work towards a common goal of helping the teams succeed – that is be happy, productive and effective!  Such a Scrum Master usually stays inward (team) focused  while the project/program managers stay outward focused on handling stakeholders and the like. Who is the better superpower here?  Scrum Master and Project Manager are both super heroes in their own world. A cohesive and collaborative working of these roles can no doubt help in building effective, high performing and happy teams. We call them superheroes in their “own worlds” because Scrum prescribes only 3 roles – Scrum Master, Product Owner and Development Team while the Project Manager role comes from the traditional world. However in many instances, the organizational needs and culture demand and support the Project Manager role in Agile and Scrum environments and Agile should be accommodating this need, as, after all the core principle of agile is adaptability and customer satisfaction. Although these roles appear conflicting, they need to align on the common (higher) vision of  helping their team(s) succeed. This asks for them to work closely by having constant touch points as often as possible to divide and conquer the impediments blocking their team(s) and respond to any important stakeholder/leadership expectations or requests. In the case of a Scrum team with only 3 roles, the team members self organize to step up and help the Scrum Master attend some of the meetings and touch base to synchronize. Such teams are easy to create but rare as it needs a lot of discipline and strong servant leadership to inculcate a spirit of “shared responsibility and group accountability” Amitabh (Amit) Sinha is a servant leader entrepreneur, visionary, mentor, trainer and coach. Amit is highly passionate about Agile, its principles, values, and the human side. Amit is a people champion and strives to bring out the best in his teams. Amit leverages his expertise in Agile, Scrum, Kanban and people skills to increase team effectiveness and happiness. See more

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