Who is a Scrum Master and how to become one?
Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 10:09 am
Marcin Grobelny, former Scrum Master/Agile Coach at x-kom and Santander Bank Polska, talks about the profession of Scrum Master.
cover-65539f0d5b45a702669835-min-656732ec67db0145263552.jpg
Mikulski
Emilia Mikulska,
journalist Laba
There are three roles in Scrum: the Product Owner, the development team, and the Scrum Master. The first two are pretty obvious. The Product Owner is responsible for the vision and development of the product, and the development team is responsible for executing that vision, but what does the Scrum Master do? This is where it gets tricky. Let’s take a step back and start by explaining what Scrum actually is.
What is Scrum?
Scrum is a framework, or framework of behavior list of georgia cell phone numbers that allows teams to work more effectively, find solutions to problems, and manage risk. To understand what Scrum is, you need to know what the alternative is.
Waterfall method
The traditional, cascade management method called Waterfall assumes that each project is divided into successive phases . At the beginning there is the analysis stage, then conceptual work, development, testing, implementation and improvement. Separate teams are responsible for the individual stages. Each phase lasts a specific time, several weeks or months, so the entire project can last from several months to even two or three years and only after its completion the team receives feedback from the client or users.
Agile approach
In the Agile approach , of which Scrum is an example, work on the project is divided into short periods of time called sprints , which last a maximum of one month. Thanks to sprints, the team regularly checks whether what they are doing is adequate and responds to current needs, collects feedback from the market on an ongoing basis and reacts to problems. If after two sprints it is clear that something is not working, the team will not wait with changes until the end of the project, until the client says that this is not what they wanted, but will introduce them earlier.
Why do we need agile management? Because the world is changing faster and faster. In an agile approach, you don't create a plan spread out over X years, because there's a high probability that in a month or two the market conditions and demand will be different. Thanks to this flexibility, organizations are able to react to changes faster and adapt to them.
Why does Scrum need a Master? Who is the Scrum Master and what are his responsibilities?
In Poland, there is still a belief that Scrum Master is a person for managing Jira, posting meetings and conducting retro. Scrum Master, on the other hand, focuses on the proper understanding and implementation of Scrum in the team and organization, and on increasing work efficiency . He supports the development of not only the team, but also the entire company. He looks for the best and most effective solutions to problems and is responsible for eliminating them. This does not mean that he has to solve all the organization's problems with his own hands, but that he shows others the appropriate way of proceeding in accordance with Scrum.
Related courses:
Business and management
«Project Management»
Jolanta Kuruc
Senior Project Manager at Kyndryl
Learn more
jolanta-66fd2c5630f5f691219631.webp
Scrum Master
«Scrum Master»
Marcin Grobelny
Scrum Master/Agile Coach ex Santander and x-kom
Learn more
marcin-main-64f5908899f17261456331-min-6515501bc1878953477472.png
Let me give you an example. A customer needs a means of transport to get from point A to point B. The Product Owner and the team sit down to plan and come to the conclusion that the best possible means of transport is a Mercedes C-Class. To deliver such a car, you need a budget and time, so the Product Owner estimates that the team will be able to deliver it in six months and plans work for that six months.
The Scrum Master's job is to remind the team what the customer's primary need is: to get from point A to point B. Maybe the customer doesn't need a limousine at all, they're not interested in engine capacity and acceleration, maybe they just want to get to a specific place once and a scooter will be enough for them.
It's very easy to get carried away when working on a project. Often, teams fall into the trap of delivering the best solution possible and forget about the goal. This is one reason why you need a Scrum Master who will constantly remind you of this goal.
So the Scrum Master is part of the Scrum team that works on the product?
Not really. The Scrum Master is not just a member of the team – he collaborates on implementing agility with other change agents and with the entire organization. Let's imagine that we have a small circle representing the team, which is inside a larger circle representing the product, and this circle is inside the largest one, which is the entire organization.
Scrum Master is a line that cuts through all these layers. It works inside the company, both down and up. It supports the Product Owner and developers, but also managers and directors, helping them use Scrum to develop and increase the effectiveness of the organization by building an organization that learns from its own experience.
Someone once said that the secret to the success of agile approaches is conversation, and there is indeed something to it. One of the main tasks of a Scrum Master in an organization is to build bridges when a conflict occurs in the organization and two camps are formed, "us" - IT, "them" - business.
I like to tell a story that nicely illustrates this relationship. Two sisters are arguing over an orange. A fair solution seems to be a compromise – let's cut the orange in half, and both will be happy. However, talk to each of the sisters and it turns out that one wants to eat the orange, and the other only needs the peel for the cake, so both can get exactly what they need. A compromise is not necessary at all.
cover-65539f0d5b45a702669835-min-656732ec67db0145263552.jpg
Mikulski
Emilia Mikulska,
journalist Laba
There are three roles in Scrum: the Product Owner, the development team, and the Scrum Master. The first two are pretty obvious. The Product Owner is responsible for the vision and development of the product, and the development team is responsible for executing that vision, but what does the Scrum Master do? This is where it gets tricky. Let’s take a step back and start by explaining what Scrum actually is.
What is Scrum?
Scrum is a framework, or framework of behavior list of georgia cell phone numbers that allows teams to work more effectively, find solutions to problems, and manage risk. To understand what Scrum is, you need to know what the alternative is.
Waterfall method
The traditional, cascade management method called Waterfall assumes that each project is divided into successive phases . At the beginning there is the analysis stage, then conceptual work, development, testing, implementation and improvement. Separate teams are responsible for the individual stages. Each phase lasts a specific time, several weeks or months, so the entire project can last from several months to even two or three years and only after its completion the team receives feedback from the client or users.
Agile approach
In the Agile approach , of which Scrum is an example, work on the project is divided into short periods of time called sprints , which last a maximum of one month. Thanks to sprints, the team regularly checks whether what they are doing is adequate and responds to current needs, collects feedback from the market on an ongoing basis and reacts to problems. If after two sprints it is clear that something is not working, the team will not wait with changes until the end of the project, until the client says that this is not what they wanted, but will introduce them earlier.
Why do we need agile management? Because the world is changing faster and faster. In an agile approach, you don't create a plan spread out over X years, because there's a high probability that in a month or two the market conditions and demand will be different. Thanks to this flexibility, organizations are able to react to changes faster and adapt to them.
Why does Scrum need a Master? Who is the Scrum Master and what are his responsibilities?
In Poland, there is still a belief that Scrum Master is a person for managing Jira, posting meetings and conducting retro. Scrum Master, on the other hand, focuses on the proper understanding and implementation of Scrum in the team and organization, and on increasing work efficiency . He supports the development of not only the team, but also the entire company. He looks for the best and most effective solutions to problems and is responsible for eliminating them. This does not mean that he has to solve all the organization's problems with his own hands, but that he shows others the appropriate way of proceeding in accordance with Scrum.
Related courses:
Business and management
«Project Management»
Jolanta Kuruc
Senior Project Manager at Kyndryl
Learn more
jolanta-66fd2c5630f5f691219631.webp
Scrum Master
«Scrum Master»
Marcin Grobelny
Scrum Master/Agile Coach ex Santander and x-kom
Learn more
marcin-main-64f5908899f17261456331-min-6515501bc1878953477472.png
Let me give you an example. A customer needs a means of transport to get from point A to point B. The Product Owner and the team sit down to plan and come to the conclusion that the best possible means of transport is a Mercedes C-Class. To deliver such a car, you need a budget and time, so the Product Owner estimates that the team will be able to deliver it in six months and plans work for that six months.
The Scrum Master's job is to remind the team what the customer's primary need is: to get from point A to point B. Maybe the customer doesn't need a limousine at all, they're not interested in engine capacity and acceleration, maybe they just want to get to a specific place once and a scooter will be enough for them.
It's very easy to get carried away when working on a project. Often, teams fall into the trap of delivering the best solution possible and forget about the goal. This is one reason why you need a Scrum Master who will constantly remind you of this goal.
So the Scrum Master is part of the Scrum team that works on the product?
Not really. The Scrum Master is not just a member of the team – he collaborates on implementing agility with other change agents and with the entire organization. Let's imagine that we have a small circle representing the team, which is inside a larger circle representing the product, and this circle is inside the largest one, which is the entire organization.
Scrum Master is a line that cuts through all these layers. It works inside the company, both down and up. It supports the Product Owner and developers, but also managers and directors, helping them use Scrum to develop and increase the effectiveness of the organization by building an organization that learns from its own experience.
Someone once said that the secret to the success of agile approaches is conversation, and there is indeed something to it. One of the main tasks of a Scrum Master in an organization is to build bridges when a conflict occurs in the organization and two camps are formed, "us" - IT, "them" - business.
I like to tell a story that nicely illustrates this relationship. Two sisters are arguing over an orange. A fair solution seems to be a compromise – let's cut the orange in half, and both will be happy. However, talk to each of the sisters and it turns out that one wants to eat the orange, and the other only needs the peel for the cake, so both can get exactly what they need. A compromise is not necessary at all.