The Value of a Good Scrum Master

The Value of a Good Scrum Master 

Every team needs a leader to be effective.  Sometimes leaders emerge from team members who naturally step into a leadership role without having any official capacity as a leader.  Sometimes leaders are assigned.  The best leaders are the ones that step up naturally and fill an official role as a leader.  Those are the best kinds of Scrum Masters. 

We used to say that the Scrum Master was the “Servant Leader” of the team.  Too many Scrum Masters fell into the servant role rather than a leadership role.  So in 2020, the Scrum Guide was updated to say: “Scrum Masters are true leaders who serve the Scrum Team and the larger organization.”  They are leaders who serve the team with more emphasis on leadership than servitude now.  But the team is self-managing, so the SM should not dominate the team. A good SM will guide the team and help them become the most effective and efficient team they can be. 

Officially, the Scrum Master: 

1. Is accountable for establishing Scrum on the team. 

2. Is accountable for the Scrum Team’s effectiveness. 

3. Coaches team members on self-management and cross-functionality. 

4. Keeps the team focused on creating high-value increments. 

5. Removes impediments to the team’s progress. 

6. Ensures Scrum events are held in positive and productive ways. 

As a Scrum Master, I always used to say:  I am the oil that makes the engine run smoothly (the software development engine, that is). But actually I was much more than that.  Tweaking the ways of working on the team, I was a mechanic fine-tuning the engine.  Engaging the Product Owner in meaningful conversations about the backlog, I was the navigator that helped clear the path for the team moving forward.  Explaining how Scrum worked to the wider organization, I was both teacher of Scrum and salesperson for the Scrum approach to software development.  The Scrum Master must wear many hats. 

A good Scrum Master is invaluable to any team.  A good SM sows harmony and defuses dissent.  A good SM makes sure that the team is happy because happy teams are the most effective.  A good Scrum Master makes sure that a team is as productive as it possibly can be by helping the team maintain focus and clearing impediments before the team even becomes aware of them.  A good Scrum Master serves the team and the organization by helping the team optimize team output.  Without a good Scrum Master, the team is less likely to be happy or produce top results. 

But the Scrum Master role is not a fulltime role.  It normally hovers somewhere around 50%.  At times it spikes upward, at times downward, but a good Scrum Master should be able to handle other responsibilities with the remainder of their time. 

Some organizations like to use the same Scrum Master on two teams.  This is not ideal for several reasons: 

1. Context switching requires time and effort.  Two 50% roles does not equal 100% engagement.  Two 50% roles probably means 125% engagement.  It has been shown that context switching requires about 20% effort, so one Scrum Master assigned to two teams can only give each team 40% of their time.  The remaining 20% is spent context switching. 

2. Splitting the Scrum Master’s focus between two teams reduces the SM’s effectiveness on both.  You can only think of one thing at a time, and if you have to focus on two teams, you can’t be as effective as if you focus on one. 

3. Scheduling team events can be a challenge if the SM is engaged on two teams.  Different Scrum Teams often schedule the same events at the same time, especially  when they are working on the same product.  This means that either the Scrum Master must miss events for one or other of the teams, or one of the teams must move meetings to a less ideal time.  Either way, efficiency and effectiveness are often reduced. 

So the best scenario for a Scrum Master is if they have other work that they can focus on when not tied up in their Scrum Master role.  Preferably, that is another role on the same team.  A developer, tester, or analyst who spends part of their time in the Scrum Master role does not have to switch contexts.  They are focused 100% on the goals and effectiveness of the team.  It also gives them flexibility to manage both roles within the context of the same team, so Sprint Planning can take the SM’s current workload into account when defining capacity for the Sprint. 

Another scenario that works quite well is if the Scrum Master has a completely different role outside of the Scrum Team (but not SM of another team).  Perhaps they have a role in the quality organization, defining quality goals and making sure that the teams adhere to them.  Perhaps they have a role on the Agile enablement team, helping to define and implement Agile goals for the organization.  Whatever the case, the other role must be secondary to the primary role of Scrum Master for the team.  Otherwise, the team will suffer. 

In summary, Scrum Masters are invaluable members of your Agile organization.  They help the teams optimize their output, and they help the organization understand Scrum.  They are leaders who serve both the team and the organization.  They make sure that the team is as efficient and effective as it can be.  Without good Scrum Masters, organizations using Scrum will suffer.  Finding other work for the Scrum Master to engage in during their down time from team activities is also a key to ensuring that the cost of a Scrum Master to the organization does not exceed his or her value. 

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