- The Scrum Master is one role that gets a lot of attention.
It just sounds impressive.
Any job that has master in the title
is going to get a lot of interest,
but the master in Scrum Master
isn't about mastering your team,
instead, it's all about mastering Scrum.
But that doesn't stop the Scrum Master from becoming
one of the most sought after roles on the team.
Scrum Master certifications far out number those
of product owners and certified developers.
People seem very interested in being a Scrum Master.
Unfortunately, a lot of this interest is a little misguided.
A Scrum Master is not a manager.
They're much closer to being a trainer or a coach.
They can even be an administrator.
They make sure that developers understand Scrum,
but they also do simple administrative work,
like making sure that everyone has a chair
in the shared workspace.
One of the early authors of Scrum
referred to the Scrum Master
as both a bulldozer and a shield.
They bulldoze through obstacles,
but they also protect the team from outside interference.
These obstacles can be contacting someone,
setting up meetings or even ordering software.
The Scrum Master role also changes over time.
They might start out spending most of their time training,
something like showing the product owner
how to write better user stories.
Then over time,
the Agile team will get better at following Scrum,
so then the Scrum Master can spend
most of their time on administration.
So they'll make sure that everyone
has all the equipment they need
and works in a comfortable space.
The authority and power that a Scrum Master has
comes from their knowledge of Scrum.
So they might not have the authority to confront a manager,
but they can let them know how their actions
might impact the team.
One thing that almost always happens in large organizations
is a functional manager
will try to pull someone off the Agile team.
This will either be for a short project
or some other presentation.
Now remember the penny game.
If you pull someone off an Agile team,
then you're going to create backups.
In a sense, the team will only go as fast
as the slowest person.
So this simple act from one manager
might keep the team from delivering
at the end of their sprint.
The Scrum Master might not have the authority
to stop the manager,
but they can let them know how their actions
will interfere with the product delivery.
This type of confrontation can be very political,
so the Scrum Master should be able to manage conflict.
Also keep in mind that there's nothing
in the Agile Manifesto that says
that your team needs a Scrum Master,
but because Scrum is so popular,
most teams have someone in this role.
They might just call them a servant leader
or an Agile coach,
but the duties are usually the same.
The key thing to keep in mind
that even though there's a master in your title,
you'll probably spend most of your time serving others.