Why is Scrum Master a full-time role?

Date of publication: 09.08.2019

Working as a Scrum Master comes very close to conducting a symphonic orchestra– it only seems like light and frivolous brandishing the baton. In fact, these merry swings only veneer an arduous endeavor followed by tons of knowledge and multitasking – do not look away from the harp, keep an eye on the piano, what are the strings doing?! It is, thus, enough for one person to conduct the development team, but what happens before one sits on the Scrum Master’s chair?

In Agile management systems roles division is of high priority – it allows tasks to swiftly flow between their holders whenever the status of them is closed and ready to be passed on. The structure of the whole team must remain unwavering because Scrum Master’s achievements depend on fluency of the system. In truth, the whole orchestra plays along only after thorough attuning all the instruments.

Why scrum master is a servant leader

The fact that Scrum Masters all over the world deconstructed the well-settled employee-boss system, brought about a kind of a standard of working not only in the industries in need of Agile management (like the new technologies) but across many non-Agile sectors. It changed the relation between the worker and the boss from dictating to servant.

Scrum Master as a servant leader recalls rather a picture of a professor among his/her students than a boss wandering about and peeping from behind the shoulder to point people’s mistakes out. Especially at work with electronic devices and software development, when the pace is rapid and projects like veering astray after one Sprint, the team needs the leader who will propagate the supportive attitude and assure of continuous following the Scrum guidelines. He or she is the informative hub for the Product Owner, the company and the team. This is a contradiction of someone who constantly asks: “Why is the job not done yet?”. Instead, Scrum Master will ask: “What hampered on the way to close your task? Can we think it through?”

The high position of the servant

The proactive and helpful approach might not be the stereotype brought to our minds when thinking of managers – but, undoubtfully, it is changing. Meanwhile, Scrum Master must show those qualities indisputably and, moreover, that is a person who must hold to quite a high position in the structure of a company. Does it entail humility, then? Probably. A Scrum Master in power is not definitely someone who exerts their authority to achieve; they are managers who underpin the importance of everybody’s contributions to the end value of a project. Their authority props up their esteem, even if the priority stays the project, not regard and popularity. Everybody’s role is equal, even the Scrum Master’s.

Depending on the position in a company’s structure, Scrum Master might or might not be a decisive individual. Even if they are not, they have to be in possession of the tools which enable them to deliver the tasks and execute them from the team. As the whole art of Scrum managing is about keeping the system agile, there should be no impediments (especially bureaucratic ones) which will hamper the fluency.

Moreover, implementing Scrum cell into a company entails engaging more sectors than the team itself. Picture the situation when the team does not have their own budget, but they found themselves in need of a new tool which will boost their efficiency. The company’s task is to do the utmost to provide its Scrum Master a proper work ecosystem.

Not mastering the industry

The core competencies of the person who guides the development team fall near such abilities as: meetings moderation, dialectic and negotiating. It has nothing to do with the expertise of the subject concerning the industry. Scrum Master who manages in the new technologies does not have to know what’s what in digital novelties  – in theory… The more complex and risk encumbered the area is, the better for Scrum Master to know how to navigate between the terms and smart talks.

Skipping all which one would need to know about engineering or other area, it still remains a lot for one person to hold. Scrum Master presents what many managers call authoritative and normative attitude, while Scrum calls it agile. As it looks, Scrum Master is a full-time role not because of multitasking nature of the job, but because of a perfect intersection of the skills which refer to understanding people and to the detailed knowledge.

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