There is a lot of reluctance within organisations to place ScrumMasters, let alone to spend money to hire them. Surely this role can be done by one of the developers, right? After all, it’s only a minor role, isn’t it? Far from it! The ScrumMaster is a full­-time role. Without it, who can take care of the agile process on behalf of a busy Scrum team? One way to help teams and management understand the value of the ScrumMaster’s role is to show them the volume and importance of tasks a ScrumMaster can fulfil, and the consequences of what happens if nobody takes care of these tasks. This session not only presents the 42 tasks of a ScrumMaster’s role but will clearly show that every Scrum team needs a ScrumMaster.

1. ScrumAustralia
Here are
42 good reasons
why.
BerndSchiffer
28/04/2016
ScrumMaster
needed
desperately!

2. Why do we
need a
ScrumMaster?
Tree-hugger?

3. “Never attribute
to malice that
which is adequately
explained by
stupidity.”
Hanlon’s
see also: http://agiletrail.com/2011/12/20/hanlons-razor-comfort-in-the-assumption-of-stupidity/
Razor

4. 1. The ScrumMaster is a
full-time role!
2. The ScrumMaster is
not a developer!
3. The ScrumMaster is
not the Product Owner!
4. To have a ScrumMaster, you need to
train or hire someone!
What I want you to understand
!

5. The Scrum Master is
responsible for ensuring
Scrum is understood and
enacted. Scrum Masters
do this by ensuring that
the Scrum Team adheres
to Scrum theory,
practices, and rules. …
[1/2]

6. … The Scrum Master is a
servant-leader for the Scrum
Team. The Scrum Master helps
those outside the Scrum Team
understand which of their
interactions with the Scrum
Team are helpful and which
aren’t. The Scrum Master helps
everyone change these
interactions to maximize the
value created by the Scrum Team.
[2/2]

7. But how
does the
ScrumMaster
do all this?

8. Explaining what a ScrumMaster does through…
Responsibilities What do I need to
take care of?
Competencies
What skills do I need to
develop to be responsible?
Tasks
What kind of things am I going
to work on with these skills?

9. Product Owner The “Why” & “What”
Development Team The “How”
ScrumMaster The “Inbetween”
Explaining what a ScrumMaster does through…
Responsibilities What do I need to
take care of?

10. Taking care of…
• How is my Product Owner doing?
• How is my Development Team doing?
• How are our engineering practices doing?
• How is the organisation doing?
Source: ”An Example Checklist for ScrumMasters” by Michael James (02/02/2016, http://www.scrummasterchecklist.org/pdf/ScrumMaster_Checklist_12_unbranded.pdf)
Explaining what a ScrumMaster does through…
Responsibilities What do I need to
take care of?
ScrumMaster The “Inbetween”

11. Source: ”Developing Great Agile Coaches" by Michael Spayd and Lyssa Adkins (Summer 2011)
Agile Practionier
Teaching
Mentoring Personal Coaching
Facilitation
Technical
Expertise
Business
Expertise
Transformational
Expertise
Explaining what a ScrumMaster does through…
Competencies
What skills do I need to
develop to be responsible?

12. Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
Categories
• Meetings
• Team Dynamics
• Learning
• Product
• Big Picture
• Change
• Mirror
• Miscellaneous
Tasks
What kind of things am I going
to work on with these skills?
Explaining what a ScrumMaster does through…

13. Meetings
• Facilitating meetings for the team.
This includes:
• preparing
• moderation
• postprocessing
• Facilitating retrospectives.
Tasks for…
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )

14. Team Dynamics 1/2
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
• Coaching team members (e.g. with one-on-
one coaching).
• Helping the team improve its social skills,
especially with constructive conversations.
• Mediating through conflicts.
Tasks for…

15. Team Dynamics 2/2
Tasks for…
• Helping the team to make decisions.
• Fostering the development team’s self-organisation.
• Mediating the general conflict of goals between
development team (high technical quality) and
product owner (more features).
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )

16. Learning 1/2
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
• Continuing learning regarding everything Agile (e.g. visit user
groups, attend conferences, read books, write blogs, etc.).
• Consulting team members regarding everything Agile.
• Helping the team to create information radiators.
• Giving feedback to the team.
Tasks for…
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )

17. Learning 2/2
Tasks for…
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
• Encouraging the use of Agile Engineering Practices within the
development team.
• Challenge team with Agile management innovations (e.g.
FedEx-Days).
• Exchanging with other ScrumMasters constantly within the
organisation (e.g. through community of practice).
• Doing Gemba Walks.

18. Product
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
• Helping to tell, write, and
split user stories.
• Helping to dream up and
write down product visions.
• Helping to order product
backlog items.
• Helping with the release
planning.
• Being familiar with the
team’s work, i.e. the product.
Tasks for…
SHIP IT!

19. Big Picture 1/3
• Bringing people together who should talk
to each other.
• Shield the team from bad influences from
the outside.
• Keeping in touch with every stakeholder
regularly.
• Helping the team to report to
management.
• Helping to further the Agile community
within the organisation.
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
Tasks for…

20. Big Picture 2/3
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
Tasks for…
• Organising exchange events like Open
Spaces or World Cafés for the team, its
stakeholders, and its organisation.
• Sharing insights throughout the company
(micro-blogging, blogging, internal
conferences, etc.).

21. Big Picture 3/3
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
Tasks for…
• Being a contact person for everyone in
the team and their stakeholders
regarding Agile.
• Giving learning opportunities to people in
the organisation (e.g. talks or workshops)
and letting them learn important Agile
concepts like e.g. technical debt.

22. Change
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
• Helping the team to get rid of
impediments.
• Suggesting new metrics for the team
as catalysts for change.
Tasks for…

23. Mirror 1/2
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
• Reflecting Agile and Scrum values to
the team.
• Helping the team to find team values.
• Reminding the team of their
arrangements (e.g. working
agreements and policies).
• Helping the team to continuously
improve their process.
Tasks for…

24. Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
• Reflecting issues to the team through
observation from outside of the team.
• Asking open questions.
• Checking models the team uses (e.g.
Sprint backlog, metrics, etc.) and show
differences between model and real
world.
Mirror 2/2
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
Tasks for…

25. Miscellaneous
Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
• Helping the team to keep focus (e.g. by acting as a
buffer between external distractions and the team).
• Helping the team to maintain their Scrum tools (Story
board, Action board, charts, backlogs, etc.).
• Helping team and product owner to find a suitable
• definition of done
• definition of ready.
Tasks for…

26. Source: 42 Tasks for a Scrum Master's Job by Bernd Schiffer (14/11/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/11/14/42-tasks-for-a-scrum-masters-job )
SM Task Exercise
1. For each task ask:
Do we need to take
care of this task?
2. For each task that
you need to take
care of ask:
Who’s going to do
work on this task?

27. The ScrumMaster is a
full-time* role!*“Full-time” not as in “40-hour work week”, but as in “focussed on this role only”.

28. The ScrumMaster is a full-time role!
…can serve…
Unexperienced
Scrum Team
Somewhat
experienced
Scrum Team
Experienced
Scrum Team
Unexperienced
ScrumMaster
1:1 1:1 1:1
Somewhat
experienced
ScrumMaster
1:1 1:1-2 1:2
Experienced
ScrumMaster
1:1-2 1:2 1:2

29. The ScrumMaster
is not a developer*!
*”developer” not as in “does have a developer background”, but as in “does
not work in the development team that she is also ScrumMaster for”.
The ScrumMaster
is not the Product Owner!

30. To have a ScrumMaster, you
need to train or hire someone*!*as in “you need to spend money here!”

31. ‣@berndschiffer
‣@bold_mover
‣bernd.schiffer@boldmover.com
‣http://slideshare.net/berndschiffer
‣http://berndschiffer.com
‣http://boldmover.com
‣http://agiletrail.com
Thank
you!
ScrumAustralia
Here are 42 good reasons why.
28/04/2016
ScrumMaster needed desperately!