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The Scrum Master removes impediments, or blockers, allowing the Scrum team to proceed with their work smoothly and effectively.
The SCRUM master has
a special role in SCRUM.
0:00
The SCRUM master removes impediments or
blockers,
0:03
allowing the SCRUM team to proceed with
their work smoothly and effectively.
0:06
The SCRUM master is a facilitator,
and sometimes needs to be firm
0:11
reminding the team members not to stray
outside of the work, the sprint, and
0:15
helping them to keep the sprint on track.
0:19
The SCRUM master handles logistics,
such as scheduling SCRUM events and
0:22
maintaining SCRUM tools,
each of which we will learn about later.
0:25
My favorite description of a SCRUM
master is as a servant leader.
0:30
When something is holding a team back,
the SCRUM master steps in and
0:33
does whatever he or
she can to move the team along.
0:36
For example, if a team is nearing the end
of a sprint and there isn't enough time to
0:40
test a feature, the SCRUM master
might step in and test cases herself.
0:44
Just how far might a SCRUM
master go as a servant leader?
0:48
One day, I was in the bike room and
0:52
I saw a co-worker, the SCRUM master of
another SCRUM team, working on a bike.
0:54
I asked her, hey, is that a new bike?
0:58
I thought yours was green?
1:00
She answered, no, it's not my bike, but
we're on the last day of our sprint, and
1:02
Daria's brake has been giving her trouble.
1:06
She was going to have somebody
look at it this afternoon.
1:09
If I can fix this for her,
1:11
then she will be able to finish her work,
the team will complete the sprint, and
1:13
Daria will still be able to leave on
time to catch her daughter's swim meet.
1:17
I think this is an inspirational
example of just what a SCRUM master
1:21
does for the team.
1:24
The SCRUM master identifies literally
anything that may hold the team back, and
1:26
helps the team to get
past those obstacles.
1:30
The team's success is the SCRUM
master's primary objective.
1:33
The SCRUM master works
in service of the team.
1:36
The SCRUM master also serves
to fight mission creep.
1:40
By maintaining the integrity of the
sprint, the SCRUM master makes sure that
1:43
the development team isn't distracted
by work that is outside of the sprint.
1:47
This can come up when a developer gets
interested in solving a problem he or
1:52
she comes across that isn't strictly
related to a sprint backlog item.
1:55
It can also happen when a person with
some authority talks to a team member and
2:00
says, wouldn't it be great
if we had this feature?
2:04
This may come up in the stand-up, and it's
a good opportunity for the SCRUM master to
2:07
step in, and remind the team of the scope
of the sprint, and ask the product owner
2:11
to make sure the wishlist item is
captured in the sprint backlog.
2:16
As you can see, the SCRUM master and
the product owner have two important and
2:21
distinct roles in serving the team.
2:25
While the product owner helps to make
sure the team has valuable work to do,
2:27
the SCRUM master helps to make sure
that the team can do that work
2:32
without interference,
even by the product owner.
2:36
These two roles are sometimes
in healthy opposition.
2:39
And the results serves the development
team well without costing the team members
2:42
a lot of time.
2:46
Here's a fun analogy that has
nothing to do with sports.
2:48
In Star Trek, Captain Kirk is at
the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and
2:51
he usually has a mission and is set on
accomplishing his mission at any cost.
2:55
Scotty, on the other hand,
is the engineer and
3:00
dedicated to keeping the ship in tact and
functional so they will all survive.
3:02
The two often find themselves at odds with
one another with Kirk demanding more speed
3:07
and Scotty saying the ship
can't take much more, but
3:12
in the end they get where they're
going and the mission is saved.
3:15
You might say that Kirk is like
the mission driven product owner and
3:18
that Scotty is
the protective SCRUM master.
3:22
The balance of these two roles
serves the SCRUM team well.
3:25
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