The Scrum Team: Scrum Master

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