1 00:00:00,430 --> 00:00:03,790 The SCRUM master has a special role in SCRUM. 2 00:00:03,790 --> 00:00:06,870 The SCRUM master removes impediments or blockers, 3 00:00:06,870 --> 00:00:11,270 allowing the SCRUM team to proceed with their work smoothly and effectively. 4 00:00:11,270 --> 00:00:15,400 The SCRUM master is a facilitator, and sometimes needs to be firm 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,450 reminding the team members not to stray outside of the work, the sprint, and 6 00:00:19,450 --> 00:00:22,060 helping them to keep the sprint on track. 7 00:00:22,060 --> 00:00:25,870 The SCRUM master handles logistics, such as scheduling SCRUM events and 8 00:00:25,870 --> 00:00:30,110 maintaining SCRUM tools, each of which we will learn about later. 9 00:00:30,110 --> 00:00:33,870 My favorite description of a SCRUM master is as a servant leader. 10 00:00:33,870 --> 00:00:36,890 When something is holding a team back, the SCRUM master steps in and 11 00:00:36,890 --> 00:00:40,160 does whatever he or she can to move the team along. 12 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:44,250 For example, if a team is nearing the end of a sprint and there isn't enough time to 13 00:00:44,250 --> 00:00:48,880 test a feature, the SCRUM master might step in and test cases herself. 14 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,460 Just how far might a SCRUM master go as a servant leader? 15 00:00:52,460 --> 00:00:54,290 One day, I was in the bike room and 16 00:00:54,290 --> 00:00:58,880 I saw a co-worker, the SCRUM master of another SCRUM team, working on a bike. 17 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:00,840 I asked her, hey, is that a new bike? 18 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:02,650 I thought yours was green? 19 00:01:02,650 --> 00:01:06,740 She answered, no, it's not my bike, but we're on the last day of our sprint, and 20 00:01:06,740 --> 00:01:09,020 Daria's brake has been giving her trouble. 21 00:01:09,020 --> 00:01:11,980 She was going to have somebody look at it this afternoon. 22 00:01:11,980 --> 00:01:13,340 If I can fix this for her, 23 00:01:13,340 --> 00:01:17,330 then she will be able to finish her work, the team will complete the sprint, and 24 00:01:17,330 --> 00:01:21,480 Daria will still be able to leave on time to catch her daughter's swim meet. 25 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,800 I think this is an inspirational example of just what a SCRUM master 26 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:26,120 does for the team. 27 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,490 The SCRUM master identifies literally anything that may hold the team back, and 28 00:01:30,490 --> 00:01:33,050 helps the team to get past those obstacles. 29 00:01:33,050 --> 00:01:36,180 The team's success is the SCRUM master's primary objective. 30 00:01:36,180 --> 00:01:38,950 The SCRUM master works in service of the team. 31 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:43,890 The SCRUM master also serves to fight mission creep. 32 00:01:43,890 --> 00:01:47,760 By maintaining the integrity of the sprint, the SCRUM master makes sure that 33 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,040 the development team isn't distracted by work that is outside of the sprint. 34 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,990 This can come up when a developer gets interested in solving a problem he or 35 00:01:55,990 --> 00:02:00,730 she comes across that isn't strictly related to a sprint backlog item. 36 00:02:00,730 --> 00:02:04,450 It can also happen when a person with some authority talks to a team member and 37 00:02:04,450 --> 00:02:07,700 says, wouldn't it be great if we had this feature? 38 00:02:07,700 --> 00:02:11,600 This may come up in the stand-up, and it's a good opportunity for the SCRUM master to 39 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:16,560 step in, and remind the team of the scope of the sprint, and ask the product owner 40 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,110 to make sure the wishlist item is captured in the sprint backlog. 41 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,890 As you can see, the SCRUM master and the product owner have two important and 42 00:02:25,890 --> 00:02:27,530 distinct roles in serving the team. 43 00:02:27,530 --> 00:02:32,120 While the product owner helps to make sure the team has valuable work to do, 44 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:36,140 the SCRUM master helps to make sure that the team can do that work 45 00:02:36,140 --> 00:02:39,780 without interference, even by the product owner. 46 00:02:39,780 --> 00:02:42,700 These two roles are sometimes in healthy opposition. 47 00:02:42,700 --> 00:02:46,630 And the results serves the development team well without costing the team members 48 00:02:46,630 --> 00:02:48,050 a lot of time. 49 00:02:48,050 --> 00:02:51,280 Here's a fun analogy that has nothing to do with sports. 50 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,500 In Star Trek, Captain Kirk is at the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and 51 00:02:55,500 --> 00:03:00,240 he usually has a mission and is set on accomplishing his mission at any cost. 52 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,570 Scotty, on the other hand, is the engineer and 53 00:03:02,570 --> 00:03:07,650 dedicated to keeping the ship in tact and functional so they will all survive. 54 00:03:07,650 --> 00:03:12,320 The two often find themselves at odds with one another with Kirk demanding more speed 55 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,230 and Scotty saying the ship can't take much more, but 56 00:03:15,230 --> 00:03:18,900 in the end they get where they're going and the mission is saved. 57 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:22,580 You might say that Kirk is like the mission driven product owner and 58 00:03:22,580 --> 00:03:25,300 that Scotty is the protective SCRUM master. 59 00:03:25,300 --> 00:03:27,790 The balance of these two roles serves the SCRUM team well.