Scrum Master : Its Theory, Roles, Challenges, and Career

The scrum master guides the agile and scrum teams to perform effectively. It is demanding job to meet industry standards with ensuring customer delightment.

Before knowing, what scrum master is and how would it impact your productivity. You must understand the scrum theory on basis of which this facilitator work.

What is a Scrum Master

Scrum Master is the framework facilitator to manage agile development teams. The framework provides a methodology to allow a team to self- organize. To adopt changes as per the requirements of industry and customer demand. Moreover, master mainly helps in improving communication channels as per agile principles.

Theory of Scrum master

Scrum is the theory of empirical control that relies on three fundamentals of process control. such as:

• Transparency: To get maximum satisfaction and motivates the team towards one direction, they must understand the exact goal. Because, the decision making requires visibility of the current and aspiring state of the project undergone. Scrum theory provides guidelines. In order to give frequent reviews of the project state to team members and all the stakeholders for better control.
• Inspection: To ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the project. The scrum theory suggests to regularly inspect the productivity of the team. Consequently, the scrum teams inspect the project at regular intervals or after completion of every iteration.
• Adaptation: If the scrum team finds any deviation in the undergone team. At this time, they immediately instruct for adjustments for the following iterations.

Types of Scrum

First of all, Scrum theory follows two parameters to manage the team and ensure high productivity in the project. such as:

Iterative

In this type, scrum follows a repeating cycle of iterations of operations to arrive at a decision. The main objective of this scrum decision is to relate the decision with discovery to create immediate impact.

Incremental

The incremental approach follows small improvements and increments in the performance as the name suggests. In this kind of strategy, scrum teams focus on incremental innovation. That is why they function in small batches of products. Adds new features in the following batches depending upon customer’s demand.

Scrum values

The success of the team and scrum master depends upon the basic values. The team shares the following five values list in their functioning and team co-ordination.

Commitment

Every team member, whether it is scrum or agile shows high commitment and dedication towards work. They work together and support each other to deploy their roles effectively.  Master ensures the reinforcement of all the team members. Therefore, master supports by facilitating planning, changing and deflecting excessive pressure. Along with, it also ensures that an agile team doesn’t over-commit any task. Unless it would create a problem for all.

Focus

To achieve a certain goal, everyone must have the ability to focus on the operations. The task undertaken must go to the end. To achieve the projected results. In this,It helps to encourage teams to be in focus and define their roles and review them timely.

Courage

To manage a team and handle different tasks, it requires courage. Indeed, all the teams have their own functions that are critical to their success. So, keeping in mind all the factors of end results. The scrum team must feel courageous to say no. Whereas, the agile team can ask for anything they need to deploy their responsibility. The great scrum master provides a way out to all the stakeholders to have difficult conversations and remove impediments.

Openness

The scrum theory emphasizes consistency and improvements. So, it requires openness to accept mistakes and ask for help. It is supported by the scrum master through constructive feedback and overcomes shortcomings. The open environment always leads to new ideas and development.

Respect

The leading team must show respect to all the stakeholders. Because the major strength of any successful team is a sense of collaboration. Also, the contribution to work completion. They must respect each other’s opinions, ideas and appreciate accomplishments. The scrum master facilitates this kind of environment in an organization.

Role of Scrum Master

The Scrum framework provides the role of scrum master. The master is one who is an expert at the scrum. Therefore, the expert must understand his role and function so well to coach others. The success of the team is the major responsibility of the master. This results in improving communication, job processes and the roles of the team. For this reason, the roles and responsibilities of the Scrum Master are as follows:

• Master ensures high efficiency in operations undertaken by the scrum and agile team.
• They also protect the team from internal as well as external distractions.
• It holds the team accountable for their responsibilities, values and scrum framework as well.
• The major role of the master is to create an open environment. So that every team member can ask and provide any information, suggestion, and help.
• It addresses all the dynamics of the team.
• Ensures good relationships among team members, product owners, and other external stakeholders.

Challenges of a Scrum Master

The framework of the scrum master helps to facilitate teams. To cope up with their internal and external environment to achieve their desired results. Therefore, the success of this framework depends upon people dealing with it. But, human species is very dynamic in nature. Hence, it creates some challenges for the master. such as:

• Change Resistance: The most frustrating obstacle is resistance to change. Though, teams have their comfort level for certain tasks and operations. They don’t want to cross that level and restrict themselves at the same level.
• Process ambiguity: As scrum master introduces frequent changes in operations and team handling. Therefore, it may create confusion in actual implementation.
• Failure in adapting changes: As you know, that one of the principles of Scrum theory is adaptability. Similarly, the transition in operations imposes some other parameters. Like changing roles, teams, departments or even the entire company. Therefore, it creates a barrier. Because team leaders get scared to lose authority and control. On the other hand, a team feels trouble stepping up in other groups.

Scrum Master Certification Course

Many companies provide online and offline training for Scrum master certification courses. Generally, the period of the course is 2 days only.

In these two days. The content and study material for all the courses are almost the same. But, professional scrum trainers also provide tips and experience in the courses. So, it depends upon the trainee how he/she take the guidance and polish their skills.

Objectives of Scrum Master Training

• It provides a clear understanding of the scrum theory and its rules.
• To be a scrum master, one must have an in-depth understanding of its relationship with other departments of an organization.
• The course provides guidance to practically implement the rules and theory.
• It increases the effectiveness of scrum all over the organization.

General FAQs

Q.1. Is a scrum master a project manager?
Ans. Not exactly, the Project manager is a leader, who manages the plans to develop and lead a team. Whereas, It is a coach and employed as a facilitator to a team leader.
The project manager manages the project timeline, scope, resources and ensures fulfillment of all the requirements. Contrarily, the scrum master ensures the success of the team.

Q.2.  What are scrum master jobs?
Ans. It is a challenging job. Because, the master must-have skills and knowledge of the industry, operating parameters and ways to improve at all levels. Certified Scrum Masters are hired by top companies in different industries. The candidate must have completed a CSM course. Also, need to clear the thorough exam designed for this designation.

Q.3. What a scrum master has to do (job description)?
Ans. The main responsibility of the scrum master is to conduct meetings and monitor the processes. It requires keen observation and knowledge of various factors of processes. Along with the psychology of team members. Essential duties are as follows:

• To guide the agile and scrum team for various practices and values to enhance customer delighted.
• Master provides guidance to all teams maintain work- life balance.
• Scrum master also provides coaching to superiors of an organization.
• It must ensure a safe and open environment.
• Try to facilitate everything requires by the teams and managers.
• Assists in managing external stakeholders as well.

Q.4. Is scrum master a challenging job?
Ans.It is not an easy job profile. The master must understand all the factors. Update his/ her skills with the changing industry parameters and customer demands. It could be stressful sometimes. Because you are not just required to attend meetings or take records. Master has to analyze and interpret all these factors and take decisions accordingly.