Scrum Master role is essential in Scrum. However, not everyone really understands what this role is all about and what Scrum Masters actually do daily.
That is why often management doesn’t really know how to assess how well Scrum Master is doing. And people just joining this profession are not sure where to start.
Let’s review the daily tasks of a Scrum Master.
In this video, I’m talking about the Scrum Master role and what Scrum Masters do all day. This will help you understand what they should be focusing on on a daily basis. Of course, it only scratches the surface, but I hope that it provides enough information to get you started on the journey of awesome Scrum mastery.
What does a Scrum Master NOT do?
In addition to talking about what Scrum Masters do, I’d like to talk about what Scrum Masters don’t do.
Why? Well, the things I lists below are usually the first things that are asked of a Scrum Master and often the ones that people in this profession tend to navigate towards when getting started.
Here is a short list of things that a Scrum Master is often found doing (same things that a Scrum Master shouldn’t be doing at all):
- Check on progress status of everyone on the team.
- Organize the Product Backlog and the Scrum board.
- Make sure that everyone has something to work on.
- Split the work between developers.
- Take notes in meetings and send the meeting minutes to everyone.
- Connect with management and stakeholders on the status of the projects.
- Organize everything around the team, such as meetings, work schedules, and more.
Some of these tasks have been important in the traditional approach to managing projects and people. As we change to agile ways of working, they become obsolete in a Scrum Team if performed by a manager-type person.
Since the Scrum Team is self-managing they themselves take care of most of these tasks. And then some of them are part of the Product Owner role instead.
Scrum Master daily tasks
If the tasks mentioned above are not what a Scrum Master should be doing, then what is it?
Well, in short, I like to summarize it as “analyzing the situation, providing direction, and building relationships”. These are essential groups of activities that should take a lot of Scrum Master’s time and effort.
Of course, each one of these categories can be split into a multitude of individual tasks.
To be able to fulfill this role, specific skills are needed as well, such as observation, listening, teaching, coaching, facilitation, mentoring, profound knowledge of Scrum and Agile ways of working, and many more.
Watch the video to see examples of what this translates to on a daily basis.
And if you want to have even more information about what a Scrum Master does all day, enroll in my free email course Scrum Master Action Week.
Get guidance on how to navigate your first Scrum Master role
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