The role of a Scrum Master in a Daily Scrum is often misunderstood. Firstly, we often talk about a Daily Stand-up meeting. In addition, teams often look at their Scrum Master as a kind of a Project Manager who they need to report to on their status.
It is important to remember what Daily Scrum is really about. Let’s look at the Scrum Guide as it has all the answers:
“At it, the Development Team plans work for the next 24 hours. This optimizes team collaboration and performance by inspecting the work since the last Daily Scrum and forecasting upcoming Sprint work.”
The key words there are “the Development Team” compared to the whole Scrum Team. While the Scrum Master’s role is simple – helping the Dev Team to self-organise by making sure the daily meeting happens and it is within it’s timebox.
So is that all? As long as your team is having a Daily Scrum, your job as a Scrum Master here is done?
I definitely do not think that this is it. Your role still requires you to help everyone understands Scrum principles and practices. So teaching is an important component of your involvement in the daily life of your team.
At the same time, a Scrum Master should allow the team to self-organise and figure things out on their own.
In practice, what should Scrum Masters do during Daily Scrum? And should they do anything at all?
Here is some additional reading material on this topic:
- A brief explanation and a video from Scrum.org
- Scrum myths busted by Stephanie Ockerman
