Scrum Master Time Commitment
Hi All,
I was wondering if some of you could provide some insight on what is the "normal" time commitment for a Scrum Master for each Scrum Team.
This is my first time being a Scrum Master, so I know there will also be a learning curve which will increase the time needed.
Any info will be appreciated!
When a Scrum Master commits 100% of their time to their Scrum Team, the team gets 100% of the rewards of having a Scrum Master. Anything less of course dampens he productivity benefits of having a Scrum Master to begin with.
Consider the cost of having a 100% dedicated Scrum Master against the need.
Many organizations opt to start with a fully dedicated Scrum Master for new teams. Then, as a team gets better with Scrum, they share a Scrum Master across more than one team.
Other than the newness of a team to Scrum, factors to consider would be:
* smaller development teams may require less SM effort
* teams with cooperative individuals may require less SM effort
* organizational support (presence of and collaboration among other SMs, an agile practice at org level, org level goal for Scrum)
* complex product requires more SM effort (what shape is the backlog in? will PO need lots of SM time to help grooming? are there numerous dependencies with other teams? how much access to those teams and how much support will SM have in removing impediments)
Various characteristics of each Scrum Team and organization influences the level and types of involvement. A Scrum Team that is newer to Scrum may require more time for instruction and coaching. For a more experienced team, the commitment may be more focused upon improvement of Scrum Team practices or organizational SCrum adoption improvements.
From your post it sounds like the Scrum Master in your organization is expected to work with multiple teams. As above, variances in experience level may result in different time commitments to each of them. The Scrum Master must attend the Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective events. This often leads to scheduling conflicts which is one of the more tangible reasons that having a Scrum Master belong to only one Scrum Team is considered a best practice.
If the organization is using this as an additional duty for a Development Team member, that can result in problems, especially if this is done as a rotation. Having one person attempt to fill multiple roles can cause confusion, a conflict of interests, and other challenges.
HTH
++1 Time commitment by scrum master depend on various factors like team maturity toward scrum, number of impediments, other organizational responsibilities etc. For me 100% attention towards team is more important than how much time SM is spending..SM should know each team member, their emotional structure, team communication, level of commitment, involvement of PO, changes in PBI... etc...etc..etc... It would be good for first time scrum master to spend 100% of his/her time to one team only.
You can take it upside down.
If you are 100% commited as a Scrum Master to a single Scrum Team, how do you make your time the more valuable ?
> I was wondering if some of you could provide some insight on what
> is the "normal" time commitment for a Scrum Master for each Scrum Team.
Why do you think that the commitment of a Scrum Master is determined in terms of time?