Back to Forum

Can the client (customer) technical representative be Scrum Master?

Last post 12:40 pm February 25, 2014 by Ian Mitchell
1 reply
marco frattola
11:32 am February 25, 2014

Is it possible and "Scrum-Compliant" to have a customer's tech figure as Scrum Master, leading standup daily meeting with Dev. Team?

I think answer is "no" but I met such a configuration and I became doubtful...

Ian Mitchell
12:40 pm February 25, 2014

> Is it possible and "Scrum-Compliant" to have a customer's tech figure as Scrum Master...

There's nothing to stop a client from resourcing a team with its own people, either in whole or in part. What matters is that the duties associated with each Scrum role are not compromised by a conflict of interest.

> ...leading standup daily meeting with Dev. Team?

The Scrum Master should coach a team on Scrum practices and facilitate them if required. If a Scrum Master "leads" a daily standup then it suggests the team is insufficiently self-organizing.

> I think answer is "no" but I met such a configuration and I became doubtful...

If you think the answer is no, perhaps you suspect a conflict of interest in that particular configuration? Is the Scrum Master a servant leader to the team in this case, or has this responsibility been impeded by other interests?

By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.