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Can scrum master coach individual team member

Last post 08:43 pm July 10, 2018 by Ratnakumar Umavenkata Lekkala
6 replies
12:39 pm July 10, 2018

I have seen in scrum framework/nexus framework, scrum master will help development team or scrum teams to coach scrum values, principles.Does as a scrum master can he teach individual when a teams progress is blocked by individual team member.


02:45 pm July 10, 2018

Hi Balakrishnarao, 

If I understood you right, this action has to be done by Dev Team, not by the Scrum Master. Of course it is not prohibited to make such action by the SM, but it will be much more useful and effective to resolve issues inside the team.  


03:15 pm July 10, 2018

Why not?

But before having a conversation with the team mamber, how did the development team think?

Are there any team member come to you to express their concerns?

Is the topic raised at the sprint retrospective?


04:32 pm July 10, 2018

I think it depends on what the problem is. I'm not a developer, never have been and likely never will be. If I were the SM on this team and the problem is the dev needs help with development; I'm the last person you would want teaching this person. However, if the impediment is this dev doesn't understand scrum at all and because of that he/she is blocking progress; absolutely it should fall to the SM to help with this training.

Overall, it comes down to "what is best for the team"


08:33 pm July 10, 2018

I have seen in scrum framework/nexus framework, scrum master will help development team or scrum teams to coach scrum values, principles

yes as a SM it is your responsibility to ensure every individual is instilled with the Agile knowledge, Scrum values and principles. You can do this coaching at individual level and/or group setting . Read the book "Coaching Agile Teams" by Lisa Adkins. There is a lot of emphasis on the importance of individual coaching for those who are lagging in the transformation to agile mindset.


08:40 pm July 10, 2018

If I understood you right, this action has to be done by Dev Team, not by the Scrum Master.

Orkhan, I don't think you understood right. He is talking about teaching scrum values and principles, not how to do the work on a PBI. Therefore you are pitching two completely different responsibilities (listed below) from the Scrum guide against each other.

  1. The Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. Scrum Masters do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory, practices, rules, and values.
  2. They (The Development Team) are self-organizing. No one (not even the Scrum Master) tells the Development Team how to turn Product Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionality;

08:43 pm July 10, 2018

If I were the SM on this team and the problem is the dev needs help with development; 

Curtis, this user needed help with scrum values and principles not with development.

The Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. Scrum Masters do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory, practices, rules, and values - Scrum Guide


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