Difficult Situation
Dear All,
I would like to discuss this situation that I am in at the moment, to see how you would react because this is the first time I find myself in this kind of situation.
So I was hired as a scrum master by this company, and the first year was all plain sailing. I implemented a lot of changes to make the process more agile, starting all the scrum ceremonies and getting very good feedback both from the development team and also from management. At the time I joined, there was no product owner nor project manager for this project so I also took the roles myself, however I was aware that a new PM will join the team in due course.
When the new PM joined the team after a year, I had several meetings with him and it was clear that he did not know how the scrum and agile process works. So I took the time to explain what I had done in the previous year, all the processes in detail and why we implemented these changes, explaining also how the team was working before I joined and how it is working now. He seemed quite happy with the work done and was on board with the changes.
However he insisted that he should be present in all the scrum ceremonies, including the daily, until he gets a hold of the project. I made him aware that he can attend but he should not disrupt the team, and if he needs further clarifications, he should organize a team meeting with the team or with the developer that he needs clarification from. The first month went well but then he started asking questions during the daily that needed quite long answers. He started to think that I was trying to 'mock' him during the meeting when I was telling him that the daily should be kept as short as possible and that it is mainly for the developers. Now he has almost took over this meeting. I talked to management about this but they seem to be more open to accomodate this PM rather than the Agile process, which is a complete 360 from when I was hired.
This apart from other things like dictating how the Issues which are meant for developers should be created, monitors the time the devs are spending on tasks and asking why they are taking so long etc.
They want to extend my contract which is due in a month, which means that they are happy with my work.
My gut is telling me to just move on and find another contract but I am curious to know from you what you would do, since this is the first time I am in this situation
Have you asked them what value they are getting out of having a Scrum Master, considering that they are not implementing Scrum and are doing something else? Give them an opportunity to sell a contract extension to you, and to satisfy you that your contribution as a Scrum Master will be worthwhile.
Typical real life vs ideal Scrum situation when you are confronted with the ignorance of unwillingness to follow though Scrum by organization who sponsors it.
But, considering that it is a duty of Scrum master to be a head evangelist of Scrum in the organization and to constantly promote and educate others, including product owner about the Scrum, portion of the responsibility for this is also your own...
One thing you certainly have to start with, except for confronting your employers with a questions why would they need a Scrum master if they don't want to use Scrum, is explaining Product owner that he is not the boss of the Scrum team
If Scrum lingo does not help, translate into the "regular" terms, that his role is more like a salesman and not the manager...
@Ian thanks, that's my next conversation with them!
@Nicholas Thank you for your comments. Believe me I did try to explain all the process in the simplest form I could, and I the PM seemed on board in the beginning, maybe since he was still new not to disrupt the team. But I am starting to suspect he hates Agile, and that is a major problem, to try to coach someone but hitting a brick wall all the time. And yes I do consider this as a failure from my part in not being a good coach, but at this stage, I feel like its a lost battle
A few questions for you :
- was the PM's behavior raised as an issue by other team members during the retrospective? Or even during informal chats? Did you voice your concerns to the whole team?
- have you tried having a 1:1 with the PM to explain him that his behavior was "not Scrum"?
- When you mention that "He started to think that I was trying to 'mock' him during the meeting", is it something that he told you? In which circumstances?(going back to my question about the 1:1)
As to what I would do:
I would fisrt see if the situation can be improved (is the PM open to changing his behavior regarding the Scrum events and his interactions with the Developers? Is the management still willing to implement Scrum without accomodating the PM?). Yes? Then I would stay and commit to improve the implementation of Scrum. No? Well I would ask myself if I know that the organization is shifting towards zombie scrum/scrumbut/not scrum and I can live with it for many reasons (the pay is good, I like the people etc...) OR if it's having too much of a toll on my motivation and then it's time to move on.
Hope this helps!
@Dioume Thank you for your comments!
- was the PM's behavior raised as an issue by other team members during the retrospective? Or even during informal chats? Did you voice your concerns to the whole team?
Yes during the retrospective, I added that as an Action Point and discussed it with the PM, he did not seem to really care
- have you tried having a 1:1 with the PM to explain him that his behavior was "not Scrum"?
Multiple times, but the conversation is always "I am the PM and I want to manage in the way I think its best for the project"
- When you mention that "He started to think that I was trying to 'mock' him during the meeting", is it something that he told you? In which circumstances?(going back to my question about the 1:1)
No but I could see from his reaction, very closed body language and all. Maybe it was wrong in assuming but I could feel the tension in the room
TBH the only thing that kept me there so far was the team, since I always get attached to the team I am helping. Pay is ok but I am sure I can get better.
But the worst is that I am not happy with this situation and the job they want me to do so I think my decision is already made
That's a terrible situation. You have my full sympathy.
I do consider this as a failure from my part in not being a good coach
Look at it from a different angle. That person took control of everything. That has nothing to do with not understanding Scrum or Agile. It's about control and power. That's where you can find levers and answers, not in coaching.
General advice: In conflicts, I would refrain from using Scrum or Agile in a discussion, in particular as an argument such as "that's not agile" or "according to Scrum ... It's better to get to the bottom of the conflict and/or focus on the goal.
Scrum master to be a head evangelist of Scrum in the organization and to constantly promote and educate others
I had similar situations with PO's as what you have with the PM. Seems like you have done a lot of talking and explaining. Not to repeat, but if you have not done it, gett the PM and people in management in one room and discuss the problem. Ask management what they want, either Agile or Traditional PM, they can't have both, at least not in this way.
Then as a last attempt try to get the PM not to attend the team meetings and rituals. He is a stakeholder that should use the radiators to get the information from.