Scrum Master at Daily Scrum
Hi Community,
I have a question regarding one of the training questions on http://mlapshin.com/index.php/psm-quiz/
There was the follwoing question:
"The Scrum Master does the following regarding the Daily Scrum (select all applicable variants):"
The following answer was one of those shown as correct:
"Enforces the rule that only Development Team members participate in the Daily Scrum."
From what I understood the Scrum Master could also be at the Daily Scrum, although he doesn´t have to be there. So as he is not part of the role "Development Team", why do you think this answer is considered as correct? From my perspective the answer is wrong.
Thank you!
As I understand it, the Daily Scrum is for the Dev Team - and the Dev Team only - to synchronize their work, inspect their progress toward the Sprint Goal and if necessary adapt the Sprint Backlog and the plan for the next 24 hours.
Although the Scrum Master or Product Owner can attend this meeting, why would they need to participate?
The development team should be self-directing, and does not require a Scrum Master to mediate, control, or lead the Daily Scrum. A Scrum Master's participation is limited to ensuring the meeting meets its primary goals as defined in the Scrum Guide, and is completed within the time box.
If the development team can do that on their own, the Scrum Master doesn't need to participate. If they can't, then the Scrum Master may need to enforce rules or re-educate participants. However, neither of these responsibilities require participating in the actual meeting. If a Scrum Master wanted to, they wait to address these concerns after the meeting has concluded, in preparation for the next day's Daily Scrum.
Unless the Scrum Master is also a member of the Development Team, he or she would have no business to conduct at the Daily Scrum, and thus no reason to participate.
As the team's authority on the correct implementation of the Scrum Framework, the Scrum Master may attend the Daily Scrum to ensure that the rules of Scrum are being best applied. While so doing, an SM would be careful not to become involved as a participant unless also a Dev Team member.
There is another case to be made, if I may. This may not be exactly "by the books", so don't try this answer in a certification!
I like to use the Daily Scrum to keep the other team members up-to-date on the impediments I'm working to remove for them. Likewise, our PO likes to attend the Daily Scrum to be in the loop and offer his help where it is beneficial. Neither of us interfere with the team's self-organisation. As the ScrumMaster I only do so, when I see the rules of Scrum not being adhered to. This requires a level of discipline both from the ScrumMaster and the PO. But the developers have given us positive feedback on this. They like knowing what we're working on and feel it makes us more of a team if all of us attend the Daily Scrum.
In any case, this has to be a team decision. If the development team asked us to stop participating in this way, we'd stop. As with many questions on these certifications and assessments, the answer "go discuss it with the team" is not available, though ;-)