Koos Coach in the "This is not Scrum" comic (episode 1)

(Netherlands)

January 14, 2020

In my daily life as a Scrum Master, I witness many crazy situations. I want to share my experiences via this comic series featuring Koos Coach, the silly Scrum Master struggling to understand and master Scrum.

We need Scrum

Adopting Scrum involves a deep change in the mindset of people and cannot be taken lightheartedly.

If this story resonates with you, please share:

What experience do you have with Scrum being adopted for all the wrong reasons?
Which other poor Scrum adoption approaches (besides announcing) did you observe?
What hilarious Scrum situation were you in I could turn into a comic?

Actively doing nothing

Many people who are new to Scrum do not have a clear understanding of the Scrum Master role. Scrum Masters say they "actively do nothing", meaning that they are observing the team to be able to coach them effectively. This is a good practice, but it might not be the best answer to explain what the Scrum Master role entails.

If this story resonates with you, please share:

What would be a better way to explain the Scrum Master role to a novice?
What happens if a Scrum Master is very active?

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Comments (1)

Chris McBrien

09:12 pm August 9, 2020

This story certainly resonates with me.

To a novice, I would be careful about going into all the details and exception cases. I might mention that a scrum master coaches a team in the practice of being agile. The goal being a self organizing team that, for the most part, no longer needs coaching. In one sense, they strive for their own obsolescence.

Scrum masters also advocate for agile methods throughout the organization. This is important because, if it’s just the dev team, then you’re agile in name only. Executives need to buy-in, and relinquish those (always wrong anyway) project end dates, and trust that frequent and reliable delivery of business value is a far better bargain. Business users must also engage in agile development because daily contact and meaningful feedback in sprint reviews are essential to success.

Last, I would point out that scrum masters have a role to play when the dev team encounter impediments. Because they are highly focused on achieving the sprint goal, a scrum master can help address tangential challenges such as red tape, unexpected resource constraints, communicating the need for scope adjustment, culture friction, and lots of other things…