Why is Mentoring Beneficial for Scrum Teams?

While the Scrum Master has specific accountability for mentoring Scrum Team members on the use of Scrum, every team member has knowledge and experience that will benefit their colleagues. These relationships can be within or outside of the Scrum Team.

Mentorship examples on Scrum Teams

It’s rare for formal mentoring relationships to be formed among members of the same Scrum Team. For example, it’s difficult to act as a sponsor to a peer on your team.  However, due to the self-managing nature of Scrum Teams, mentoring relationships are continually forming. Mentorship within a Scrum Team is generally ad hoc with one team member with particular prior experience guiding other team members. We sometimes refer to this as taking a mentorship “stance.” For example:

• When a team member has experience that could help their team reach a desired approach or outcome, or support their team’s decision
• When the team is trying a new approach or solution and one team member has prior experience with a similar situation
• A newly hired team member can be mentored by a longer-standing team member
• There is often the possibility of cross-role mentorship when developers, POs or Scrum Masters want to be mentored in other roles
• A team member may mentor others on the benefits of empiricism, self-management and continuous improvement by recounting their prior successes with them 
• When a new team is formed, there may be opportunities for mentorship around setting a successful mission, team values and goals
• Teams often struggle with how to steer toward or evaluate their successful outcomes. A team member with experience with  Evidence-Based Management (EBM) or Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) may be able to guide the rest of the team.

Mentorship outside of your immediate Scrum Team

Mentorship outside of your immediate team is more likely to take the shape of a more traditional mentoring relationship. For example:

• If you have significant experience as a Scrum Master, Product Owner or Developer, you may be asked to mentor someone with less experience in these roles
• There are opportunities to participate in mentorship structures such as communities of practice, or during hackathons or peer reviews
• Often less experienced team members benefit from having mentorship around how the organization operates
• Setting up a new team or introducing Scrum requires the benefit of experience. Having a mentor with this type of experience can be invaluable.
• Mentorship is not restricted to junior team members, the organization’s leaders can often benefit from having mentors guide them in understanding how operating in an empirical way impacts the organization and its structure