Do You Really Need a Scrum Master in Advanced Scrum?
By Dr. Charles (Chuck) Suscheck (www.suscheck.com)
As organizations mature in their use of Scrum, a familiar question emerges: Do we still need a Scrum Master? Leaders often observe teams that appear self-managing, collaborative, and productive, and conclude that the Scrum Master role has become redundant—or can be absorbed by someone else.
The answer depends on an important distinction that Scrum makes very clear.
Accountability, Not a Formal Role
The Scrum Guide (2020 and later) states that a Scrum Master is required, but it defines the Scrum Master as an accountability, not a formal job role or position in an organizational hierarchy. This distinction is critical.
Accountability is about owning outcomes, not personally performing every task. The Scrum Master is accountable for ensuring Scrum is understood and enacted and for fostering Scrum Team effectiveness. That does not mean the Scrum Master must facilitate every event, coach every interaction, or remove every impediment personally. Scrum is intentionally flexible about who performs the work that supports those outcomes.
As a result, a Scrum Master does not need to exist as a formal role or title in the organization, as long as the accountability is clearly held by one person.
What Cannot Be Shared
This flexibility is often misunderstood. Teams sometimes attempt to “share” or rotate the Scrum Master accountability in the name of efficiency. That breaks Scrum.
Activities can be shared; accountability cannot.
Help can come from anywhere; ownership cannot.
Execution can be distributed; responsibility for outcomes must remain singular.
Scrum allows delegation of Scrum Master activities, but it does not allow the Scrum Master accountability to be split, rotated, or fractionalized. One person must remain accountable at all times.
How Advanced Teams Use Delegation Effectively
In mature Scrum environments, many Scrum Master activities are naturally distributed because the team has internalized Scrum values and behaviors. This is not a problem—it is a sign of maturity.
Advanced teams improve effectiveness by delegating Scrum Master activities based on skills rather than title. Facilitation, coaching, stakeholder collaboration, and impediment removal often draw on capabilities that already exist within the team or organization. Making those skills visible allows teams to delegate intentionally, identify gaps, and invest in development where needed.
This shifts the conversation from “Do we need a Scrum Master?” to a more useful question: Which skills are required to support Scrum effectively, and where do those skills currently exist?
Find out more!
If you are practicing Scrum, you need a Scrum Master accountability. That requirement is explicit in the Scrum Guide. What Scrum does not require is a formal Scrum Master role or job title, nor does it require that one person perform all Scrum Master activities.
Accountability must remain clear and singular; execution can be shared. When teams understand this distinction, the Scrum Master accountability evolves from doing the work to ensuring the work of improvement happens—exactly as Scrum is designed to support mature, professional teams.
This blog intentionally focuses on the core distinction between Scrum Master accountability and execution. For readers interested in going deeper, I have also written a more in-depth companion piece that explores Scrum Master skills, the services and duties described in the Scrum Guide, and practical guidance on delegating activities without diluting accountability. That expanded discussion is aimed at experienced practitioners and leaders who want to strengthen Scrum effectiveness while staying firmly within Scrum’s boundaries. Look here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/advanced-scrum-do-you-really-need-master-dr-charles-suscheck-jtwhc