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Scrum Master Role- What to expect?

November 22, 2017

Looking to hire a Scrum Master? You may go through this job description that talks about the role of a Scrum Master? and what to expect from a Scrum Master.

 

Here is a Sample Job Description that you may use if you find it useful.

ROLE OBJECTIVE

The Scrum Master is a valued team member within the Scrum Team that facilitates the development of working software and help the development team in delivering the product increment. The Scrum Master is a passionate Agile champion who facilitates adherence to The Scrum GuideTM (http://scrumguides.org) and the Product Owner and the Development Team. The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the Scrum Team. The Scrum Master helps those outside the Scrum Team understand which of their interactions with the Scrum Team are helpful and which aren’t. The Scrum Master helps everyone use these interactions collaboratively to maximize the value created by the team. The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring the Scrum framework is understood and enacted. Scrum Master does this by ensuring that the Scrum Team executes Scrum theory, practices, and rules.

 

REQUIRED SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

Essential Experience & Skills:

1) Minimum of three (3) years experience as a  Professional Scrum Master

2) Demonstrated evidence of ability to champion adherence to a consistent application of the Scrum Framework, including 3 roles; 5 events; 3 artefacts; and 2 standards for artefact transparency being Done and Ready

3) Proven experience identifying a Scrum Team’s gaps in the Scrum Framework and leading them to adopt new practices by focusing on Scrum Values, Agile Manifesto values and principles.

4) Proven experience in Coaching the Product Owner in some of the Product Backlog Management Techniques, for example, Agile User Stories with Acceptance Criteria and breaking them down into smaller tasks to achieve a high degree of Transparency.

5) Demonstrated ability to teach, coach, inspire and motivate people to change their values and practices as evidenced by experience persuading key stakeholders (like Executive Sponsor, program/project managers, line managers) to become servant leaders and empower people who use the Scrum Framework.

6) Proven experience to create Transparency using Information Radiators, For example, Help Teams creating velocity tracking and graphs (e.g. Sprint Burndown, Release Burndown) using either Agile project management software (e.g. JIRA, Rally, VersionOne, Trello) OR advanced Microsoft Excel skills so that the Teams can Monitor the Progress themselves.

 7) Excellent verbal communication skills in conflict resolution and negotiation

 8) Proven experience in Influencing and facilitating Key discussions.

 

ATTRIBUTES 

1) Essential - Attitude that demonstrates Scrum team player who values open communication, transparency, collaboration, bringing and executing new ideas to the Scrum to increase value delivery efficiency.

2) Highly Desirable - Evidence of self-improvement and drive to continuously learn (e.g. courses attended, books read) to improve your: Scrum Mastery skills; servant leadership style; and people skills.

 

QUALIFICATIONS

Essential – Scrum certification, e.g. Professional Scrum Master I from Scrum.org or Certified Scrum Master from Scrum Alliance.

Desirable - Tertiary qualification in either Information Technology or Business; OR extensive experience adult team facilitation with adult coaching and mentoring.

Good  to Have - Professional Scrum Master II (or) Certified Scrum Practitioner

Nice to have - Professional Scrum Master III 

 

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

The Scrum Master will have to demonstrate various traits to maximize the Scrum Team’s performance and productivity. In addition, they are responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. Scrum Masters do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory, practices, rules, and values.

Key responsibilities:

Master  the adherence to the Scrum framework as outlined in The Scrum GuideTM including Sprint Planning; Daily Scrum; Sprint Review; Sprint Retrospective; Product Backlog Refinement; Product Backlog; Sprint Backlog; Definition of Done; 

 

Scrum Master Service to the Product Owner

The Scrum Master serves the Product Owner in several ways, including:

 Finding techniques for effective Product Backlog management;  Helping the Scrum Team understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items;  Understanding product planning in an empirical environment;  Ensuring the Product Owner knows how to arrange the Product Backlog to maximize value;  Understanding and practising agility;  Facilitating Scrum events as requested or needed;  Coach the Product Owner to ensure the volume and flow of Product Backlog Items (user stories) towards the top of the Product Backlog are Ready for the Sprint Backlog.

Scrum Master Service to the Development Team

The Scrum Master serves the Development Team in several ways, including:

 Coaching the Development Team in self-organization and cross-functionality;  Helping the Development Team to create high-value products;  Removing impediments to the Development Team’s progress;  Facilitating Scrum events as requested or needed;  Coaching the Development Team in organizational environments in which Scrum is not yet fully adopted and understood; Ensure Development Team maintains a commitment to the Definition of Done  Ensure the Scrum Values, Agile Manifesto values and principles are understood and applied in the Scrum;  Coach Scrum Team to write and break down User Stories with Acceptance Criteria;  Guide the Scrum Team to accept, implement and commit to Agile principles and practices like Continual Improvement.

Scrum Master Service to the Organization

The Scrum Master serves the organization in several ways, including:

 Leading and coaching the organization in its Scrum adoption;  Planning Scrum implementations within the organization;  Helping employees and stakeholders understand and enact Scrum and empirical product development;  Causing change that increases the productivity of the Scrum Team;  Working with other Scrum Masters to increase the effectiveness of the application of Scrum in the organization;  Champion increased transparency to all levels of organization of the Scrum Team’s historical and current Sprint’s work in progress.

 

KEY INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS

Internal

 Development Team

 Product Owner/s

 Other Scrum Masters

  Managers

 Project Management Office (PMO)

 Chief Information Officer (CIO); Chief Technology Officer (CTO); C-Level Executives

External

 Software vendors

 IT infrastructure vendors


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