September 2016

W hitepapers

The 8 Stances of a Scrum Master

Barry Overeem 100% Scrum Master

Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2
1. The Scrum Master as a Servant Leader........................................................................................... 3
2. The Scrum Master as a Coach ......................................................................................................... 5
3. The Scrum Master as a Facilitator................................................................................................... 7
4. The Scrum Master as a Teacher .................................................................................................... 10
5. The Scrum Master as a Mentor .................................................................................................... 13
6. The Scrum Master as a Manager .................................................................................................. 15
7. The Scrum Master as an Impediment Remover ........................................................................... 17
8. The Scrum Master as a Change Agent .......................................................................................... 20

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Introduction
According to the Scrum Guide, the Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring Scrum is understood and
enacted. Scrum Masters do this by ensuring that the Scrum Team adheres to Scrum theory, practices, and
rules.

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 arent.
The Scrum Master helps everyone change these interactions to maximize the value created by the Scrum
Team.

The role of a Scrum Master is one of many stances and diversity. A great Scrum Master is aware of them
and knows when and how to apply them, depending on situation and context. Everything with the purpose
of helping people understand the spirit of Scrum.

The Scrum Master Acts as a:

Servant Leader whose focus is on the needs of the team members and those they serve (the
customer), with the goal of achieving results in line with the organizations values, principles, and
business objectives.

Coach coaching the individual with a focus on mindset and behavior, the team in continuous
improvement and the organization in truly collaborating with the Scrum Team.

Facilitator by setting the stage and providing clear boundaries in which the team can collaborate.

Teacher to ensure Scrum and other relevant methods are understood and enacted.

Mentor that transfers agile knowledge and experience to the team.

Manager responsible for managing impediments, eliminating waste, managing the process,
managing the teams health, managing the boundaries of self-organization, and managing the
culture.

Impediment Remover solving blocking issues to the teams progress, taking into account the
self-organizing capabilities of the Development Team.

Change Agent to enable a culture in which Scrum Teams can flourish.

This white paper contains my personal experiences acting as a Scrum Master. Besides these experiences,
Ive added my most important findings while researching the 8 different stances studying books, articles
and videos. I hope you enjoy the result!

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1. The Scrum Master as a Servant Leader
Servant-leadership is fully in line with the Scrum values of courage, openness, respect, focus and
commitment. Its the backbone of the Scrum Master role and therefore the most obvious one to
describe first. In this part, Ill describe what servant-leadership is about, the connection with the Agile
Manifesto, and how the Scrum Master acts as a servant-leader.

What is Servant-Leadership?
Its a philosophy and a set of practices that enrich the lives of individuals, to build better organizations,
and ultimately create a more just and caring world. Its a transformational approach to life and work
that has the potential for creating positive change throughout our society. Servant-leadership focuses
on collaboration, trust, empathy and the usage of power ethically.

Servant-leadership is about:

Serving others, not yourself

Not leading by title
Leadership that endures
Helping people develop and perform as highly as possible
Selfless management of team members
Promoting genuine team ownership
Harnessing the collective power of a team

What is a Servant-Leader?
Robert K. Greenleaf, the originator of the term servant-leadership, describes a servant-leader as,
The servant-leader is a servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve. Then
conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The best test is: do those served grow as persons: do
they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves
to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at
least, not be further deprived?1

The servant-leaders objective is to enhance and increase teamwork and personal involvement. They
create a participative environment, empowering employees by sharing power and decision-making2.

A servant-leader:

Focuses on building a foundation of trust

Stimulates empowerment and transparency
Encourages collaborative engagements
Is an un-blocker and empathetic person able to truly listen
Shows ethical and caring behaviour, putting others needs first
Is humble, knowledgeable, positive, social and situationally aware

1
Greenleaf, Robert K. Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness
2
http://adaptagility.co.uk/scrum-master-the-servant-leader

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The Agile Manifesto and Servant-Leadership
The characteristics of servant-leadership can also be found within the Agile Manifesto3. The values
individuals and interactions over processes and tools and customer collaboration over contract
negotiation clearly emphasize the focus on collaborative engagements, serving others (the team
members) and not yourself and boosting team performance by supporting individual growth.

Principles of the Agile Manifesto that also characterize servant-leadership are:

Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they
need, and trust them to get the job done.

Business people & developers must work together daily throughout the project.

The Scrum Master as a Servant-Leader

The Scrum Guide describes the Scrum Master as the servant-leader for the Scrum Team. A Scrum
Master is not master of the team, but a master at encouraging, enabling, and energizing people to gel
as a team and realize their full potential4. A Scrum Master is a servant-leader whose focus is on the
needs of the team members and those they serve (the customer), with the goal of achieving results in
line with the organizations values, principles, and business objectives5.

The Scrum Master leads by example, by respect, and by the ability to influence the organization for
the Scrum Team and its effectiveness. The Scrum Master should also lead by values, by courage and
commitment, but also by stubbornness. Stubborn by having strong beliefs and the intention to change
the organization.

As a servant-leader, the Scrum Master is responsible for:

Setting up Scrum as a servant process, not a commanding process6

Guiding the Development Team towards self-organization
Leading the team through healthy conflict and debate
Teaching, coaching and mentoring the organization and team in adopting and using Scrum
Shielding the team from disturbance and external threats
Helping the team make visible, remove and prevent impediments
Encouraging, supporting and enabling the team to reach their full potential and abilities
Creating transparency by radiating information via e.g. the Product Backlog and Sprint
Backlog, Daily Scrum, reviews and a visible workspace
Ensuring a collaborative culture exists within the team

Closing
Servant-leadership proves to be the backbone of the Scrum Master role. Its philosophy and practices
increase teamwork and create an environment in which individual growth can flourish and endure. As
a servant-leader, the Scrum Master can help the team act upon the Scrum values of courage,
openness, respect, focus and commitment and realize their full potential.

3
http://www.agilemanifesto.org/
4
Watts, Geoff. Scrum Mastery: From Good to Great Servant Leadership
5
http://www.infoq.com/articles/leadership-challenge
6
Verheyen, Gunther. Scrum: A Pocket Guide

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2. The Scrum Master as a Coach
This chapter is about the Scrum Master as a coach. The Scrum Master is often considered a coach for
the team, helping the team do the best work they can to reach the Sprint Goal. In this chapter, Ill
describe what coaching is about and share the three perspectives a Scrum Master can use when acting
as a coach.

What is Coaching?
There are a lot of good definitions available that describe coaching. My ultimate definition is:
Coaching is unblocking a persons potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping people
to learn rather than teach them7.

Other good definitions are:

The ultimate goal of coaching is to help the client understand themselves better so that they
can find to make the most of their potential8.

Effective coaching is guiding without prescribing9.

The art of facilitating the performance, learning and development of another10.

Coaching closes the gap between thinking about doing and actually doing11.

What is Effective Coaching?

Via Portia Tungs website, Selfish Programming, I came across The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
Coaches12. A Scrum Master can use these habits to check if she/he is doing coaching in a way the
chances of success will be the highest. The habits she describes are:

Lead by example. This means living by the values and principles they espouse as well as
applying the tools and techniques they know to themselves and to their work.

Begin with the end in mind. A coach works backwards from the goal to figure out the most
effective and efficient way of getting from A to B.

Set a sustainable pace. A coach stays calm when others around them lose their heads.

Think with your head and feel with your heart. A coach balances thinking and feeling.
They apply logical thinking as well as empathy when solving problems.

Pull, not push. A coach waits and is always ready when someone asks for help. A coach
creates and offers learning opportunities instead of thrusting their ideas, advice and views
onto others.

7
Sir John Whitmore
8
Watts, Geoff, and Kim Morgan. The Coach's Casebook: Mastering the Twelve Traits That Trap Us
9
http://www.agile42.com/en/blog/2014/04/15/effective-agile-coaching/
10
Downey, Myles. Effective Coaching
11
Martin, Curly. The Life Coaching Handbook
12
http://www.selfishprogramming.com/2013/12/18/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-coaches-2/

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 Talk less, listen more. A coach postpones judgement on what they hear and lets others talk
while they listen with care.

Flow like a stream. A coach is patient, pragmatic and present.

The Scrum Master as a Coach

To describe the Scrum Master as a coach, three different perspectives can be used: the individual, the
team and the organization. Coaching the individual with a focus on mindset and behaviour, the team
in continuous improvement and the organization in truly collaborating with the Scrum Teams.

Coaching the Individual

Explain the desired mindset and behaviour, help individuals see new perspectives and
possibilities
Influence the individual team members to use Scrum well
Help each person take the next step on his or her agile journey13

Coaching the Team

Stimulate a mindset of continuous improvement, create a learning culture
Support the team in problem solving and conflict resolution
Coach the team to develop to the point that members learn how to best learn from one
another
Change the attitude, mindset and behaviour that restrict the team from doing Scrum well
Coach the team in giving each other open and honest feedback

Coaching the Organization

Help the organization achieve astonishing results by delivering high quality, valuable products
Coach the entire organization in doing product management with a focus on continuously
adding business value
Support and encourage collaboration and cooperation with the Scrum Teams

Closing
By doing some research, Ive created a brief description of the Scrum Master as a coach. Besides
sharing the most common definitions of coaching, this chapter contains the three perspectives you
can use to describe the Scrum Master as a coach. Coaching the individual with a focus on mindset and
behaviour, the team in continuous improvement and the organization in truly collaborating with the
Scrum Teams.

13
Adkins, Lisa. Coaching Agile Teams

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3. The Scrum Master as a Facilitator
This chapter describes the Scrum Master as a facilitator. The Scrum Master serves as a facilitator for
both the Product Owner and the Development Team. Ill describe the definition of a facilitator, the
misunderstanding and the characteristics of a great facilitator.

What is a Facilitator?
Someone who helps a group of people understand their common objectives and assists them to plan
how to achieve these objectives; in doing so, the facilitator remains neutral, meaning he/she doesnt
take a particular position in the discussion14.

Key elements of this definition (and other available definitions) are:

Help and enable others in achieving their objectives

Be content neutral, not taking sides
Support everyone to do their best thinking and practices
Promote collaboration and try to achieve synergy
Provide charismatic authority

The Misunderstanding
Quite often, when I ask people to describe the Scrum Master as a facilitator, the only answer I get is
that the Scrum Master facilitates the Scrum events. Sure, the Scrum Master is responsible for the
Scrum process and should support the team in optimizing their process.

The Scrum events are an important part of the Scrum process, and although the Scrum Master isnt
obligated to attend all the Scrum events personally, he should ensure:

That the Sprint is used as a time-box during which a done, usable and releasable increment
is created

That the Daily Scrum is used for daily inspection of the teams progress toward the Sprint Goal

That the Sprint Planning meeting is used as an event for the team to discuss, plan and agree
on a forecast for the Product Backlog Items they are confident they can complete in order to
support the goals and strategy of the Product Owner

That the Sprint Review is used for a demonstration and inspection of the developed increment
and adaptation of the Product Backlog if needed

That the Sprint Retrospective is used as an event during which the team inspects and adapts
their practices and processes to improve key issues that are impeding the teams progress

The biggest misunderstanding is that facilitating the Scrum events is the only thing a Scrum Master
should do as a facilitator. A great Scrum Master, however, understands that facilitation can be far
more powerful

14
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facilitator

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How Facilitation Within Scrum Was Really Meant
As described in the definition of a facilitator, this is someone who helps a group of people understand
and achieve their objectives by promoting collaboration, optimizing the process and creating synergy
within the team. Given this context, facilitation encompasses far more than only hosting the Scrum
events.

In his book Scrum Mastery, Geoff Watts describes facilitation as the underpinning skill and
behaviour of the Scrum Master. At all times Scrum Masters are of service to the goals of the team,
the Product Owner and the organization. And, if those goals conflict, they think of the long-term
implications and the messages any compromise will send.

A Scrum Master should:

Facilitate relationships and collaboration both within the team and the teams environment
Facilitate the Scrum process and the continuous improvement of the process
Facilitate the integration of the Scrum Team into the entire organization
Facilitate the Scrum events to be purposeful and effective
Facilitate the team in achieving their (personal) objectives

Lyssa Adkins offers a good description in her book Coaching Agile Teams.

A Scrum Master should facilitate by creating a container for the team to fill up with their ideas and
innovations. The container, often a set of agenda questions or some other lightweight (and flexible)
structure, gives the team just enough of a frame to stay on their purpose and promotes an environment
for richer interaction, a place where fantastic ideas can be heard. The coach creates the container; the
team creates the content.

Characteristics of a Great Facilitator

So, a Scrum Master should facilitate by setting the stage and providing clear boundaries in which the
team can collaborate to discuss their ideas.

Other characteristics of a great facilitator are:

Designs and leads a meeting with the responsibility to help the team reach its goals and
objectives15
Asks powerful questions to provide new insights and perspectives
Listens to understand instead of listening to act16
Creates a strong team instead of creating strong individuals
Helps things to happen instead of making things happen
Knows how to use light-touch facilitation

What Great Facilitation of the Scrum Events Looks Like

Every Scrum event has a specific purpose that answers the question, Why do we do this meeting,
anyway? A great facilitator should ensure the goal of every event is clear, a lightweight structure is
offered and the team achieves the purpose of the event. The earlier described goals of the Scrum

15
http://nomad8.com/training/scrum-master-facilitation-skills/
16
https://tcagley.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/scrum-master-facilitator-or-enabler/

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events are still relevant, but via great facilitation the Scrum Master succeeds in getting more value out
of every Sprint.

Characteristics of well-facilitated Scrum events are:

The Daily Scrum contains an atmosphere where healthy peer pressure occurs on delivery
quality, commitment and addressing impediments

The Sprint Planning is all about collaboration between the Product Owner and the
Development Team and has a strong focus on delivering business value. All team members
understand the work and jointly agree to achieve the Sprint Goal

The Sprint Review is an energizing event in which the Scrum Team, sponsors and stakeholders
together inspect the product increment and backlog. But also retrospect their collaboration
and how this can be improved. They act as one team with the same purpose, there are no
boundaries between client and supplier

The Sprint Retrospective is done in a safe atmosphere in which the elephant in the room is
addressed, discussed and turned into actionable improvements that the team members agree
upon realizing in the next Sprint.

Closing
Summarized, great facilitation is about:

Serving the team without being their servant

Helping the team make decisions and reach consensus that sticks
Addressing difficult attitudes, dysfunctional behaviors and unproductive attitudes that keep
meetings from achieving their outcomes17
Being a keen observer
Stepping back as soon as you can support their continuous self-organization
Knowing when to interrupt the team
Helping the team get quality interactions
Delivering questions and challenges

Mastering these facilitation skills requires time, practice and continuous introspection and
improvement. But taking the possible results of great facilitation into account, its definitely worth the
effort!

17
http://www.agilecoachinginstitute.com/the-agile-facilitator/

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4. The Scrum Master as a Teacher
This chapter is about the Scrum Master as a teacher. Ill describe the definition of a teacher, the
theoretical viewpoint and some practical examples of what a Scrum Master should teach.

What is a Teacher?
The most straightforward definition Ive found is: Someone who helps others learn new things.
Teaching is about imparting knowledge or skills and instructing someone as to how to do something.

Some nice quotes about teaching are:

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. Mark van Doren

I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.
Albert Einstein

A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instil a love of learning.
Brad Henry

The Scrum Master as a Teacher

According to the Scrum Guide, the Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring Scrum is understood and
enacted. Scrum Masters do this by ensuring the Scrum Team adheres to Scrum theory, practices and
rules. They guide the team back to agile practices and principles when they stray. With teaching, the
primary focus for the Scrum Master is the Development Team and Product Owner. But the Scrum
Master should also ensure Scrum is understood by everyone else involved with the Scrum Team.

So What Could a Scrum Master Teach?

1. Teach Agile during the team start-up. In the first week with a new team, I always bring the team
back to the heart of Agile and Scrum. I learn them about the why & what of the agile mindset,
Scrum framework, XP and Kanban. Although some team members might have quite a lot of agile
experience, its about getting on the same page. Explaining the Agile Manifesto and emphasis that
product development is based on assumptions: the customer knows what he wants, the
developers know how to build it and nothing will change along the way. In reality, the customer
discovers what he wants, the developers discover how to build it, and things will change along
the way.

2. Teach the core of Scrum. Using Scrum can be compared with playing chess. You either play it as
the rules state, or you dont. Scrum and chess dont fail or succeed. They are either played, or not.
Those who play both games and keep practicing may become very good at playing the games. In
the case of chess, they may become Grand Masters. In the case of Scrum, they may become very
good development organizations, cherished by their customers, loved by their users, and feared
by their competitors18. Some teams start using Scrum leaving out some of the parts of the
framework. For example, doing a daily stand-up twice a week, mixing up the different roles, and
skipping the Retrospective. If the team thinks this is wise to do, thats ok, but the Scrum Master
should teach them the consequences and also emphasize that theyre not doing Scrum.

18
https://kenschwaber.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/scrum-fails/

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3. Teach the differences between Scrum and good practices. Nowadays, a lot of good practices have
become strongly intertwined with the core of Scrum. Teaching the team the differences is useful.
Examples of good practices are using story points, doing the Daily Scrum standing or using a
burndown chart for tracking visual progress. All good practices, but not mandatory considering
the core of Scrum.

4. Teach the team about creating a shared identity. The team should be aware of the prerequisites
of teamwork. What does it take to be a team? What does it mean to be a team? I sometimes ask
the team to share some personal experiences theyve had with the teams theyve been part of.
What was the worst team and why? What was the best team and why? A powerful exercise to
create a shared identity is setting up a team manifesto.

5. Teach the team about the importance of the product vision. This is also the part where the
Product Owner comes along. Probably, the team was created with a purpose, e.g. to build a new
product. Its crucial that the team knows and understands the vision the Product Owner has with
his/her product. The team can only make the right decisions if they understand the purpose of the
product. A clear vision basically acts as a lighthouse for the Development Team, necessary in
difficult times.

6. Teach the team about self-organization. As the Agile Manifesto says, the best architectures,
requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. A self-organizing team is a group
of motivated individuals who work together toward a goal, have the ability and authority to make
decisions, and readily adapt to changing demands. A Scrum Master, as the promoter of Scrum and
self-organization, should consider how to help a team work out their problems themselves and
offer any tools, trainings and insights on how to best do this19.

7. Teach the roles of the Scrum Team. Ask the team to expect that the people around them will
completely fulfil their role. Anything less is an impediment20. Teach them how the three different
roles interlock with each other. The Product Owner wants to build the right thing, the
Development Team wants to build it right and the Scrum Master wants to build it fast. A great
team knows how to balance these different interests.

8. Teach the team about impediments. In Scrum, an impediment is anything that keeps the team
from being productive. Its the job of the Scrum Master to ensure impediments are being
removed. The Scrum Master only removes impediments that exceed the self-organizing
capabilities of the Development Team. Otherwise, its not really an impediment, just a problem
the team needs to fix by themselves.

9. Teach the team about visualizing progress. Transparency is one of the pillars of Scrum; its crucial
for inspection, adaptation and self-organization. Therefore, the need for visualizing progress is
also quite obvious. Without it, self-correction is quite difficult to achieve. Its up to the
Development Team itself to choose what to visualize. Visualizing the Product and Sprint Backlogs
is a good practice I definitely encourage them to use. Other practices for visualizing progress or
improving collaboration are burndown charts, setting up a board with impediments and

19
Verheyen, Gunther. Scrum: A Pocket Guide
20
Adkins, Lisa. Coaching Agile Teams

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 improvements, showing the availability of the team members or creating a Sprint calendar that
shows all the events and meetings.

10. Teach the Product Owner about backlog management. The Scrum Master should teach the
Product Owner how to create a Product Backlog, how to order it based on priority, value, risk and
dependencies and how to involve the entire team with managing the backlog.

11. Teach the organization about Scrum. The Scrum framework can be quite disruptive for some
organizations. It causes change that some people might find difficult to cope with. Explaining the
purpose of Scrum and the need for some changes is important to create mutual understanding
and build a foundation that ensures the changes truly stick.

12. Teach the team to have fun! Dont take it all too seriously. Having fun helps to cope with difficult
situations, strengthens collaboration and builds a healthy team spirit. Therefore, ensure that
having fun is part of a teams daily routine.

Closing
This chapter contains some examples of what a Scrum Master could teach the Development Team,
Product Owner and organization. The most important lesson Ive learned is: dont try to teach the
team everything upfront. Give them the opportunity to fail and learn from their own mistakes.
Remember, mistakes are the portals of discovery21.

21
James Joyce

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5. The Scrum Master as a Mentor
This chapter is about the Scrum Master as a mentor. Ill describe the definition of a mentor, coaching
versus mentoring, and the Shu-Ha-Ri way of thinking.

What is a Mentor?
The most straightforward definition Ive found is: A mentor is a wise and trusted counsellor or
teacher.

Some nice quotes about mentoring are:

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. Winston Churchill

Getting the most out of life isnt about how much you keep for yourself but how much you
pour into others. David Stoddard

Be the mentor you wish you had.

Coaching Versus Mentoring

Coaching is unlocking a persons potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping people
to learn rather than teaching them22. It is helping someone see new perspectives and possibilities.
For coaching, being a subject matter expert isnt necessary; it can even be a pitfall. For mentoring
however, having in-depth knowledge is important.

Coaching agile teams on the combination of coaching and mentoring. You are coaching to help
someone reach for the next goal in their life; you are also sharing your agile experiences and ideas as
you mentor them, guiding them to use Agile well. In this way, coaching and mentoring are entwined
with each other. Combined, they provide a powerful combination.

Mentoring transfers your agile knowledge and experience to the team as that specific knowledge
becomes relevant to whats happening with them. Each side coaching and mentoring is useful and
can be powerful on its own. Together, they are a winning combination for helping people adopt Agile
and use it well. The context of agile makes you a mentor; the focus on team performance makes you
a coach. Both parts of the equation come together to make Agile come alive and bring it within their
grasp23.

Shu-Ha-Ri
In the context of mentoring, the Shu-Ha-Ri model is also relevant to mention. Shu-Ha-Ri is a way of
thinking about how you learn a technique. It describes the progression of training or learning. The
name comes from the Japanese martial arts, and Alistair Cockburn introduced it as a way of thinking
about learning techniques and methodologies for software development24. When learning something
new, everyone goes through these three stages. Ultimately, it should result in the student surpassing
the master (the mentor), both in knowledge and skill.

22
Sir John Whitmore
23
Adkins, Lisa. Coaching Agile Teams
24
http://martinfowler.com/bliki/ShuHaRi.html

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Shu Follow the Rule
In this first stage, the student follows the teachings of the master precisely. The rules are followed
until they are really understood. The Scrum Master will mostly act as a teacher. As a teacher he shares
knowledge or skills and instructs someone as to how to do something. Examples are teaching the core
of Scrum and explaining the purpose of the different roles, artefacts and events.

Ha Break the Rule

In this stage the student starts to reflect on the rules, looking for exceptions and breaking the rules25.
He understands and can use the basic practices and now starts to learn the underlying related
principles. He also starts learning from other masters and integrates that learning into his practice. As
a coach, the Scrum Master will offer the student seeing new perspectives and possibilities. They will
coach them taking the next step in their agile journey.

Ri Be the Rule
During the Ri stage, the rules are forgotten as the student has developed mastery, and grasped the
essence and underlying principles. The student isnt learning from other people anymore, but from
his own practice, he has become the new rule. In the Agile context, the student truly understands all
the principles and knows when to use a certain practice given the context of the situation. As an
advisor or mentor, the Scrum Master can act as a counsellor and give advice whenever the student
asks for it.

As a Scrum Master, its useful to be aware of the Shu-Ha-Ri stages. Every team member can be on a
different level, and this will continuously change. Therefore, the Scrum Master should change his style
as well from teaching to coaching to advising to match the teams Shu-Ha-Ri stage.

Closing
The Scrum Master certainly isnt always the appropriate mentor for every team member. As
mentioned before, a mentor has in-depth knowledge and experience of a certain topic. It might be
that another team member happens to be the ideal mentor or someone from outside the team. A
great Scrum Master has a keen eye for potential student-mentor relationships and knows how to
establish them. All with the intention to build a great team and help individuals flourish in their
personal growth.

25
https://www.scrumalliance.org/community/articles/2011/may/scrum-from-student-to-master

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6. The Scrum Master as a Manager
This chapter is about the Scrum Master as a manager. Ill describe the difference between
management and the manager, horizontal and vertical management, and the responsibilities of the
Scrum Master as a manager.

What is a Manager?
The most straightforward definition Ive found is: A manager is an individual who is in charge of a
certain group of tasks, or a certain subset of a company.

Some nice quotes about the manager are:

In managers, look for people who can get things done through other people. The most
important thing for a good manager is that the people on his team feel like he or she has
integrity. Sam Wyly

A manager is an assistant to his men. Thoman J. Watson

No matter whether there are manager or not, everyone should feel responsible for
management. Jurgen Appelo

Done right, management is the act of serving and supporting everyones natural
awesomeness. Woody Zuill

Management Versus Manager

Theres a difference between Management and Manager. Management is an activity; the
manager is a role. Management as an activity will always be present within organizations. Otherwise,
organizations will always have managers executing these activities. The difference with traditional
organizations is the way management is done. Within Agile organizations, management as an activity
is done horizontal instead of the vertical approach traditional organizations use with specific
management positions.

Organizations that apply vertical management have individuals compete for promotion. Tasks are
assigned. Managers assess performance. Communication is top-down. The purpose is making money
for the shareholders. Horizontal management is delighting customers as its purpose. Making money
is the result, not the goal of its activities. It supports enabling over control, stimulates innovation and
focuses on horizontal communication26

Agile Embraces Horizontal Management

Organizations that embrace Agile apply horizontal management. Within these organizations, the
teams manage themselves. They make their own decisions about their work and manage the
execution. Team members have a strong willingness to cooperate and know that unless all succeed in
their part, none succeed in the whole. The team shares a common purpose through release, Sprint,

26
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and team goals. Keywords are trust, transparency, open communication, collaboration, ownership,
learning and collective commitment27.

When you compare horizontal management to a Scrum Team, they clearly can be seen the team full
of managers. The Development Team manages their work. The Product Owner manages the product
vision, roadmap and return-on-investment. The Scrum Master manages the process and impediments
that exceed the teams abilities of self-organization.

The Scrum Master as a Manager

So, yes, within the Agile context, the Scrum Master is also a manager. As a manager, the Scrum Master
is responsible for:

Managing impediments, eliminating waste. Removing impediments that limit the efficiency
and progress of a Development Team in areas that are beyond the reach of self-organization
of a Development Team.

Managing the process. Support the team in optimizing their process. Facilitating teams. Keep
the Scrum events purposeful and effective. Ensure that people, teams, and the organization
realize the highest benefits from using Scrum.

Managing the teams health. Create a trusting environment with quality interactions between
the team members and support the team in achieving their (personal) objectives.

Managing the boundaries of self-organization. A Scrum Master manages the boundaries that
Scrum provides to augment self-organization; time-boxing to limit risk, focused efforts, cross-
functional collaboration, release results, validated learning28.

Managing the culture. Making room for failure. Managing the cultural change necessary to
give the teams the opportunity to flourish.

Closing
Management as an activity remains important for organizations, and the role of the manager is still
valid and valuable. However, a crucial indicator of management in agile organizations is the fact that
its done horizontal, instead of the vertical management execution in traditional organizations. In
horizontal organizations, teams manage themselves. In this environment, the Scrum Master can be
seen as the wise leader that engages people through organizational purpose and vision. By identifying
wasteful activities, eliminating waste, removing impediments, and managing the maximization of
Scrum, he optimizes the value of management to the organization.

And as Jurgen Appelo puts it, Management is too important to leave to the managers,
management is everyones job29.
P.S., Gunther Verheyen did a great job describing the Scrum Master as a manager30. For sure, this
was a source of inspiration for this chapter.

27
Moreira, Mario. Being Agile
28
http://guntherverheyen.com/2014/11/26/scrum-master-a-manager/
29
Appelo, Jurgen. #Workout
30
http://guntherverheyen.com/2014/11/26/scrum-master-a-manager/

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7. The Scrum Master as an Impediment Remover
This chapter is about the Scrum Master as an impediment remover. Ill describe the most common
definitions and examples of an impediment, the Scrum Master as an impediment remover, and tactics
to deal with impediments.

What is an Impediment?
By doing a bit of research, Ive found quite a few good definitions:

An impediment in Scrum is a factor that blocks the Development Team in its creation of a
valuable piece of software in a Sprint, or that restricts the team in achieving its intrinsic level
of progress31.

Problems that go beyond the self-organization of the Development Team.

An event that impedes any of the developers from working to their anticipated Sprint
capacity32.

Some nice quotes about impediments are:

A good Scrum Master creates an environment where raising impediments can occur. A great
Scrum Master creates an environment where creativity can occur33.

A good Scrum Master will push for permission to remove impediments to team productivity.
A great Scrum Master will be prepared to ask for forgiveness.

Examples of Possible Impediments

Now that youve read the most common definitions of an impediment, you probably want some
tangible examples. Therefore, youll find some examples of possible impediments below:

Illness of team members

Unforeseen and undesired changes in team composition
Issues with the tooling of the Development Team
Scarcity of skills
Lots of technical debt
Problems with suppliers
Unavailability of the Product Owner
Undesired pressure from management
Conflict between team members
Lots of unimportant meetings the Development Team as to attend
Restrictions to the team environment
An indecisive Product Owner

31
Verheyen, Gunther. Scrum: A Pocket Guide
32
Goldstein, Ilan. Scrum Shortcuts without Cutting Corners: Agile Tactics, Tools & Tips
33
Watts, Geoff. Scrum Mastery: From Good to Great Servant Leadership

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The Scrum Master as an Impediment Remover
According to the Scrum Guide, one of the Scrum Master services to the Development Team is
removing impediments to the Development Teams progress. As a servant leader, the Scrum Master
guides the Development Team towards self-organization and cross-functionality. The Scrum Master
encourages, supports and enables the team to reach their full potential and abilities.

To achieve all this, the Scrum Master should make conscious decisions about removing impediments.
Questions to consider are:

Is it really an impediment or is it something the Development Team can resolve themselves?

Do we actually need to remove this impediment?
What is the real problem here?

Its important to realize that the given examples of possible impediments dont have to be
impediments. Something will only become an impediment when it exceeds the self-organizing
capabilities of the team.

Scarcity of skills might become an impediment, but trust the self-organizing character of the
Development Team to think of other options themselves. Maybe a team member is eager to learn the
desired skills and sees this as a great opportunity. Also, a conflict between team members doesnt
have to be an impediment. Let them have an intense discussion with each other. Its up to the Scrum
Master to lead the team through healthy conflict and debate. Eventually this will lead to an even
stronger team.

A Scrum Master should create an environment where the Development Team feels safe to raise
impediments. Respecting the self-organizing capabilities of the team, the Scrum Master should
encourage the team in trying to solve their own problems. Or even better, preventing something from
becoming an impediment at all.

Tactics For Removing Impediments

Removing impediments can be a challenge. Below Ive shared some tactics and ideas that a Scrum
Master can consider when facing impediments.

Dont wait until the Daily Scrum to raise an impediment! Sure, one of the suggested Daily
Scrum questions is, Do I see any impediment that prevents me or the Development Team
from meeting the Sprint Goal? but that doesnt mean the Development Team can only
discuss impediments during the Daily Scrum.

Use a Sprint Goal. A clear Sprint Goal is a useful instrument to determine if something is truly
an impediment. If something prevents the team from achieving the Sprint Goal, then its
definitely an impediment.

Understand the difference between blocks and impediments. A block affects only a single
task, whereas an impediment acts like a parachute, slowing down overall progress. Quite

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 often the Development Team can fix blocks themselves, whereas impediments need to be
fixed by the Scrum Master34.

Improve transparency by using an Impediment Board. This can be a simple flip-over where
the impediments are visualized. Add some swimming lanes such as To Do, In Progress, and
Done and the status is transparent for everyone. Of course you can also add the impediments
to the existing Scrum board. Visualizing the status and increasing the transparency hereby is
the most important.

Keep track of fixed impediments. This will provide great input for the Sprint Review and Sprint
Retrospective.

Understand the organization. A Scrum Master should understand the organizations culture.
He should understand how things get done in the organization. By choosing the right
approach, difficult impediments can be tackled easier.

Be brave and creative in removing impediments. Be prepared to ask for forgiveness

afterwards when you need to make bold decisions to ensure the Development Teams
productivity.

Collaborate with the Product Owner. Quite often, impediments will be related to product
management and collaboration with stakeholders and suppliers. The Product Owner is a key
player in this area. Therefore, ensure a healthy relationship with the Product Owner.

Stop spending time and effort on solving the wrong problem. With impediments, Scrum
Masters need to resist the desire to fix it, solve it or offer solutions. They should focus on the
real problem, not the first problem. Ask questions to understand the situation. Check if its
really an impediment or a learning opportunity for the Development Team.

Closing
By doing some research and thinking of my own, Ive created a brief description of the Scrum Master
as an Impediment Remover. Given the amount of available material, its clearly an important part of
the Scrum Masters role. My main lesson learned is to respect the self-organizing capabilities of the
Development Team. Considering every minor issue an impediment that needs to be resolved by the
Scrum Master doesnt help the Development Team grow as a whole. Its about continuously finding
the right balance between preventing or fighting a fire.

34
Goldstein, Ilan. Scrum Shortcuts without Cutting Corners: Agile Tactics, Tools & Tips

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8. The Scrum Master as a Change Agent
This chapter is about the Scrum Master as a Change Agent. Ill describe the most common definitions,
the characteristics of a Scrum-friendly culture, and the Scrum Master as a Change Agent.

What is a Change Agent?

Some good definitions about a change agent are:

A person who helps an organization transform itself by focusing on organizational

effectiveness, improvement and development35.

People who act as catalysts for change36.

Within the context of Scrum, Geoff Watts describes the role of the Scrum Master as a
change agent as: A good Scrum Master helps a Scrum Team survive in an organizations
culture. A great Scrum Master helps change the culture so Scrum Teams can thrive37.

Characteristics of a Scrum-Friendly Culture

The short answer to describe the characteristics of a Scrum-friendly culture is to refer to the Agile
Manifesto. Although I acknowledge these values and principles as valid characteristics, I also consider
a Scrum-friendly culture to be an environment that:

Values team success over individual success

Stimulates team members to hold themselves and others accountable

Promotes continuous improvement and experimentation

Appreciates everyone for their unique talents and skills

Values behavior over achievements

Puts the customer at the center of its operations

Considers the act of planning more useful than the actual plan

Supports stable team composition over a longer period to increase performance

Invites and inspires employees to get the most out of themselves

Thrives on self-discipline where trust and ownership is given to employees

Helps employees succeed by giving support, trust and guidance

Replaces temporary, comprehensive documentation with face-to-face communication

35
http://study.com/academy/lesson/change-agent-definition-role-quiz.html
36
http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/3615
37
Watts, Geoff. Scrum Mastery: From Good to Great Servant Leadership

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 Values products instead of projects

Delivers business value by small, co-located, cross-functional and self-organizing teams

The Scrum Master as a Change Agent

To enable a culture in which Scrum Teams can flourish, the Scrum Master should act as a change agent.
The Scrum Master helps create an environment that allows the spirit of Scrum to thrive. The Scrum
Guide defines this part of the Scrum Master role as serving the organization in:

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 organization38

Closing
As a change agent, the truly great Scrum Masters will become visible. These are Scrum Masters that
know how to shift the status quo and help create a more suitable environment. They know when to
be disruptive and when to be careful. They understand organizational changes can take a longer period
of time. However, their willingness to change acts as a catalysis to drive the organization forward. The
strength of Scrum is making bottlenecks and problems visible. Great Scrum Masters create support
within the organization to truly resolve these dysfunctions. Everything with the ultimate goal of
creating a culture in which Scrum Teams can thrive!

38
http://www.scrumguides.org

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