Who is a Scrum Master ?

As I have previously written, there are a few key roles that are important in the Scrum team. These roles include the Product owner, the Scrum master and the Development Team members.

But who is the scrum master ?

The Scrum Master is anyone who supports the project team to ensure that they abide by the Scrum principles. They are experts in the Scrum framework and they can train other people in its principles, processes and practices.

A Scrum Master helps the project team to understand both the organizational and technical dependencies while avoiding potential bottlenecks. They support the team’s accountability and helps the teams to meet the project deadlines.

There are some soft skills that all effective scrum masters should have and they include the following :

  1. Influential: A Scrum Master is responsible for facilitating the project team so that they can achieve specific milestones and deliverables. The Scrum Master has to have strong leadership and organizational skills to inspire the scrum team so that their potential would be maximized.
  2. Collaborative: The Scrum Master acts as the link between the product owner and project team. The product owner had to be able to effectively communicate the requirements to the scrum master to ensure the project’s team success.
  3. Observant: Scrum Masters should be good listeners and pay close attention to the difficulties that the project team might encounter during the project. They should also pay close attention to the team dynamics to understand the project team members’ roles and contributions.
  4. Knowledgeable: the Scrum Master should be experienced enough to proactively identify and prevent problems. They should be knowledgeable about the product, processes and principles.

Some of the responsibilities of the Scrum Master include the following :

  1. Removing barriers to the project teams success.
  2. Setting up an environment where the team can work effectively.
  3. Limiting external interruptions and distractions.
  4. Building a good relationship with the team.
  5. Ensuring that the team has a good relationship with the product owner.
  6. Helping the team to reach an agreement on what is achievable in a sprint.
  7. Removing obstacles that are impeding the team’s progress.

The scrum master role is commonly held by business analysts and their main responsibility is to help the team develop and work effectively.