The document discusses how to gain experience as a Scrum Master without being one. It recommends both formal training such as certification courses and literature, as well informal training like using Kanban boards, public speaking, facilitating retrospectives, talking to stakeholders, and taking detailed notes in meetings. The key is to gain experience facilitating processes, communicating, and removing blockers through informal means before becoming a certified Scrum Master.

1. How to get
experience as a
Scrum Master
without being a
Scrum Master
Katrina L. Coker (She/Her)
“The Scrum Mother”
thescrummother@gmail.com
Instagram and TikTok: @TheScrumMother
LinkedIn: katrinalcoker-thescrummother
THANK YOU!

2. Who am I?

3. Agenda
• My Agile Journey
• Life as a Scrum Master
• Getting Experience as a Scrum Master
• Formal Training
• Informal Training
• When you might NOT want to be a Scrum Master
• Q&A
*Will NOT be going through Agile/Scrum 101 nor non- SM roles, though
questions about these are welcome!*
OBJECTIVE: To walk away with at least ONE thing you can
change or work on tonight to get experience as a Scrum
Master…without being a Scrum Master

4. My Agile
Journey

5. My Agile Journey
• Engagement Analyst – Remote – March 2016 - February
2018
Certified Scrum Master - April 2016
Certified Scrum Product Owner – March 2017
Product Owner/Scrum Master – Tysons/McLean, VA– May 2018 - April 2019
Scrum Master II – April 2019 – February 2021
Senior Scrum Master – Remote – March 2021-?

6. “The following information is
my experience and not
necessarily industry standard
nor the opinions of the
companies that I worked for.”
Disclaimer

7. Life as a
Scrum Master

8. Operations Compassion
VALUE
Scrum Master = SME, Coach, and Master Problem-Solver,
“The Get S*** Done, People-People”

9. What makes a good scrum master?
Operations
• Facilitate
• Coordinate
• Follow-up and follow-through
• Metrics
• Identify and Remove
Impediments/Blockers
Compassion
• Team-oriented
• Personable
• Servant Leadership
• CARE
• Mediate
• Listen/ Seek to Understand
9

10. “So…How do I
get experience
as Scrum
Master without
being a Scrum
Master?”

11. Training
Informal Training
Formal Training
11

12. FORMAL TRAINING

13. Courses
• CSM
• Find any and all agile/scrum professional
organizations
• LitheSpeed – code MEETUP for $50 off
early bird CSM/ACSM courses in
September and October for today’s
attendees!
• Free and Paid
• LinkedIn Learning/ Udemy/Coursera
• TikTok/YouTube
• Webinar ACSM Skills:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
A21oaAvAq1g
Formal Training

14. Literature
• Scrum Guide 2020
• Agile Manifesto
• Scrum.org - recommended reading
• Agile Blogs/Podcasts
• LitheSpeed
• LeadingAgile
• Hyperdrive
• DrunkenPM
Formal Training

15. INFORMAL TRAINING

16. Kanban
• To Do, Doing, Done
• Can customize the columns – I have: To Do,
This Week, Doing, Blocked, Done,
Cancelled/Won’t Do
• Physical Board – paper and post-it notes
• Virtual – Trello, Android Reminders/To do,
Notes, etc
• KEY TAKEAWAY:
• Be the example
• Start organizing your own work before helping a
team organize theirs.
Informal Training

17. Public Speaking
• Presentations
• Facilitation
• Facebook/Instagram/TikTok Live
• KEY TAKEAWAY:
• We talk to people ALL DAY
• We are, essentially, professional Emcees
Informal Training

18. Retrospectives
• Personal – How is my life going? –
• SWOT Analysis
• Vision Boards
• New Years Resolutions
• Professional –
• Interviews – What about my skills are you most excited
about? What would you like to see me improve?
• Current Career – What is going well? What are areas of
improvement? Action Items/Next steps?
• Team – Any day, any team or family
• How do you think that meeting went?
• What do you love? What are current challenges on the
team?
• KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Get comfortable with giving and receiving feedback
• Get comfortable with conflict
• Check-Ins
• Continuous Feedback, Continuous Improvement
• NOTE: I have done retrospectives on our team
retrospectives… and all team ceremonie
Informal Training

19. Talk to Stakeholders
• Get comfortable talking to people at all
levels of an organization
• Meet strangers
• Elevator speech
• If talking to persons from levels “above
your pay grade” makes you uncomfortable,
seek out a mentor at that level
• KEY TAKEAWAY:
• Job titles do matter, and Scrum Masters need to
be comfortable with all of them.
• Stakeholders/Users/Buyers are people, too.
Informal Training

20. TAKE NOTES
• Meeting Minutes – Be THE note taker
• Be the first to show up and the last to leave
• Repeat back what you heard
• Ask questions to clarify
• Make sure everyone is on the same page
• KEY TAKEAWAY
• In order for a Scrum Master to identify and/or
remove blockers and impediments, we need to
be “In the room where it happens.”
• We have to, truly, read between the lines, track
patterns, follow up on promises
Informal Training

21. “You might be better fit in other roles if…”

22. KEY TAKEAWAY:
If you…
- Prefer being an individual contributor,
- HATE meetings or working with people in general
- Only want to develop and build good products
- Or just lukewarm about life
…you will HATE being a Scrum Master… or not be a good one

23. Resources Mentioned
• Agile Manifesto - https://agilemanifesto.org/
• Scrum.org
• https://www.scrum.org/resources/suggested-reading-professional-scrum-master
• https://www.scrum.org/pathway/scrum-master
• Scrum Guide 2020 - https://www.scrum.org/resources/scrum-guide
• LitheSpeed
• $50 OFF CSM/ACSM Training in September and October – Code: MEETUP - https://lithespeed.com/agile-and-scrum-training/
• https://lithespeed.com/which-advanced-scrummaster-class-is-right-for-me/
• https://lithespeed.com/the-big-list-of-retrospective-tools/
• Agile Alliance - https://www.agilealliance.org/
• Scrum Alliance - https://www.scrumalliance.org/
• Meetups – https://www.meetup.com – Search for “scrum and agile meetups [INSERT city, state]
• Toastmasters - https://www.toastmasters.org/
• Webinar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A21oaAvAq1g
• OTHER
• LeadingAgile - https://www.leadingagile.com/ - Check out their blog, podcast, and upcoming conference - elevateagile.com
• Hyperdrive - https://hyperdriveagile.com/ - Check out their blog, podcast, and multi-city conferences - https://agilecamp.org/
• DrunkenPM - https://drunkenpm.blogspot.com/
• Improving – Improving.com

24. Thank You!
Katrina L. Coker (She/Her)
thescrummother@gmail.com
LinkedIn: katrinalcoker-thescrummother
Instragram and TikTok: @TheScrumMother