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Is Scrum Master a Full-time Role?
- 1. Is Scrum Master a Full-time Role? Robert A. Schaff Agile Hartford, April 3, 2018 rob.schaff@gmail.com
- 3. Frameworks • Scrum • SAFe • LeSS Patterns • Scrum Master / Product Owner • Scrum Master / Dev Team • Scrum Master / Scrum Master Experts • Geoff Watts • Mike Cohn Objective: 3 Explore the question, “Is Scrum Master is a full-time role?” by examining: Provide recommendations
- 4. My Journey Scrum Master Agile Coach Delivery Lead 4
- 5. Frameworks What guidance is provided by industry standards? Scrum ~ SAFe ~ LeSS 5
- 6. The Scrum Guide The Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the Scrum Team. Everyone focuses on the work of the Sprint and the goals of the Scrum Team. Source: The Scrum Guide, ©2017 Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland 6
- 7. SAFe: Scaled Agile Framework Can be part-time or full-time role, depending on size of team, the context, … However, at Enterprise scale, it can be a challenge to sell the need for a full-time Scrum Master for each team SAFe assumes, in general: Scrum Master is a part-time role Source: http://www.scaledagileframework.com/scrum-master/ Copyright © 2010-2017 Scaled Agile, Inc. 7
- 8. LeSS: Large Scale Scrum Scrum Master is a dedicated, full-time role in the same way that being a team member is a dedicated, full-time role. Having said that, it is possible for one full-time Scrum Master to fill the role for up to three teams, depending on any number of factors. Source: https://less.works/less/framework/scrummaster.html/ Copyright © 2014 ~ 2018 The LeSS Company B.V. All Rights Reserved 8
- 10. 10 Role Advantages Disadvantages Product Owner • Save money • Conflict of interest Team Member • Familiarity with team and scope • Leverage expertise • Adds risk to the development and the process • Hard to be an equal team member Scrum Master • Focus on SM set • See the bigger picture • New teams require more attention • Two places at the same time Scrum Master and…
- 11. Experts What do leading voices in the agile community say? 11
- 12. Geoff Watts “Many organizations try to use part-time Scrum Masters. This has the dual benefit of saving money and keeping their most talented employees in their existing roles. What it also does, however, is prevent these from true success with Scrum, which costs them money and squanders potential in the long run.” 12Source: Scrum Mastery; Geoff Watts, © Inspect & Adapt Ltd 2013
- 13. Mike Cohn “I’ll be very clear on the issue: Of course, absolutely, positively, no doubt about it – a team is better off with a full-time Scrum Master. But, a team is also better off with a full-time, 100% dedicated barista… I am sure a team would be more productive if they didn’t have to pour their own coffee. Is a team more productive when it has a full-time ScrumMaster? Absolutely. Source: https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/scrummaster-full-time-or-not; April 21, 2015 13 Is it always economically justified? No.”
- 14. My Recommendations New teams: Full-time Scrum Master One full-time Scrum Master supporting two teams 14 Experienced teams: Scrum Master Team 1 Team 2 Scrum Master Team
- 15. 15 “A good Scrum Master can handle two teams at once; a great Scrum Master can handle one” Mark Noneman
Editor's Notes
- Explain why
- Explain SAFe
- In LeSS, the Scrum Master role is vital. We’ve seen many organizations try part-time Scrum Masters, which usually leads to no Scrum Masters at all.
- “Most people find it hard to believe that this role will take up their whole day, five days a week. They believe that, because the team is self-organizing and the product owner is more involved, all the Scrum Master needs to do is run the meetings.”
- I’ve been in some debates recently about whether the ScrumMaster should be full time. Many of the debates have been frustrating because they devolved into whether a team was better off with a full-time ScrumMaster or not. I’ll be very clear on the issue: Of course, absolutely, positively, no doubt about it a team is better off with a full-time ScrumMaster. But, a team is also better off with a full-time, 100 percent dedicated barista. Yes, that’s right: Your team would be more productive, quality would be higher, and you’d have more satisfied customers, if you had a full-time barista on your team. What would a full-time barista do? Most of the time, the barista would probably just sit there waiting for someone to need coffee. But whenever someone was thirsty or under-caffeinated, the barista could spring into action. The barista could probably track metrics to predict what time of day team members were most likely to want drinks, and have their drinks prepared for them in advance. Is all this economically justified? I doubt it. But I am 100 percent sure a team would be more productive if they didn’t have to pour their own coffee. Is a team more productive when it has a fulltime ScrumMaster? Absolutely. Is it always economically justified? No. What I found baffling while debating this issue was that teams who could not justify a full-time ScrumMaster were not really being left a viable Scrum option. Those taking the “100 percent or nothing” approach were saying that if you don’t have a dedicated ScrumMaster, don’t do Scrum. That’s wrong. A dedicated ScrumMaster is great, but it is not economically justifiable in all cases. When it’s not, that should not rule out the use of Scrum. And a note: I am not saying that one of the duties of the ScrumMaster is to fetch coffee for the team. It’s just an exaggeration of a role that would make any team more productive. … A dedicated ScrumMaster is great, but it is not economically justifiable in all cases. When it’s not, that should not rule out the use of Scrum.
- Explain New and Experienced Flip this slide around – recommendations then conditions