Tales from a Scrum Master; Ernst Jakob - Trivadis TechEvent 2019

1. news.trivadis.com/blog@trivadis
Tales from a Scrum Master
Possible interpersonal problems in a Scrum-Team and how to approach them
By Aschi (Ernst)

3. Indiana Jones
and the Western Wall
Tale #1:

4. Person-centered approach (by Carl Rogers)
• Be congruent with your teammate
(Be yourself, open and honest)
• Provide unconditional positive regard
(So your opponent can open up)
• Be empathetic with you mate’s problems
(But don’t fake it)

5. Pirates
of the Communication
Tale #2:

6. The Four-Sides model of Schulz von Thun

7. Game of personal positions
Tale #3:

8. Conflict-Management: The Harvard-Concept
The concept distinguishes 2 ways of interacting:
• Negotiation over a position
• Negotiation over a cause itself

9. Conflict-Management: The Harvard-Concept
1.) Separate the people from the problem
2.) Focus on interests, not on positions
3.) Develop options for mutual gain (win-win)
4.) Insist on objective criteria

10. Dirty Sprinting
Tale #4:

11. Motivation should come from the inside!
• The job must make sense. The job must make
sense. The job must make sense.
• Goals and expectations should be defined
together (Sprint-Planning!)
• Create confidence through transparency

13. Harry Potter
and the Elephant in the room
Tale #5:

14. How to address Elephant-issues
• Identify the elephant (is there really one?)
• Make it safe to talk about the elephant (so
Teammates are not afraid to get stomped)
• Now talk about the elephant

15. How to address issues in a Scrum-team
• Bring it up in a retrospective, if it concerns the
whole team
• If you’re not the Scrum-Master, tell him/her
to bring it up (if that helps)
• Keep track of it and review the issue

16. Conclusions
• Also Scrum-Teams are just teams
• There are tools & methods to help you with
interpersonal problems within a team
• Sometimes, a ScrumMaster is also an Social
Worker