Introduction to Professional Scrum Master

Definition of a Scrum Master:

The Scrum Master more or less leads the Scrum team. He/she is responsible for the further development of the project. The Scrum Master ensures that the team follows the agile guidelines. He ensures that there is effective communication and proper coordination between the product owner, the team, the company, and the people. 

As a member of the Scrum team, he can assume one of three roles: the team, the product owner, or the scrum master. The role of the Scrum Master is to act as an intermediary between the team and the Product Owner. It is a job that has its roots in leadership.

The role of the Scrum Master is to manage the process. Scrum Masters are only responsible for managing the process. It is not your job to participate in decision-making or other activities. They use their experience and knowledge to guide the Scrum team through each phase of the project. Since this is a relatively new model, it is common for team members to be unaware of how the Scrum framework works. If no trained Scrum Master leads the team, the project will most likely fail. Therefore, the Scrum Master must have a good understanding of Scrum rules, values, theory, and practice.

The Roles and Responsibilities of a Scrum master

The responsibilities of a Scrum Master are unique to each Scrum company or team. They depend on the requirements of the company/team. Some of the general responsibilities are:

• Manage the Scrum implementation process in an organization 

• Ensure that the Product Owner and Scrum team members  are clear about the objective, domain, and scope of the project, 

• Outline plans for the Implementing Scrum in an Organization 

• Getting stakeholders, employees, and others to help them understand product development through Scrum 

• Include changes  to increase Scrum team productivity 

• Work with Scrum Masters to make Scrum effective within the organization 

• Help the team set up and use a physical task board 

• Make sure members have good team space and are aware of each other's work 

• Refer outsiders to the product owner

• Make sure members have good team space and are aware of each other's work 

• Train the Scrum team in test-driven development 

• Remove obstacles so  the Scrum team can focus on completing the project 

• Create an environment in the one that  the team encourages is more effective 

• Negotiating with team dynamics  

• Maintaining relationships between the Scrum team, the product owner, and other stakeholders.

The Scrum Master and the Scrum Team

A Scrum Master trains the Scrum team to achieve its critical self-organizing characteristics and key functionality. You guide the team in their efforts to deliver a high-quality end product. Your role is to lead the team when help is needed. As mentioned on the to-do list, they remove barriers that stand in the way of team progress. 

A roadblock is anything that hinders progress or slows down team productivity. Some common obstacles in companies are elaborate approval processes that take time to complete, lack of communication or slow response from other departments, lack of updated software or hardware, etc. The Scrum Master must actively seek to remove obstacles so that the team can have a clear way of delivering their product. Under the guidance of a capable Scrum Master, the team can focus on its goals without distraction. This allows them to get the job done as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The Scrum Master and The Organization

It is not just the Scrum Team, but the Scrum Master must also guide the organization in introducing the Scrum model. You must provide stakeholders and employees with an empirical environment in which to work. 

Has the responsibility to coordinate with other Scrum Masters to promote the Scrum model throughout the organization. Your guidance is critical to increasing the productivity of the Scrum team. Another important task of a Scrum Master is to continuously inform stakeholders about the current status of the project. This is done through the use of various Scrum tools such as burndown charts or even simple, uncomplicated communication.

Common Challenges Faced by a Scrum Master

Each role, large or small, presents a series of challenges. Although the Scrum Master's work seems simple and easy to write; he also has certain challenges. The main challenges for Scrum Masters are: 

Failure to adapt to new roles: The implementation of the Scrum model requires a change in the structure and hierarchy of the organization. While team managers may fear losing their authority over their teams, team members may not be able to improve and organize themselves. Adapting to new roles is a challenge for those in positions of power as well as for those working below them.

Lack of understanding of the process: The Scrum method fundamentally changes the way an organization works. Therefore, it often happens that stakeholders misunderstand the process or have only a partial understanding. Experts say that the Scrum team may initially encounter a lot of confusion in their daily implementation. Sometimes people think they know about Scrum, but they messed up the old methods without really understanding the new stages related to Scrum.

Resistance to change: any form of change initially encounters a certain amount of resistance. It can be passive or active. The solution to dealing with resistance is to clear up any misunderstandings related to the process and make sure everyone involved is familiar with the new terms and processes.