What Does a Scrum Master Do Outside of the Scrum Team Bubble? with Alba Uribe and Hal Hogue

Agile Coaches' Corner

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by two colleagues, Alba Uribe and Hal Hogue. In this episode, they are discussing what a Scrum Master does outside of the Scrum Team bubble. They dive deep into the roles of a Scrum Master as a teacher, coach, facilitator, and also as an impediment remover. Listen to this thoughtful conversation and find meaningful examples and valuable and applicable suggestions to live the Agile principles and promote their right implementation throughout your organization.

Key Takeaways

• What does a Scrum Master do outside of the Scrum Team bubble?

  • A Scrum Master is an impediment remover. Hal shares an example of a Team that was just exhausted from the number of meetings they meant to attend.

  • The Scrum Master can help with external Teams that are dependent on services or any kind of other development. Teams can cooperate with each other. If there is dependency among Teams, what can be done to remove them? When dependencies are removed or minimized, Teams can be in control of their own destinies.

• A Scrum Master teaches, coaches, and facilitates.

  • A Scrum Master must look for opportunities to teach and coach while having conversations with the people in the organization to find those teachable moments.

  • A Scrum Master must teach the Agile concepts at all levels as well as coach and mentor constantly. A Scrum Master has to show people the benefits of following Agile Principles and tell them how they can experience those benefits.

  • A Scrum Master must help employees and stakeholders understand and enact an empirical approach to complex work.

  • A Scrum Master can also support innovation and creativity.

  • Scrum Masters can work with other Scrum Masters in the organization and other coaches to make sure there is an alignment among them and also be aware of what each other is doing.

• What can you do as a Scrum Master to find other people who are participating in the Scrum Journey with you? How can they be engaged?

  • Get out there, communicate and bounce ideas with others. Build that culture and get those allies together.

  • A Scrum Master can enable conversations with other departments.

  • A Scrum Master should be the management ally.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, by Simon Sinek

The Zombie Scrum Survival Guide, by Christiaan Verwijs, Johannes Schartau, and Barry Overeem

Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition, by Lyssa Adkins

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