Why do we need a Scrum Master?

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The Scrum Master

| A Scrum Master is responsible for making sure that the team (including the Product Owner) follow the principles and processes of Scrum.

| Learn more about the role of the Scrum Master and if and why we need them?

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How does the scrum process work?

| A scrum team is made up of developers and testers, a Product Owner and a Scrum Master

| The Product Owner prioritizes a list of items (stories)

| The team will work on (a backlog)

| The sprint starts with the team committing to a set amount of work they can complete within the timeframe (sprint planning)

| The team will then work on the items that they have committed to, with the aim of completing everything by the end of the sprint

| Throughout the sprint, features will be developed and demonstrated to the Product Owner and relevant stakeholders

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Sprint Completion

| There is usually a bit of back and forth until a Product Owner deems an item is finished (done) and can potentially be shipped

| The sprint will then conclude with a meeting where the team reviews how well (or not well) the last sprint went (retrospective)

| And how they improve for the next sprint

| Then the team are straight back in to planning and the next sprint starts

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The Scrum Process

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So what is a Scrum Master?

| It’s more than just an over-inflated job title

| A Scrum Master is best described as a facilitator

| A Scrum Master is responsible for making sure that the team (including the Product Owner) follow the principles and processes of Scrum

| They strive to make the process as efficient as possible

| By getting as many features to done as possible (with no defects of course!)

| However, Scrum Masters are not managers, they are ‘servant leaders’

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A Scrum Master’s job is never done

| There’s always something that can be improved

| As an example from one of our customers, giffgaff:

| When a new code was released the ‘Community team’ wrote the release notes

| This meant that sometimes they’d misinterpret what they would deliver or couldn’t answer questions that arose from the members

| To improve this, two Scrum Masters started writing the release notes and answering questions

| This has the added bonus of receiving rapid feedback for new features

| And also to quickly find out if there’s a bug or something needs improving

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But if a team is performing well then why do we need a Scrum Master at all?

| Let’s take the coach analogy

| If you have an all-star team, people might argue that a coach isn’t needed

| However, as seen time and time again, without someone gently guiding a team, they can lose their way and performance decreases

| Sometimes very little guidance is needed but taking away the coach can have a detrimental effect, especially when the pressure is on

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Scrum = Sport

| Sports coaches, like Scrum Master’s, will obverse a team

| And then thinks of ways that the team could improve

| When something goes wrong, like the star playing being ill, the coach or Scrum Master will encourage the team to see if they can solve or work around the issue themselves

| If the problem cannot be solved by the team, then the Scrum Master will take it upon themselves to resolve.

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So there you have it

| A Scrum Master is a facilitator

| Responsible for making sure that the team follows the principles and processes of Scrum

| Striving to make the process as efficient as possible

| By getting as many features to done as possible

| The Scrum Master is the link in the chain that keeps everything in place

| Assuring that sprints run smooth and targets are met

| Hence the Scrum Master is indispensable in the overall process

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