Fire Your

Scrum Master Why, When & How?

(And Not Because Of What You Think Firing Means!)

Tathagat Varma http://thoughtleadership.in

Caveat

•This Is Meant To Be An Exploratory Talk

•Because Possibilities Are More Valuable In The Long Run…

Scrum Guide, 2016TheScrumTeamconsistsofaProductOwner,theDevelopmentTeam,andaScrumMaster.ScrumTeamsareself-organizingandcross-func?onal.Self-organizingteamschoosehowbesttoaccomplishtheirwork,ratherthanbeingdirectedbyothersoutsidetheteam.Cross-func?onalteamshaveallcompetenciesneededtoaccomplishtheworkwithoutdependingonothersnotpartoftheteam.TheteammodelinScrumisdesignedtoop?mizeflexibility,crea?vity,andproduc?vity.

ScrumTeamsdeliverproductsitera?velyandincrementally,maximizingopportuni?esforfeedback.Incrementaldeliveriesof“Done”productensureapoten?allyusefulversionofworkingproductisalwaysavailable.

So What Does A Scrum Team

Deliver?

“Working Software”

Scrum Guide, 2016TheScrumMasterisresponsibleforensuringScrumisunderstoodandenacted.ScrumMastersdothisbyensuringthattheScrumTeamadherestoScrumtheory,prac:ces,andrules.

TheScrumMasterisaservant-leaderfortheScrumTeam.TheScrumMasterhelpsthoseoutsidetheScrumTeamunderstandwhichoftheirinterac:onswiththeScrumTeamarehelpfulandwhicharen’t.TheScrumMasterhelpseveryonechangetheseinterac:onstomaximizethevaluecreatedbytheScrumTeam.

And What Does A

Scrum Master Deliver?

“Self-Organizing

Team”

So, Once The Team Is Capable

Of Self-Organizing, What Should The Scrum

Master Do?

“Get Fired!”

Not Your Grandpa’s Style Of Firing…

Firing because You Have Done

Your Job Well!

Scrum Master Is A Role, Right?

But What’s Happening

Instead?

Creating Scrummaster

Jobs!

Sample This…

Types of Scrummaster Jobs On LinkedIn…

Confused Type

Engineer Type

Manager Type

Career Type

Confused Type

Engineer Type

Manager Type

Career Type

So, The Goal Is…

Self-Organization.

Right? (So, How Does A Team Self-Organize When

There Is Always a Scrum Master???)

Let’s Consider One

Possible Way…

Stage 1: Team Comes Together

F

C

E

G

A

B

D

• Identify the key goals. Perform SWOT, etc.

• Agree on what does the team need the Scrum master to do!

• Every team is different, and so must the Scrum Master be!

Stage 2: Team elects Its Scrum Master!

F

E

G

A

B

D

Candidate VotesA 0B 1C 4D 2E 0F 0G 0

CC

Stage 3: Scrum Master As Expert And Coach

F

C

E

G A

B

D

• Training in Scrum

• Directing / coaching the team on the process, as needed

• Removing impediments

Stage 4: Scrummaster as Facilitator

F

C

E

G A

B

D

• Encourage team members to take lead and directly work with each other

• Gradually, remove himself / herself from the loop

Stage 5: The Whole Team Is A “Scrum Master”!

F

E

G A

B

D

• When the team has learnt to self-organise, take a back seat

• The real test is when the team continues its normal functioning by itself!

CC

Self-OrganizationSelf-organization, also called spontaneous order (in the social sciences), is a process where some form of overall order arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system.

The process is spontaneous, not needing control by any external agent. It is often triggered by random fluctuations, amplified by positive feedback. The resulting organization is wholly decentralized, distributed over all the components of the system. As such, the organization is typically robust and able to survive or self-repair substantial perturbation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-organization

On Paper, A Team Might

Never Be 100% Self-Organising,

But By Not Letting Go, They

May Never…

In Fact, The Only Real Way To

Know Might Be To “Inspect And

Adapt”…

Recap• As Teams Mature, The Role of Scrum

Master Would Expectedly Reduce

• An Ideal Scenario Is When The Team “Fires” Its Scrum Master

• The “Fired” Scrum Master Goes Back To His/Her Chosen Team Role

• When The Team Encounters Significant New Challenges, It Might Elect A New Scrum Master

References• https://www.quora.com/Agile-Software-Development-Is-

it-possible-to-run-scrum-without-a-scrum-master-If-yes-in-what-scenarios

• https://www.scrum.org/Forums/aft/570

• https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/99381/is-a-scrum-master-needed-on-a-high-performing-team

• http://alistair.cockburn.us/Shu+Ha+Ri

• https://www.leadingagile.com/2015/10/a-day-without-a-scrummaster/

• https://ikbenagile.nl/goodbye-scrum-master/