All About Scrum and Agile: Is Scrum Master Training Worth It?

All About Scrum and Agile: Is Scrum Master Training Worth It?: Many people who are appointed to the post of scrum master may not be completely confident about their skills and abi...

Is Scrum Master Training Worth It?

Many people who are appointed to the post of scrum master may not be completely confident about their skills and ability to do justice to the responsibilities. This is especially true for those that have been promoted to the position recently. 

While a new scrum master may contemplate joining a scrum training program, most shun the idea under the mistaken assumption that the training will not be appropriate at their level of experience.

Fact is that scrum training is not just for scrum novices but for experienced professionals as well. There are several specialized scrum training services that hold sessions for those aspiring to or already holding the position of scrum master. 

Education and learning truly never stop. If you think you have learnt all that there is to know, you have probably created the biggest hurdle in your path to success.

Information Resource: Accelright.com

All About Scrum and Agile: Should the Scrum Master be Permanent in his Positi...

All About Scrum and Agile: Should the Scrum Master be Permanent in his Positi...: It is often a major concern of a scrum team that who shall be appointed to the position of the scrum master,  and w...

Should the Scrum Master be Permanent in his Position?

It is often a major concern of a scrum team that who shall be appointed to the position of the scrum master, and whether his post shall be permanent or rotated periodically. Mostly it is advised that the position of the master should not be rotated for several reasons. 

The first is that periodic change in leadership leads to an inconsistency in the output and productivity of the Development Team. Also, when the master is changed, the dynamics of the Development team and its specialization also changes. 

A permanent scrum master brings stability to the entire system. In certain scenarios, however, rotation of the job may be helpful, especially if the aim is to create learning opportunities to ensure that all team members are adept at doing the job. Sometimes, teams appoint different people for the job for different projects depending upon the expertise of their team members. 

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Making The Team Click: Key Aspects Of A Scrum Master's Job

More often than not, the team members in scrum have to learn to work together. It usually doesn't take the master long to realize that making all the team members gel together is easier said than done.  In fact, the toughest part of managing a group is to have them work smoothly without any hiccups. Here's how experienced scrum masters get the job done:

The scrum master must be wary of workplace rivalries in the team.  

He/she must also make strategic decisions that help the whole team understand the aspirations, and goals of the CEO (the creator of the project).  In addition to all this he must be able to instill a sense of excitement among the team members. 

The person who takes up the position of the scrum master must have the perfect know how.  The scrum team may have as many as 7 employees, but the team leader should know their capabilities and skills inside out.  This means the leader must press the right buttons to make the team tick. For this reason, the scrum leader must study the people he is working with to know their individual strengths and weaknesses.

A little haggling, cajoling, commending, pushing and even overruling are the actions that enable the scrum master to see a satisfactory end of a scrum or task. This means, since each member of the team may react differently to situations, the leader must take the strategy that appears to be most useful. 

Some situations demand a little pushing, while others only need words of commendation and encouragement.  The scrum master must be a great manager who can make the team gel together.  A lot of camaraderie must exist within the team as a happy heart makes the workers cooperative and helpful.

The scrum master, therefore, is responsible for creating a friendly and productive work atmosphere, where the whole team is thorough, focused and eager to achieve great results.  Such a teams are receptive to new ideas, instructions and information.  

A Scrum Master’s Dilemma

Amongst all the responsibilities that a scrum master has, the most crucial would probably be his advisory role in the planning meeting (which is meant to guide the Development Team in the right direction). Often, when the switch to scrum has been recent and abrupt, even the scrum master may have his doubts about the best methods to get the team to click.


The greatest dilemma here is the approach to tackling a production project. One way is that the Development Team be divided into smaller groups with each being responsible or a particular incremental portion. The sprints herein are longer and possibly fewer in number. 


The other way is that the entire team should invest itself in making a particular incremental portion for each sprint. Naturally, each sprint shall be longer here and the total number much greater. The choice between these options should be made after considering the size of the team and its composition in terms of expertise and specialization. 

All About Scrum and Agile: Scrum Master Dealing with Overseas Operations

All About Scrum and Agile: Scrum Master Dealing with Overseas Operations: Often one of the greatest challenges to a Scrum Master is carrying our scrum operations with overseas teams. This i...

Scrum Master Dealing with Overseas Operations

Often one of the greatest challenges to a scrum master is carrying our scrum operations with overseas teams. This is especially true for large companies and MNC’s whose production teams may be in countries other than their head office.

The first most important thing is that all people in the overseas unit should be trained in scrum, so that the system can be easily adopted minimizing the incidence of teething problems.

In a lot of instances overseas scrum teams do not follow time boxed sprints, which is something the scrum master must ensure. Similarly, what is very important for this agile strategy to work, with the scrum master being physically absent from the scenario, is unlimited, uninterrupted high bandwidth internet connection.

Also, the initial Development Team should comprise of some motivated developers who may be able to take the planning and implementation forward even without the inputs of a master.