The job of the Scrum Master is critical to the success of any organization using Scrum. Let’s review some highlights and key takeaways from our “Introduction to the Scrum Master Profession” Course.

The Scrum Team

The Scrum Master works closely with a product owner and the development team. Key roles include:

• Product Owner: The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value resulting from the increments or work resulting from each Sprint. They act as the voice of the customer, develop product goals, develop initial User Stories, create and manage the Product Backlog, and ensure the backlog is transparent, visible, and understood.

• Scrum Master: Scrum Masters are Servant Leaders. They serve the team and the larger organization. They ensure everyone understands the Scrum process, apply servant leadership principles by eliminating blockers, shield the team from external distractions, and act as a motivational force.

• Development Team: Developers are committed to creating useable increments during each Sprint. They self-organize, complete the Sprint Backlog, adhere to the definition of “done,” adapt efforts to achieve the sprint goal, and hold each other accountable as professionals.

Scrum Master Skills and Competencies

A Scrum Master requires a number of skills and competencies to be successful. Here is a brief review.

• Coach the team to be self-managed and adept at cross-functional collaboration.

• Facilitate key events or Scrum “ceremonies” to include Sprint Planning, the Daily Scrum Meeting, Sprint reviews, and Sprint Retrospectives. Ensure these events occur on time and maximize participation.

• Serve the Product Owner and team by ensuring all User Stories in the Product Backlog are clear and concise, assist in backlog “refinement,” and support stakeholder collaboration as required.

• Lead, train, and coach the organization on Scrum adoption.

• Understand and advocate “Empirical Process Control.” By this, we mean promote transparency, ensure inspections occur as required, and work with the team to adapt to change.

The Scrum Process

The Scrum Master is also a process manager. They work closely with all stakeholders to ensure the Scrum process is understood and adhered to.

• Sprint Planning—User Story Selection: User Stories are the primary means of identifying requirements. Initial User Stories submitted by the Product Owner identify each requirement by role, need, and value. The Scrum Master ensures acceptance criteria is well-defined and understood before User Stories are placed and prioritized in the Product Backlog. The Scrum Master facilitates a meeting with the team and Product Owner to select User Stories the team believes they can complete in a Sprint.

• Sprint Planning —Sprint Backlog Development: The Scrum Master ensures the team self-organizes and completes a Sprint Backlog. The Sprint Backlog breaks each User Story into tasks. The team self-manages and determines who will lead the completion of each task.

• The Sprint: The Scrum Master coaches the team, manages conflict, and facilitates the Daily Scrum Meeting. They ensure the Kanban board is updated, Burndown Charts are accurate, support the team if blockers are present, and ensure everyone stays on track to accomplish Increments as “done.”

• The Review: The Scrum Master sets up the meeting, ensures the team is ready to present, coaches the Product Owner to lead the review, and gathers customer feedback on all increments produced. The Scrum Master assists the Product Owner in backlog refinement as necessary.

• The Retrospective: The Scrum Master facilitates an end-of-Sprint Retrospective where the team shares what went well, what can improve, and votes to implement one positive change in the next Sprint.