How you fulfill your days?

Most of my friends don't work in IT. Therefor it is some time difficult explain what I do as a Scrum Master. And when tell about my daily work some of them say "so you are kind of a project manager".  What can you say?

Usually we don't talk so much work when I am with friends. We all have so different jobs and free time is not for talking about job. 

But some time ago I met a new person and we started discuss what it is we do beside having dogs of same breed. And when I told that I am a Scrum Master she suddenly said "so am I". For a short moment I was happy: finally someone who knows what I do. But then she continued "What else do you do?"

"What do you mean? I am full time Scrum Master." She looked, honestly, surprised and told that she has double role and in her company there is no full time Scrum Masters. 

Of course, I reflected after that discussion what it is that makes it possible for me work full time Scrum Master. What are my days like? How do I fulfill my days? What is my daily agenda?

First of all, I am perhaps little bit over-organized. I like to-do lists, I keep notes, I write down things. I feel more confident when having my notes with me. I always have my note book and pen with me. I feel naked without them. I am almost like addicted.

When I start planning next PI (Program Increment), 

first thing I do is write down Iterations time line. 

That helps me in planning coming 12-14 weeks. 

If SAFe terminology is not familiar to you, visit Scaled Agile Framework home page. 

Before each meeting I check what we have in agenda, is there anything I need prepare or any other action I should take. All my meetings have clear agenda and goal. I ask people to read my invitations. I want them to be ready as well. Efficient meetings in planned timebox are another addiction of mine.

I follow our team progress in JIRA by using different dashboards. At the same time I love and hate metrics. I am always careful what do I show to the teams. Not all metrics are our friends and almost everything can be misused or misread. So I don't spend so much time daily basis with metrics but I am on the top of them. From time to time I evaluate whether I should change something and try out different ways to show data. Data is our friend when used correctly.

I follow what is going on and if needed, I intervene. I participate meetings team members have and try to get on the top of the discussions and issues we face. I want people outside the team get to know me so that they more willingly contact me. 

I talk and chat with team members. I am currently in team where all team members are distributed in five different countries. Even without Covid-19 I wouldn't see them during work days. I try to be available for their questions. I have bi-weekly 15 minute one-on-one discussions with all team members. I build trust, I share, I care. 

I discuss or char with my Scrum Master colleagues. I currently have three Scrum Master colleagues and even I do not daily basis discuss with all of them I am in contact at least with one of them daily. That is even more important in this set-up when it is not possible to meet face-to-face. I am always available if they have anything to ask or discuss. I always reach them if I have something. I believe sharing is caring and this way we can support each other and learn while doing that. 

I have daily focus topics in my calendar. If there is any free time - like there is slot or two in normal days - I focus on one specific topic. There are different topics. For example days when we have Backlog Refinement meetings I focus on refinement. I might look for ideas how to split stories. There is always something to learn and things to try out with team. Extremely important for me as Scrum Master put focus both on my own development and team's improvement. 

I want team to have fun. People do matter and I want them to enjoy their work days. I spend some time to figure out something fun to do with them. Not daily, but quite often. It is not a big job to find out some funny pictures, funny stories to share or similar. Using music in meetings and showing videos. Little bit more challenging in remote context but achievable. I just need to be more creative than when team is colocated.

For me being Scrum Master means that I do not do anything team members themselves can do. My job is mostly invisible for them and also for others around the team. And I honestly believe that is how it should be. I am suppose to be the non-visible person behind the team. 

Do we need Scrum Masters?

I trained Scrum Master course with 2 colleagues. In the course we had people who worked as Scrum Masters, wannabe Scrum Masters, and people who were there because their managers told them to participate. 

In the very beginning of the course one trainee asked a question. "Do we need Scrum Masters? I have been in teams where we have been having different Scrum Masters over the time and sometimes we have been without Scrum Master as no replacement yet found. I haven't seen any difference in teams deliveries whether we had Scrum Master or not. So why do we need Scrum Masters? Isn't that kind of redundant role in this organization?"

I can only guess what our wannabe Scrum Masters were thinking when someone is saying out loud that this role is not needed in our organization. Maybe they saw scissors which will cut the role of. Maybe they thought that this question was absurd. Maybe someone thought person asking that question is here because her manager forced. 

None of trainees already having this role said anything. Maybe their just wanted to hear what we trainers reply. 

This wasn't first time I saw this kind of thinking. 

There was a need to cut off people in one organization and Scrum Masters were as a group suggested as they don't deliver any value like developers do. In that case managers who had this attitude were asked have they considered what will happen if there is no one guiding the team, and making sure collaboration between teams happens. Who support Product Owners? Are ýou sure teams can deliver more without Scrum Masters? In the end no Scrum Masters were kicked out. 

Another case from different point of view was a Scrum Master who said she doesn't understand the noise we have about finding right people to be Scrum Masters. And why we say persons taking the role should used at least 50 % of  her working time for Scrum Master work. I asked why she thought so. "Because I don't use so much time. It is 15 minute Daily every morning and then Review, Retrospective and Planning every third week. I might spend some time planning the Retrospective but otherwise I don't have to spend any more time than what is needed to facilitate these meetings." 

Even after taking Scrum Master course she didn't change her view for the role. Luckily she didn't have to continue for long time until we found better fitting person for the team to be a Scrum Master.
Definitely she was clever and hard working lady but she wasn't a fit for the role. 

Getting back to the question. Me and my co-trainer said that we will get back to her concern throughout the course and we hope that she and others in training learn why we see Scrum Master to be important in Agile teams. Teams for sure can survive without the Scrum Master but if the job is well done it is beneficial and teams deliver more value but also this role can be done so that it doesn't make any difference. So, in the end, it is Scrum Master herself who makes it valuable. It is up to you do you make the difference or not.  

One reason for me to be happy Scrum Master is to be able to make the difference, help the team to make the difference. In the end, it is not about me, it is about the team. 

People do matter

Long time without blog posts. Covid-19 gave me more free time but I did use it to do something else than writing this blog. I have gathering long list of topics and promised to myself now start again this blog. So I consider this blog had a extra long Covid-19 break and now it is time to go live again. 

One thing which has been on mind is the simple truth that people do matter. In these days we should ask from our colleagues and friends "are you safe", "is your family safe", "how are you". Small questions which can make the big difference. It shows that you care. 

For me people do matter. I like to consider myself as people person. I also have been told to be a people person. I believe that is the biggest reason why I enjoy being Scrum Master. I always have a team which I can serve. People who I can support. People who I work with. People around me, working with me, having fun with me. 

Maybe I am little bit naive when believing Agile is anthropocentric framework. Agile manifesto states "we value individuals and interactions over processes and tools". It is people who who respond to business needs and drive the development process. I have too many times witnessed how focus have been put on processes and tools and people are considered resources. It should be the other way around. We should have focus on individuals and even processes and tools are important I consider them being resources we need to do our job. 

Source: Van Haren Publishing

There are 12 principles behind these values. People, individuals are also mentioned in these principles. One of them is specifically about motivated individuals.  

Build projects around motivated individuals.

Give them the environment and support they need,

and trust them to get the job done.

Motivated people, motivated teams are more likely to deliver their best. We need to support, trust and motivate our people. People have deserved that. I trust my team members to give their ultimate best.  For me the most important thing is that people in my team feel appreciated. I love to give feedback for work well done. I am not afraid to have difficult discussions with my team member. I also believe that people have deserved to have possibility to improve if something isn't going so well. I do understand that we all have better days and bad days. Our contribution may vary from day to day. We are humans, we are not resources. 

I have myself learned during these years that fear is not good motivator. No one get motivation from public humiliation. Unfortunately I have seen during my career so many managers who think they can do what ever they like - just because they are managers. I had a manager long time ago who had "Friday Afternoon coffee" with his team and he always announced who has done the biggest mistake during that week. Really! Friday afternoon - just before people start their weekend. It was so odd. 

Likewise I have had managers who have shouted and even made people cry. What does that kind of behavior tell about the manager? Can't help myself thinking Peter Principle - a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their “level of incompetence”: an employee is promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another.

Source: https://www.lanredahunsi.com/the-peter-principle/