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. 

Scrum Master rotation

Stable teams - that is the guideline. Is Scrum Master part of the stable team? Can you rotate Scrum Masters from one team to another? Or can you rotate Scrum Master inside the team?

Interesting questions. Personally I believe teams need to have dedicated Scrum Masters and it is not a good idea to rotate Scrum Master inside the team so that team members in turns act as Scrum Master. If team is mature and don't actually even need dedicated Scrum Master - maybe. But for sure for teams which are struggling with daily practices - not a good option.

On the other hand I have met many Scrum Masters who don't even want to consider option to leave the team. Some of them are in their comfort zone. They have said to me something like

"I have finally got this team functioning well and I don't want to start from the beginning with some other team."

"I have so much fun with this team. I don't want to leave them."

The last is true with me also. I had so much fun with team SP that I almost broke my heart when I decided to leave them.  But I knew it was time move forward. I needed to find another team who I could coach and teach new tricks. Team SP had matured a lot and they were ready to have new Scrum Master with new ideas.

I actually believe that from time to time it is good to rotate Scrum Masters. Each and every Scrum Master is his/her own personality. All of us have read the same Scrum Guide but each and everyone of us have our own way to do things. Even if we do everything by the book we are still different. Some teams might feel irritated if their Scrum Master is switch. They might thing that their team is so well-functioning that they don't want anyone else to come and mess up their work.

But for sure something has to change. Otherwise the whole idea of rotating Scrum Masters is pointless. Even the most well-functioning teams could learn something new. And the most well-functioning teams can actually teach something to new Scrum Master as well. Rotating Scrum Masters is, in the best case, win-win situation for both teams and Scrum Masters.

Why do I take this up now? Well, our RTE (Release Train Engineer) announced this week that from the beginning of next PI (Program Increment) there is Scrum Master rotation for almost all teams. "Musical chairs" as one team don't get (note: I consider them to loser team) new Scrum Master. Even I feel I would have so much to work with team V I am also extremely excited to have possibility to start working with new team G and new Product Owner. Time to look back to Scrum Guide and consider What is a Scrum Master. Have a new start. Wau!