49 min
Thirteen Things a Great Scrum Master shouldn’t ignore Dare Real Agile Podcast
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- Entrepreneurship
Thirteen Things a Great Scrum Master shouldn’t ignore that have a huge impact on team empiricism and agility:
But first! What is Scrum?
Is it just for SWD?
Could it be scaled to the entire Business?
Who’s the Scrum Master?
1. Having no strategy
Scrum is not the strategy. You need a strategy to help a team slowly adopt Scrum. If you don’t have one, get one.
2. Super long Stand-ups or Daily
While daily stand-ups are essential, they can become time-consuming and counterproductive if not managed well. Keep them short, focused, and actionable.
3. Avoiding talking about impediments
Impediments make your role indispensable. You got to embrace the discomfort that comes with dealing with impediments. Ignoring this responsibility can slow down the team and impact the sprint goal.
4. Letting the team skip writing acceptance criteria
No acceptance criteria mean no way to tell if the user story is “done.” Such user stories can become an endless reservoir for stakeholder demands.
5. Underestimating facilitation
Facilitation is not just about leading meetings. It's about ensuring effective communication, resolving conflicts, and guiding the team toward a common goal.
6. Skipping retrospectives
Shocking but true. A lot of Scrum Masters are ok with letting the team skip retros. Skipping them can lead to repeated mistakes and missed opportunities for improvement which is what SM role is all about.
7. Vague Backlog items
Ambiguous backlog items lead to confusion and wasted effort. As a SM, you must ensure that each item is well-defined, prioritized, and understood by the team.
8. Leaving Metrics to the team
As a SM, you should be comfortable dealing with simple, agile metrics like velocity, burn-down charts, and cycle time. These metrics can provide valuable insights into team performance and process efficiency.
9. Overlooking Sprint Reviews
Sprint reviews are not just a box-ticking exercise. It’s an “idea” generation machine. Make sure the team gets at least 3 action items at the end of each Sprint Review.
10. Too little planning
Agility doesn’t mean you should not plan. It means don’t plan ahead of your headlights. Create a balance between planning and doing.
11. One size fits all process
Scrum is great but doesn’t always work. Each team is unique, and what works for one may not work for another. Be flexible and adapt your approach based on the team's needs and dynamics.
12. Not repeating yourself
As a SM, you may need to communicate key objectives in different ways to help the team realize the value behind a particular practice. Don’t be shy. Repeat, repeat and repeat again.
13. Becoming the bitch of the BO or PO
Want to Watch this Episode in Video?
🟢 Watch on Rumble Uncut Full Show - Subscribe 👉🏽https://rumble.com/c/DareRealAgile
🔴 Watch on YouTube - Subscribe 👉🏽 https://www.youtube.com/@AgileLounge
Buy my Guests and me a Coffee to Support our Effort: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/darerealagile
To all innovative and High potential Minds out there. Love 🧡
Intro Music and Sounds mix created by: El Muñecon / The Lounge King. More goodness from him at https://www.loungekingradio.com
Dare Real Agile™ a Podcast for Business Agility by Agile Lounge®
Part of the Next Level Agility & Open Leadership Movement ©2020-2024
We DARE Because We CARE!
Thirteen Things a Great Scrum Master shouldn’t ignore that have a huge impact on team empiricism and agility:
But first! What is Scrum?
Is it just for SWD?
Could it be scaled to the entire Business?
Who’s the Scrum Master?
1. Having no strategy
Scrum is not the strategy. You need a strategy to help a team slowly adopt Scrum. If you don’t have one, get one.
2. Super long Stand-ups or Daily
While daily stand-ups are essential, they can become time-consuming and counterproductive if not managed well. Keep them short, focused, and actionable.
3. Avoiding talking about impediments
Impediments make your role indispensable. You got to embrace the discomfort that comes with dealing with impediments. Ignoring this responsibility can slow down the team and impact the sprint goal.
4. Letting the team skip writing acceptance criteria
No acceptance criteria mean no way to tell if the user story is “done.” Such user stories can become an endless reservoir for stakeholder demands.
5. Underestimating facilitation
Facilitation is not just about leading meetings. It's about ensuring effective communication, resolving conflicts, and guiding the team toward a common goal.
6. Skipping retrospectives
Shocking but true. A lot of Scrum Masters are ok with letting the team skip retros. Skipping them can lead to repeated mistakes and missed opportunities for improvement which is what SM role is all about.
7. Vague Backlog items
Ambiguous backlog items lead to confusion and wasted effort. As a SM, you must ensure that each item is well-defined, prioritized, and understood by the team.
8. Leaving Metrics to the team
As a SM, you should be comfortable dealing with simple, agile metrics like velocity, burn-down charts, and cycle time. These metrics can provide valuable insights into team performance and process efficiency.
9. Overlooking Sprint Reviews
Sprint reviews are not just a box-ticking exercise. It’s an “idea” generation machine. Make sure the team gets at least 3 action items at the end of each Sprint Review.
10. Too little planning
Agility doesn’t mean you should not plan. It means don’t plan ahead of your headlights. Create a balance between planning and doing.
11. One size fits all process
Scrum is great but doesn’t always work. Each team is unique, and what works for one may not work for another. Be flexible and adapt your approach based on the team's needs and dynamics.
12. Not repeating yourself
As a SM, you may need to communicate key objectives in different ways to help the team realize the value behind a particular practice. Don’t be shy. Repeat, repeat and repeat again.
13. Becoming the bitch of the BO or PO
Want to Watch this Episode in Video?
🟢 Watch on Rumble Uncut Full Show - Subscribe 👉🏽https://rumble.com/c/DareRealAgile
🔴 Watch on YouTube - Subscribe 👉🏽 https://www.youtube.com/@AgileLounge
Buy my Guests and me a Coffee to Support our Effort: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/darerealagile
To all innovative and High potential Minds out there. Love 🧡
Intro Music and Sounds mix created by: El Muñecon / The Lounge King. More goodness from him at https://www.loungekingradio.com
Dare Real Agile™ a Podcast for Business Agility by Agile Lounge®
Part of the Next Level Agility & Open Leadership Movement ©2020-2024
We DARE Because We CARE!
49 min