Three questions about the Scrum Master

An interview with Michael Küsters about the Scrum Master

Michael Kuesters is a proven expert in organisational change with more than 15 years of experience in supporting corporate transformations such as the introduction, optimisation or restoration of Scrum, SAFe, LeSS, Lean, Six Sigma, Kanban – and more recently also the TOP structure, an organisational framework for developing flexible, resilient, future-oriented, high-performance organisations.

As a coach, consultant and trainer for developers, teams, managers and executives, he is exactly the right person to answer the following three questions about the Scrum Master:

Is Scrum Master an entry-level role?

Michael Kuesters: No.

For some years now, I have seen more and more job offers for “Junior Scrum Master”. In the meantime, even “Scrum Master (internship)” are being offered – but this development is fatal. Because without a certain amount of experience, you can’t fulfil the role.

I often read: “How can you become a Scrum Master if it’s not for career starters?” My flippant response to this is: “How do you become a head physician if it’s not for career starters?” At first glance, that sounds outrageous, but it gets to the heart of the matter. Because both have a lot in common. Both are not primarily involved in operations themselves, but are responsible for ensuring that everything runs smoothly and successfully.

They have to make sure that everything runs smoothly. That nothing important is overlooked. That no mistakes are made when the place is on fire. Or if mistakes are made, that there is no chain reaction. That problems that are beyond the expertise of the rest of the workforce are solved quickly and effectively. And, of course, to promote the experts as coaches and mentors. For this to work, they need a strategic overview and an understanding of what is going well, what is not – and where things are developing. Effective communication. And plenty of experience. Can we expect all of this from newcomers? Hardly.

Even if Scrum Masters don’t do a lot of this on their own, the formal expectation is that they support experts, specialists and managers in word and deed in order to be effective, optimise, simplify and solve problems. The least they need to bring to the table is an understanding of how things work, what success factors, common problems and useful solutions might be.

And that’s just the inside view – in the outside view, a Scrum Master needs to work effectively with stakeholders such as customers and management. In practice, this in turn often requires an understanding of process management, project management, product management, quality management, management systems, the usual business and leadership challenges – and depending on the situation, a basic understanding of labour law and economic contexts is also a definite advantage.

I’m only just scratching the surface with all these points – but it does show how much responsibility a Scrum Master has and how many skills are required that you simply don’t have without professional experience.

So how can you become a Scrum Master? Quite simply: gain experience in less responsible positions, prove yourself, broaden your horizons and grow continuously. Earn the respect of colleagues, superiors and teams – then you are ready to become a Scrum Master.

I am aware that I am setting the bar very high here. In practice, there is hardly anyone who has all these competences and then also wants to have a role in the team. That’s why you always have to make compromises somewhere. But every compromise has its price. And the more of them we make, the less effective a Scrum Master will be. But if we leave everything out – then, to put it bluntly, we could also use a houseplant as a Scrum Master. And that would do more for less money.

Do Scrum Masters need technical expertise?

Michael Kuesters: A resounding yes and no.

Once again, Scrum Masters are responsible for the effectiveness of their team. If a team is technically highly competent, a Scrum Master will focus on other areas – team organisation, collaboration with other teams, interaction with management and optimisation of value creation, for example. In this case, no technical skills are required.

Scrum Masters are not technical experts themselves, but they must be able to recognise problems in the implementation and show the team a solution.

In practice, many teams are nowhere near as technically mature as one would wish. The code quality leaves a lot to be desired, test automation is a perennial problem and much more. Why is that? There is a lack of understanding of technical practices such as continuous integration, refactoring or test-driven design. First and foremost, such teams have the problem: “How do I know what I don’t know?” If the team recognises that there is a technical fire somewhere, it is enough for a Scrum Master to work this out precisely with the team and ensure that they receive competent technical coaching and the necessary time to improve.

However, it becomes difficult if neither the team members nor their Scrum Master understand their technical situation and expertise. Then the team runs full steam ahead into the wall – and that can be really unpleasant. For the company, which in the worst case becomes unable to act in the long term and loses millions in any case. Which in turn can mean job losses for the developers in smaller companies. And in the middle of it all, a Scrum Master who is responsible for all of this – but completely clueless. Very unpleasant.

I have had both good and bad experiences with Scrum Masters who have worked in technical roles for years. I would particularly like to emphasise test experts who are used to questioning everything, uncovering problems and, if necessary, taking on management.

How does a Scrum Master’s career progress?

Michael Kuesters: As we have already discussed that Scrum Masters need to have a lot of experience if they really want to be successful, they also need a perspective on how they can develop and where the journey will take them in the long term.

This is very difficult, especially when we realise where many Scrum Masters come from: If a team or project manager became a Scrum Master as part of an agile transition, a career path with the prospect of eventual team or project management tends to have a demotivating effect. However, many companies do this. Good Scrum Masters then see this as proof that the role is a dead-end career path.

I do not share this opinion. Effective Scrum Masters know no boundaries. They interact with all stakeholders in their teams. With management. With customers. And with other areas of the company. They solve urgent problems, improve operational processes, build a network, achieve significant savings and increase gross profit. The more effective they are at this, the easier it is for them to take on any role in the organisation that suits them. Therefore, they do not need a specific career path.

Conversely, however, Scrum Masters can only really grow if they are constantly pushing the boundaries of their knowledge and competences. As a result, many job offers fall through the cracks that no competent Scrum Master should even consider. I am referring to Scrum Master roles that require little experience and also offer little opportunity for development.

This quickly becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: if a company advertises poor Scrum Master roles, there are probably no good Scrum Masters there as role models. And therefore hardly any Scrum worthy of the name. Those who work there as Scrum Masters will achieve little and hardly develop further. This gives the impression that the role is of little value. As a result, it is reduced further and further until at some point it is even suitable for interns.

Which brings us back to the very beginning.

Notes:

Fail Fast, Move On – this is the name of Michael Kuesters’ blog, in which he regularly writes about agility, agile transformation and leadership. Very worth reading.

If you want to develop your company into a high-performance, adaptable powerhouse with seamless communication and collaboration, then it’s worth taking a look at the TOP structure.

Connect with Michael Kuesters on LinkedIn.

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