Important Things To Keep In Mind For The Novice Scrum Master
With the growing popularity of scrum in the corporate sector, it is important that novice scrum masters become familiar with all aspects of the concept. Generally when organizations take up application development, a change to Scrum can be abruptly implemented and the former positions may have to be reworked within the same framework.
At such time three main designations are given most preference: The Product Owner, Development Team and the Scrum master. The master is basically a premier figure in an organization that makes sure that the Scrum process is pursued in the most productive manner. However, this doesn't mean that all the important decisions in the firm are taken by him/her. The master's prime responsibility is to ensure a healthy work front so that the scrum strategy can be implemented rightly.
Hence, he/she oversees and schedules all the meetings and works to remove all barriers that can impede the work process.
Challenges That The Rookie Master Should Be Aware Of
Sometimes it so happens that despite all efforts, the scrum master is not able to remove impediments from the path of his scrum team, thereby leading to a lull in productivity and the success of sprints. In such a scenario, despite daily stand-up meetings and regular reviews, the scrum master is unable to ensure smooth working for the Development Team.
The reason for this maybe that the scrum master is not well-organized in his working; he may not have an impediment backlog or any fixed procedure for keeping track of and dealing with problems. It may also be that the scrum master is unable to understand the exact nature of the problems, possibly due to lack of experience and exposure. In such a scenario the scrum master should consider enrolling into an advanced scrum course, so that he/she is fully prepared to take on the associated challenges.
Strategies and Advice For The Newbie Scrum Master
The scrum strategy is based upon the principle of a self-organized work force. However, sometimes this concept of self-organization is not easy to emulate. After all, every team has a particular person or a couple who like to dominate.
This happens when the cross-functional team has some members who are more experienced and qualified than others, and therefore take charge in making all decisions. It then becomes the duty of the scrum master to help the team self-organize such that the decisions are made unanimously.
To be able to ensure this, the scrum master can advise the dominant members individually about how they should conduct themselves. If this doesn't work, they can be assigned to scrum training so they truly understand how the system works and what their duties are. The bottom line is that the scrum master needs to take action if the development team is unable to self-organize.
About the Author
For more information about scrum and agile adoption, scrum master certification/agile methodology courses, on site training and scrum master resources please visit: http://www.accelright.com/
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