Scrum Mastery

by Geoff Watts

A ScrumMaster is much more of an enabler than a doer. ScrumMasters are there, first and foremost, to help people do what they need to do. Great ScrumMasters have a strong paternalistic streak—they enjoy helping their teams and the organisations they operate in develop and fulfil their potential. Enablers take great pleasure in watching a team who were once accustomed to being told what to do and how to do it, start to take ownership of their work and deliver exceptional results into the bargain. It’s also great to see customers take advantage of the opportunities available to them in Scrum and build extremely successful products very quickly. It’s even satisfying to facilitate a meeting in a way that fosters creativity, collaboration and commitment where previously there was tedium, tension and tacit disbelief. TheFreeDictionary.com [12] describes the verb enable as: 1. to supply with the means, knowledge, or opportunity; make able. 2. to make feasible or possible TIP: Try “battle mapping” [13] to map out both the formal and informal structures of your organisation, interactions, power relationships and spheres of influence. TIP: Find out what the team’s biggest frustrations are in their work. Choose one that you could reduce or remove to increase their effectiveness.