The business and IT world is abuzz with the widespread adoption of Agile methodology for the delivery of IT projects.
Did you know…
63% of respondents agreed that the Scrum Master role is critical to the success of their organisation’s agile transformation. Additionally, the same survey found that organisations with a dedicated Scrum Master reported significantly higher levels of agile maturity and success.
Source: Scrum.org
A Scrum Master’s core responsibility is to facilitate the Agile approach within the team, ensuring that Agile practices are closely followed at every stage of development. Their primary duties include:
- Facilitating meetings: The Scrum Master is responsible for conducting the daily scrum meetings, sprint planning, backlog grooming, sprint review and sprint retrospective meetings to ensure that the team stays on track and the Agile methodology is being followed.
- Removing roadblocks: The Scrum Master should identify and remove any impediments that are derailing the project’s progress. They are an advocate for the team, ensuring that their needs are heard and addressed and their concerns are communicated to the product owners if necessary.
- Coaching and mentoring: The Scrum Master is a coach and mentor to the team. They help the team members understand Agile principles and practices and how they can be applied to their daily work. They should also facilitate a culture of continuous improvement within the team.
- Monitoring progress: The Scrum Master should monitor the team’s progress and provide regular updates to stakeholders. They should ensure that the team adheres to the sprint goals and timelines and take corrective action if necessary.
- Promoting collaboration: The Scrum Master should promote collaboration and communication within the team, ensuring that team members work together effectively and efficiently.
At a major federal government agency in Australia, I contributed to completing three complex Agile IT projects over three years. Throughout this period, I collaborated extensively with two Scrum Masters to help mature the Agile practices within their Scrum teams. Based on my observations, the most critical duty of a Scrum Master is to mentor the team while improving processes, communication and collaboration continuously.
In summary, the Scrum master role is critical to successfully delivering a project under an Agile methodology. The Scrum Master facilitates meetings, removes impediments, and protects the team from distractions or interruptions. Based on my experiences working across 15 Scrum teams, a pivotal role of the Scrum Master is to facilitate continuous improvement of agile practices within the team.
This is the second in a series of nine blogs on Agile methodology. In my next blog, I will look at the importance of backlog prioritisation in successfully delivering agile projects.
About the Author
Kirtan Jamnadas is a management consultant with over seven years of experience successfully delivering complex IT projects at four large federal government agencies in Australia.
Kirtan is passionate about initiating and driving projects forward while ensuring that all stakeholders are engaged and on board with the project’s goals.
With his employer’s support, Kirtan established the company’s project management practice – this included developing all the frameworks, tools and templates to ensure projects are set up for success.
My mission is to provide current and aspiring project managers with simple and practical tools to help streamline operations, optimise performance and achieve project success.
