On Scrum Master as Watcher
In an Agile organization the Scrum Master role requires not just a solid understanding of the Scrum framework, and also a strong understanding of Agile and DevOps principles, as well as a hit of project management know-how. The Scrum Master as a coach leverages their knowledge and experience to help the team know how to leverage these principles to drive improvements in delivery.
So how does the Scrum Master know when the team needs help leveraging these principles to drive improvements? To do any of this well requires the Scrum Master to really watch what is going on with the team. Here’s a few suggestions, tied back to key points from the Scrum Guide.
Removal of Impediments
From the Scrum Guide:
The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team in several ways, including … Causing the removal of impediments to the Scrum Team’s progress.
The team will identify certain obstacles that are delaying or stopping their delivery. The team will raise these obvious impediments and may resolve themselves or seek support. When the Scrum Master watches and listens closely they can identify, and help the team to identify, many more unnoticed or inconspicuous impediments that are slowing or blocking the team.
Flow Impediments
Some obstacles are not obvious to the team or Scrum Master. The Scrum Master may sense that the work isn’t flowing well, or that the team’s Cycle Time seems high.
The Scrum Master can leverage various Retrospective exercises such as “Story of a Story” or “Anchors and Engines” to help identify any repeated obstacles, common challenges, or other opportunities to improve the overall flow. Exercises like these help the team to focus on the step-by-step delivery of work and discuss what is contributing to efforts and complications along the way which can then be challenged rather than accepted as normal.
Untracked Work
Team members may mention activities not related to something on the team board or backlog. This is where listening skills are important as it can be a simple passing comment in daily huddles. Or it may seem like a team member is being pulled into something else but not talking about it in huddles. Transparency is a key pillar of Scrum and a core value of SAFe. Untracked work is unplanned work, any unplanned work is taking away from team capacity, and may not be on the right priority, and can erode trust which is a key driver for valuing transparency. This work could be triggered from many sources, including other teams, the Product Owner, and any number of other leaders in the organization.
The Scrum Master can work with the team to define or refine team working agreements for handling this type of unplanned work once it is identified. In addition, the Scrum Master can coach the source of the work on the value of transparency, the refined team working agreements, and the importance of ensuring work comes to the team through the Product Owner and the team backlog.
Past and Related Experiences
From the Scrum Guide:
The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team in several ways, including… Helping the Scrum Team focus on creating high-value increments that meet the Definition of Done.
There are many ways to support the team with this goal. The observant Scrum Master can help the team draw connections between current work and something similar in past sprints. This can be as simple as recognizing key words or terms, running searches on past backlog items, and asking simple questions to help the team recall that past work.
The Scrum Master can also help to bridge the gap with other teams by connecting with other Scrum Masters in Scrum of Scrum, or helping to connect Product Owners during Product Owner Sync or ART Sync. These events provide a prime opportunity for Scrum Masters and Product Owners to encourage collaboration and share learnings across teams.
Making connections like these can help the team to understand the size and complexity of the work, possibly help them get ahead of any potential challenges or obstacles, and consider enablers they want to bring into an upcoming sprint. These opportunities help the team simplify the work and create more value during the sprint.
Additional Reading
Scrum Guide - Scrum Master | SAFe Scrum Master | SAFe Program Increment | Barry Overeem on Scrum Master as Facilitator | Gerardo Padilla on Coaching Experiences: The Power of Observation as Scrum Master