The ScrumMaster is not part of the development team. He does not fulfill the role Team.
- Whom shall he protect the dev team or the PO? Both. So, he needs to be independent.
- He is more than a team member. He takes all responsibility.
- People would start to see him as the technical leader.
- He would influence the way people find solutions.
- He has too much work, than he could do both jobs. What is more important, the commitment or removing impediments?
- He works on a different level. He needs to have time to think about issues before they arise.
- When decisions need to be made in the Daily Scrum, the ScrumMasters responsibility is to make a decision immediately. [1]
- The ScrumMaster works with the customer and management to identify and institute a Product Owner. [1]
- He needs to be neutral to the PO. So he needs to help him.
- He is not responsible for the delivery of the team.
[1] Ken Schwaber, Agile Software Development with Scrum, p. 32
I would caution that the book was published in 2001, and thus Ken and Mike wrote those words up to a year earlier, and we have learned a lot about Scrum and Agile in that time. I would suggest that rather than focusing on what individual roles should and should not be doing, we instead look to create communities around products and systems where everyone sees and contributes to the common goal.
I saw this in action while working with Industrial Logic a few years back, and have seen its power – there is no antagonistic “pigs & chickens”, but rather everyone’s opinion is valued.
That said, I do believe that there are still some organizations whose dysfunction requires very specific rules in order to improve. My observation is that the number of those types of organizations is diminishing, and those that can embrace the community concept is increasing.
Dave Rooney
The Agile Consortium
Though I agree with the sentiment I can’t say I agree with the reasoning.
Below are my initial thoughts around the reasons, though I may not be right (I’ll be amazed if I am). Some of the reasons I agree with, some I don’t understand and some I disagree with; so looking at each in turn:
1. Whom shall he protect the dev team or the PO? Both. So, he needs to be independent.
Who, or what, is the ScrumMaster protecting these people from? They act mainly as a custodian of the process, helping both the Team and Product Owner stayed focussed during the Sprint. In my experience I’ve only had to protect Teams and Product Owners in 2 situations: when Sprints or Retrospectives have gone wrong; and when executives have tried to impose command and control style management on the Team as a whole, including the Product Owner.
2. He is more than a team member. He takes all responsibility.
No, the ScrumMaster doesn’t take all the responsibility. To help move things along they should take on the blame if things fail, but the responsibility stays with the Team and Product Owner. If the Team are not responsible for their actions then what incentive do they have to improve?
3. People would start to see him as the technical leader.
Why? A ScrumMaster isn’t necessarily the most technical member of the Team, so why should they look to him as a lead? If a ScrumMaster is helping to build an environment where everyone’s opinion counts then no one person should stand out as a particular lead. Obviously there are those with more experience, but a new developer is just as likely to think of an innovative solution (some would say more likely).
If the ScrumMaster isn’t building this sort of environment, then what are they doing?
4. He would influence the way people find solutions.
Again, why?
5. He has too much work, than he could do both jobs. What is more important, the commitment or removing impediments?
Neither commitment nor removing impediments should take priority over the other; they are functions of 2 different roles.
In a new team I’d expect a ScrumMaster’s job to entail a lot more work, and in this situation they probably can’t do 2 jobs. However, as a team matures the effort required for the ScrumMaster’s role will reduce and they become free to take up extra work.
6. He works on a different level. He needs to have time to think about issues before they arise.
Can’t this be factored in during the Sprint Planning? Also, if you have the Velocity from earlier Sprints this will a good sign of what the Team can realistically commit to and will already have factored in any time the ScrumMaster has lost to their duties.
7. When decisions need to be made in the Daily Scrum, the ScrumMasters responsibility is to make a decision immediately. [1]
I’d add that the ScrumMaster should only take this action if the Team are not coming to decisions themselves.
Of course, who am I to argue with Ken Schwaber.
8. The ScrumMaster works with the customer and management to identify and institute a Product Owner. [1]
Absolutely.
9. He needs to be neutral to the PO. So he needs to help him.
What do you mean by neutral? The ScrumMaster should support both the Team and Product Owner in the decision processes, this requires more realism than impartiality though.
10. He is not responsible for the delivery of the team.
This is in direct conflict with your second point, though I do agree with it.
John McFadyen
ScrumMaster Is Not Part of the Team | 10 Reasons « John McFadyen // Dec 3, 2009 at 19:09
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