You’ve just spent $1200 to receive an Agile certification.  Congratulations.  You’re all set to be the Scrum Master or product owner for your first team, right?

For many, the answer is maybe.  Scrum is not just a process where you just follow the steps in order, and it magically works.  Scrum is a popular agile process that enables teams to produce and deliver high-quality, reliable outcomes.

Scrum and the Scrum Master role

Scrum is a way of working that emphasizes collaboration, feedback, and iteration. Scrum has been used by software development organizations for over 20 years and is now being adopted by other disciplines (marketing, accounting, support) and industries.

The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring that the scrum process is followed and that the team is completing tasks in a timely manner.  Yes, it is important to have a clear understanding of the process and how it works. This can be difficult, as there are many different interpretations of scrum.

Scrum is a process of managing projects that has been adopted by many software development organizations. The Scrum Master is a key part of the scrum process, and their role involves leading, facilitating, and enforcing the scrum process.

Scrum Masters are responsible for creating a cohesive team, managing communication, and enforcing the rules of scrum. To be successful in this role, you need to have strong communication and organizational skills. Additionally, you must be able to handle conflict and remain calm under pressure. Finally, you must be able to work well with others.

Scrum Masters have a responsibility to protect the team from disruptive members and help them reach their goal. disruptive members can cause a lot of disruption and hinder the team's productivity. To prevent disruptions from happening, Scrum Masters need to be aware of their role and how to handle disruptive members.

Scrum Master Learning Objectives

A Scrum Master's main objective is to help a team achieve their sprint goals. They do this by ensuring that the team has the right tools and processes in place, removing any roadblocks, and coaching the team members in agile and scrum concepts so that they can work effectively together.

There are a few key things that a Scrum Master should learn to be effective in this role.  At Agile Meridian, we have broken those learning objectives into two broad categories.

1. Technical Objectives
   1. Scrum Masters should understand the basics of Scrum, including the roles and responsibilities of all the team members.
   2. Scrum Masters should also be familiar with agile engineering practices, such as continuous integration and automated testing.
2. Career Skill Objectives
   1. Scrum Masters need to be able to effectively coach team members on how to work together collaboratively.
   2. Scrum Masters need to be able to identify and remove any roadblocks that may prevent the team from achieving their goals.

Technical Objectives are those that are often the first ones taken.  Scrum Masters want to become certified as a Scrum Master.  Product Owners want to get certified as a product owner.  These types of courses are easy to find but can be expensive.  What’s more they cover about 10-15% of what it takes to become a great Scrum Master. 

Career Skill Objectives, often referred to as soft skills, have been short-changed by learners since the dawn of time.  Yet, soft skills are difference between bad Scrum Masters and great Scrum Masters.  The Scrum Master job is not to create the process or force teams to follow the process, but to help teams embrace the Scrum framework as their own.  A team embracing the Scrum Framework becomes self-organizing and independent, requiring management support rather than management.

Suggested resources for your Scrum Journey

There are many resources available to learn about scrum. One great resource is the Scrum Guide, which is written and maintained by the creators of scrum. The guide can be found on the ScrumGuides.org  website and covers everything from the history of scrum to how to implement it in your organization.

The certification bodies are another good source of information.  Both Scrum.org and Scrum Alliance embrace the Scrum Guide and have a wealth of information about Scrum.

Another great resource is the Agile Meridian website.  We have a number of blog posts, short agile videos, and templates for you to explore.

Mike Cohn’s Mountain Goat Software website is another great site to check out.

Be careful as you search the internet for additional information.  There are a lot of “experts” who provide advice and opinions that might be suspect.

The Scrum Master Learning Path

As a Scrum Master, you are responsible for ensuring that the scrum team is following the scrum framework and meeting its sprint goals. While there is no one-size-fits-all learning path for becoming a successful Scrum Master, there are some key skills and knowledge that you should focus on acquiring.

One of the most important skills for a Scrum Master is the ability to effectively communicate with the product owner, team members, and stakeholders. In addition, a Scrum Master needs to be able to translate complex agile concepts into plain language that stakeholders can understand. 

As the chief impediment-buster, Scrum Masters must be able to effectively manage expectations and communicate any potential risks or roadblocks.

 Another key skill for a Scrum Master is problem solving.  As the team's agile expert, you will likely be called upon to help resolve issues that arise during a sprint.

We took the combined experiences of our four Agile Meridian coaches to create the Scrum Master Learning Path.  As you look at the Scrum Master Learning Path, the first thing you’ll notice is the number of courses that are not often talked about for the Scrum Master role.  Courses, such as Emotional Intelligence, Agile Facilitation, Difficult Conversations, Lean, Kaizen, design thinking, and Continuous Improvement are courses are included as part of the Learning Path.  The Scrum Master Learning Path we have defined provides a way forward for you as you progress through your career.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, Scrum Masters need a learning path because their role is constantly evolving. As the Scrum Master, you are responsible for ensuring that the team is productive and efficient. To do this, you need to be familiar with the latest tools and techniques. A learning path can help you stay up-to-date on the latest changes and best practices. Additionally, a learning path can help you develop your skills and become a better Scrum Master.