Despite the increasing criticism of Agile and especially Scrum, most businesses (58%) still employ Scrum for their delivery processes. So irrespective of whether we are doing it right or wrong, or the fault lies within the framework itself, or the Agile Manifesto way of working may not be relevant any longer, when it comes to the job market, there is still a great demand for Scrum and Scrum Masters, to help organizations and teams adopt Scrum. That’s why there is a great demand from professionals to understand how to become a Scrum Master.
This article lays down the roadmap for professionals, whether starting their careers or already having some experience, to become Scrum Masters in 2023.
Table of Contents
Introduction To Scrum & The Scrum Master Role
We have written in detail what Scrum is; hence, we will not go into repeating it in this article. For a quick reference, though, here is a brief definition;
Scrum is a lightweight framework founded on the principles of Empiricism, allowing businesses to deliver value to their customers and users effectively. The Scrum framework also facilitates organizations to be agile.
Scrum Master is a crucial role in Scrum that guides the teams on the path of Scrum. The Scrum Master needs many soft skills, interpersonal skills, and a thorough understanding of the Scrum framework. We will elaborate few of them later in the article.
The Foundation For The Transition To Scrum Master Role
For any Scrum Master, the Scrum Guide is the foundational resource. You must have complete clarity on the definition of Scrum and the various principles governing it. The Scrum Guide is concise; just reading it will not be sufficient. You will need to interpret it correctly and understand the nuances and implications.
In addition, a thorough understanding of Empiricism and how it guides Scrum needs to be understood.
Understanding these two aspects is the first step towards becoming a Scrum Master.
Do You Need Experience To Be A Scrum Master?
In general, instances where a Scrum Master without any professional experience is hired, are rare. The role requires a practical understanding of team building and management, managing conflicts, guiding the team towards self-management, and helping the team on the path to agility. While the potential may exist, real-life experience is required to ensure that the skills get translated into actual outcomes.
Hence, if you are a fresh candidate, you must think of creative ways to justify the hiring and demonstrate that you can be an effective Scrum Master.
Your college or external projects can be one way to get Scrum experience. While doing the projects, you can try to implement the Scrum practices and look at adapting an agile way of working with your team.
You can also do the same while working as an intern. Whenever possible, volunteer to either act as a Scrum Master or help an existing Scrum Master perform the role.
You might also want to start your career in another discipline and shadow, assist, or act as a Scrum Master while performing your core activities. Many people shift to the role after starting their career in other disciplines like development. They start as a Project Manager, as part of the development team, as a business analyst, or as part of the QA team.
Remember, Scrum Master is accountable first. While it is usual to have it as a designation, you certainly don’t need to wait to be designated to act as one.
Is Certification Necessary To Be A Scrum Master?
Many organizations use certifications as requirements to fulfill the job opening. This strategy is used as an elimination technique to reduce the number of profiles the hiring managers have to evaluate. So certification might be a useful tool to land job interviews.
They may also be helpful as a way to understand Scrum and demonstrate that you are willing to invest your efforts and money in learning. The Certified Scrum Master (CSM) from Scrum Alliance and Professional Scrum Master (PSM) from Scrum.org are the two most popular certifications. There are many others, including PMI’s Agile Certified Professional (ACP) and Disciplined Agile certifications (DASM and DASSM), if you want to pursue them. Even if you already know the frameworks in detail, taking a certification exam may give you a chance to refresh your knowledge in a focused manner.
However, certifications are in no way a testimonial of your capabilities. They will not get you more salaries by default. You will still need to demonstrate your skills and influence the outcomes to shape your career journey.
What Skills Will Help On The Journey To Become A Scrum Master?
There are five key skills that you must possess to make a great Scrum Master.
Knowledge of Agile Values & Principles & Scrum
You must be clear about what it means to be agile and how Scrum can facilitate agility. Understanding other Agile Frameworks like Extreme Programming (XP) may also be valuable. Understanding the context and thought process behind what is laid out in these artifacts and all other aspects related to the Scrum Process is critical.
Apart from the responsibilities of a Scrum Master, you will also need to pick up skills of other roles, especially that of Product Owner. As a Scrum Master, you will need to help the PO maintain and prioritize the Product Backlog in a way that increases the value of the work done by the Development Team.
Ability To Apply Agile Way Of Working In Real-Life Scenarios
Just knowing the concepts will not be enough. The conceptual understanding will help you adopt the practices and techniques required to carry out day-to-day work. Such skills include planning techniques (e.g., Planning Poker), backlog refinement, and prioritization techniques.
Team Building Skills
Being a Scrum Master is about helping a team succeed. You will need to understand how a great team is formed and your role in shaping it. While there are models and frameworks to guide you, team building is a skill that needs practice. There are no right or wrong ways to go about it, but you will need to figure out what works for each team member and how to bring all different personalities, skills, competencies, and capabilities together to form a real team. You will need to guide them through all the phases of team building to build effective Agile Teams.
Influencing, Coaching, and Mentoring Skills
Since team building is the most critical yet challenging responsibility of a Scrum Master, these skills are crucial for a great Scrum Master to have. Scrum Masters may not have any formal power over the Scrum team. Instead, Scrum uses the term “Servant Leadership” to provide a model for the kind of leadership expected from a Scrum Master (Also see the Forms of Power for leaders). But beyond that, Scrum Master is also a change agent; without these skills, it may be difficult to bring about change.
Conflict Management
Finally, there will be conflicts. Conflicts, as long as they are managed healthily and productively, may lead to innovative ideas and better processes. But if not managed properly, they may break the team. Hence, it is a must for a Scrum Master to understand how to handle conflicts effectively.
Conclusion
While there is great demand for the Scrum Master role, it demands the conceptual and practical knowledge to become one. You must complement your agile and Scrum knowledge with team building, facilitation, influencing, and change management skills. If you can demonstrate mastery in all these areas, landing an appropriate role should not be a huge challenge.
