9 tips to be a successful Scrum Master

Scrum mastery isn’t easy. The role of a scrum master is a challenging one. We’ve spoken to different scrum masters and made a list of useful scrum master tips to help you become a great scrum master. So, get ready to learn from the experts and be the best scrum master you can be!

1. Be a servant leader

The servant leader is servant first. Focus on the growth and well-being of your team members. Help your team members and remove impediments. Put their needs first to make sure every team member can perform as highly as possible.

2. Focus on one project at a time

You may be capable of handling multiple projects, but this could also mean that you’re partially committed to a project. To give your full 100% and to make sure the project is as successful as it can be, handle one project at a time.

3. Help the team define a clear definition of done

Make sure the definition of done is clearly defined. It should be a list containing all items that must be completed to deliver a quality software. Help the team to define quality checks, so that a team member knows how to determine if a task is done as expected.

4. Keep learning and researching

The world is changing. Make sure you change with it. If you don’t, it means that you’re going backward instead of forward! As a scrum master, it’s your responsibility to make sure your team evolves and keeps getting better at their work and teamwork. You can’t do this without learning and improving your skills and knowledge. Help your team grow by growing yourself.

5. Know your team

Make sure you know each team member. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What are their personalities? Do you know the team’s dynamic? Can you name the spouse and hobbies? Make an effort to know more about your team members. If you know them well, you’ll learn how to help them work better together.

6. Don’t show up for the daily stand up for a few days

As a scrum master, it is your goal to create a self-organizing team. To reach this goal, encourage the team to give updates and feedback to each other instead of to you. You may try to do this by not showing up for the daily stand up a few days, this will give the team the opportunity to self-facilitate.

7. Communicate, communicate, communicate

The success of a scrum project depends on clear and frequent communication in the team. As a scrum master, it is your job that the development team, product owner and stakeholders are up to date all the time. Make sure goals and tasks are clear for everyone and that they are updated regularly.

8. Make sure the team is involved in continuous improvement

During the retrospective, the team tries to find ways to improve the process, based on their experiences in the sprint. Make sure you motivate everyone to reflect on the process and to keep thinking about in during the whole process. This is important for the team to keep improving.

9. Ask yourself if what you’re doing is in line with the Agile principles

As a scrum master, you are responsible for making sure the entire team correctly follows the rules and principles of Scrum. You’re the one who coaches the team all Agile practices. So, every now and then, go back to the Agile principles and ensure that what you are doing is in line with all of them.