How do you assess a team? My personal tools
Every Scrum team is different. Even when two teams seem to have similar challenges, similar products, and similar environment, they would not be actually the same. So your approach will change depending on the situation. I often say that the best answer a Scrum Master can give to an open-ended question is “It depends…” However, […]
The “always busy” syndrome
Last month I shared a short post where I urged Scrum Masters to not fill in their calendars with meetings just because it look empty. In this post, I’d like to talk about that weird way of tracking how hard someone is working and how it is killing your success as a Scrum Master. No […]
Myth: Scrum Master is an extrovert 🤔
Scrum Master has to be an extrovert to be successful. So if you are an introvert, most likely it’s not a job for you… Or is it a myth and a misconception? Let’s discuss. There are a lot of different expectations and interpretations of the role of a Scrum Master out there. Often it is […]
🎥 How to Interview Scrum Masters
Recently I’ve posted an article where I roast my old Scrum Master resume which was well received but raised even more questions by candidates: how do you pass the interview for a Scrum Master role? That’s why I decided to film another video to share my thoughts on the subject. Let me set the expectations […]
Roasting my Old Scrum Master Resume
I wanted to do this for a while: review my first “real” Scrum Master resume and evaluate it. I hope that it can be helpful for you when you prepare your own CV. My goal is to critically access everything that I wrote back then in my resume and look at it with the lense […]
I’m a new Scrum Master – where do I start?
“Daria, I’ve never been a Scrum Master, I passed my certification and now I am starting a new Scrum Master job. What do I do? Where do I start?” These are some good questions with no one answer, unfortunately. But I’d like to share some of my thoughts on this topic in today’s article. As […]
Scrum Master, stop talking!
Being a servant leader is hard because you really want your teams to succeed but you can’t just tell them what to do. To compensate for this, we as Scrum Masters often tend to offer plenty of solutions to our teams when we see them struggling. Unfortunately, while it might seem like the best approach […]
Answering your questions: Understand product, scope and goals
As part of the previous Lean Coffee sessions we’ve answered many questions about the role of a Scrum Master and addressed some challenges together. But we were not able to get through all of the questions, just because there were so many. To remedy the situation, I have decided to answer some of the questions […]
How to Write a Good Scrum Master Job Description
From Bad Scrum Master Job Descriptions… Let’s be honest – I roast companies and recruiters for posting terrible Scrum Master job descriptions. And there are a number of reasons why I do it. One of the main reasons is that I want to keep the integrity of this profession. Because Scrum Master’s role is easily […]
Ruinous Empathy of a Scrum Master
Scrum Masters are servant leaders who care about their teams. But can Scrum Master empathy get in the way of transparency and challenging the status quo.
Scrum Master as a Teacher and Facilitator (with Zero-Slides)
Some of the Scrum Master stances as we know are facilitator and teacher. It sometimes might feel that each stance stands on its own, however, they are closely intertwined. I see that Scrum Master as a teacher is much stronger when there is enough focus on facilitation because with it much stronger learning experiences can […]
A Scrum Master and a Daily Scrum 📄
The role of a Scrum Master in a Daily Scrum is often misunderstood. Firstly, we often talk about a Daily Stand-up meeting. In addition, teams often look at their Scrum Master as a kind of a Project Manager who they need to report to on their status. It is important to remember what Daily Scrum […]
The First Steps to Take to Become a Scrum Master
Scrum Master job is a hot topic these days. More and more companies are looking for a Scrum Master. Not just any Scrum Master, but a great one. It is a perfect moment to use this opportunity to gain more experience in the field. The tricky thing is, there is no “Scrum Master academy” that […]
3 Steps to Setting Expectations Around The Scrum Master Role
Have you ever noticed your team making assumptions on what the role of a Scrum Master is that do not align with your vision? During my Scrum-mastering years, I have seen it many times: teams and organizations have surprising expectations of Scrum Masters that have nothing to do with their actual job. If you want to […]
Do Scrum Masters Have to Be Technical?
I get this question sometimes from Scrum Masters who are just starting their journey or want to get into this role. They are worried that they don’t have any technical background or don’t have a Computer Science degree. I definitely know where the confusion comes from: quite a lot of companies ask for a Computer […]