The need for scrum masters is growing today. But, why? What does a Scrum Master do exactly, and why is it becoming so important?
Well, the world is going the Agile way, and Scrum happens to be the most popular Agile framework. In fact, as per the State of Agile 2024 report, 63% of all Agile users are team scrum and Scrum has been gaining this majority vote consistently right from year 2006!
A scrum master is a fundamental element who drives the team, as per the Scrum Guide. They’re pivotal for organizations trying to succeed in the marketplace with Agile practices.
However, some experts argue that a Scrum Master does not add any value, and is hardly needed in Agile projects or Business agility initiatives – rather, it is the team that does all the work.
This leads to the central question: Do we really need Scrum Masters?
To explore the answer to this very relevant yet controversial question, we need to explore quite a few things on what is a Scrum Master, what they do, and also bust some myths about the Scrum Master role.
What’s A Scrum Master?
The scrum master is someone who leads a project team using Scrum practices, principles, and values.
Simply put, the Scrum Master, is a bridge between the Product Owner and the Scrum Team. The Product Owner is a representative of the business and the Team is the one who actually does the work and delivers the results, services, or product. The scrum master’s role is to manage and convey requirements from the Product Owner (aka the business) to the team, and the challenges, expectations, and performance of the team to the Product owner.
Let’s break down what scrum masters do in detail now.
What Does A Scrum Master Do?
A scrum master carries with him a macro view of the project, which perhaps none from his team carries. As we said, they are the much-needed bridge between the Product Owner and the team. However, they are not just a conveyor of requirements from the Product Owner.
A scrum master is meant to help the Product Owner in different ways, such as:
- Help them Manage and prioritize the requirements in the Product Backlog or the Work-Item;
- Make the Product Owner understand the Team’s perspective;
- Be the Product Owner’s representative to help the team understand the business requirements.
And, as the team’s representative for the Product Owner, a scrum master must:
- Help the business understand the team’s challenges;
- Set clear expectations about Agile processes;
- Convey the team’s high performance, etc to the Product Owner.
Further, the Scrum Master allies with different functional heads and upper levels of management to get the team’s work done efficiently.
Day-to-Day Responsibilities Of A Scrum Master
The day-to-day scrum master responsibilities include the following:
- Remove the Impediments for the Team.
- Communicate, communicate, and communicate the Vision.
- Servant Leader – Carry the Water, Resources, etc so that the team functions effectively.
“The Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. Scrum Masters do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory, practices, rules, and values.“
— Scrum Guide
Things A Good Scrum Master Does
A good Scrum Master is more than just a facilitator; they play a vital role in ensuring the team’s success. They strive to help the teams thrive through Agile principles. Here’s how they make a real impact:
- Challenge the team for better collaboration and productivity.
- Assist the Product Owner in working with internal and external stakeholders to improve the value and quality of requirements.
- Share insights and challenges with the team and colleagues at large. You can use CoP (Communities of Practice) or CoE (Center of Excellence) or you can inculcate Agility in the organization by facilitating open sessions.
- Make sure that teams have fun. We truly believe teams having fun are more productive and deliver better quality work.
- Evolve your Way of Working (WoW). Build a culture of continuous improvement by trying new Agile practices and going beyond the common ones.
“The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the Scrum Team. They help those outside the Scrum Team understand which of their interactions with the Scrum Team are helpful and which aren’t. The Scrum Master helps everyone change these interactions to maximize the value created by the Scrum Team.”
— Scrum Guide
Myths About What Scrum Masters Do & Their Role In Teams
A scrum master fulfills a lot of responsibilities in a team. But, many in the field believe that they’re not really required or essential to a Scrum team for many different reasons. Let’s explore the 3 most commonly heard negative viewpoints about what scrum masters do and if they’re really needed, and our thoughts about it.
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A Team Member Can Be A Full-Time Scrum Master
What People Say:
The Scrum Master is not that busy in an Agile project. So, a Team member trained with Scrum methods and guidelines can take on an additional role as a Scrum Master.
Viewpoint Against The Myth:
This used to be a very common scenario in Waterfall Projects too. An argument often thrown around was “Are project managers needed? Any technical member can carry out the job of the Project Manager.” People would be of the belief that project managers only monitor the status of the project and prepare status reports, which could easily be done by a technical lead.
Well, this was typically a statement in a lot of IT organizations. However, many later did come to realize the value of the Project Manager. They understood that the project manager role was beyond preparing project reports – they had to ensure the 10 knowledge areas and the 5 processes worked in tandem and ultimately delivered the project. Therefore, a project manager comes with a different mindset altogether.
Similarly, in a Scrum environment, the Scrum Master comes with an altogether different mindset and they see things differently from a Team member and a Product Owner’s standpoints. The role is an essential one and it does not overlap with the Product Owner role or the Team role.
And that’s the reason the role of a Scrum Master is named as one of the primary roles in a Scrum project.
In fact, in the Disciplined Agile toolkit, there is a 4th role called the “Architecture Owner” mentioned as a primary role. This role is distinctly different from that of the Team, Product Owner, and Scrum Master. Thus, each role in a Scrum Team brings different value to the project, and cannot be compromised on for “cost savings”
Bottom Line:
Thus, to address the myth, the Scrum master brings a unique value to the project. They’re required full-time to bring Agility or produce value to the customer by performing their scrum responsibilities. Else you are compromising on the value, by saving a modicum cost of Scrum Master.
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A Scrum Master Should Handle Multiple Projects
What People Say:
The Scrum Master does the same thing for multiple projects and is less occupied. Given these assumptions, why cannot they handle multiple projects at the same time?
Viewpoint Against The Myth:
Although the above argument or reasoning cannot be dismissed completely, a Scrum Master is dedicated to a project and has to ensure that the project delivers on its goals. Some projects are more complex than others. And the complexity generally varies from project to project. Also, some teams are more mature than others.
For example, some teams have done more Agile projects and they are used to the different practices and methodologies. Alternatively, some teams are more long-standing teams than others. That is, they have been together as a team for a much longer duration and developed a good understanding of one another.
In these contexts, the teams have worked through the routine and therefore completely understand the drill and process. In these cases, the Scrum Master perhaps is not required towards the latter half of the project.
So, there can be a good possibility that Scrum Master can be shared across multiple projects (given the context and situation). However, the Scrum Master is a primary role designed to be a full-time job to achieve the goal of the project. Again, you do not want to compromise on the project goals while focussing on the Scrum Master utilization.
The Bottom Line
So, by addressing both viewpoints, the best idea is to pick what we need to focus on – be it utilization or the value delivered to the customer. If resource utilization is a priority, then by all means make a single Scrum Master manage multiple projects. On the contrary, if project goals and the implementation of scrum practices correctly are your priority, then having a dedicated scrum master for each project is the best bet.
Once you and the team are focused on the right things and aligned together, the Scrum Master role also becomes a lot more important!
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No Need For A Scrum Master For Matured Teams – They Can Do The Things On Their Own.
What People Say:
Matured Teams know about the Agile rules and guidelines, and are very well aware of what to do and when to do it. The Scrum Master is an added overhead and does not add any value.
Viewpoint Against The Myth:
Agreed that Matured teams require less guidance than other inexperienced teams. But we don’t think you can do away with a Scrum Master.
Imagine a highly successful football team – the coach is on the sidelines and the team is doing the stuff and getting the trophy. The team plays football every season and knows the drill. However, the team needs to excel and do better than the last season, or at least maintain the momentum.
The coach is considered pivotal in shaping the team and making them better. Thus, the Coach sees football from a different perspective and enables the team to excel and win the trophy.
Your Agile team is more or less similar. Matured teams may require the coaches to help them excel or do better than earlier. Agile anyway has a focus on continuous improvement, and in frameworks like Disciplined Agile, evolving your Way of Working (WoW) is always a priority.
Companies like Spotify and Google focus extensively on evolving their Way of Working (WoW) to stay at the apex of the competition. And that’s what differentiates these companies from others.
What does a Scrum Master do in this case?
– They build a High-Performance team!
In our DASSM workshops, we discuss about the Team Development ladder by Bruce Tuckman. In every stage in the model, the Scrum Master has a role to play – sometimes an active one and sometimes a passive one. These Team Development stages are not sequential – but cyclical. So, if a new person joins the team the team shifts from the Performing to the Storming phase. Accordingly, the Scrum Master’s role changes too.
The Scrum Master ensures that the team transitions into the Performing Stage and achieves results as quickly as possible – which involves exceedingly well soft skills, conflict management skills, and emotional intelligence.
The Bottom Line
The Scrum Master is considered a pivotal figure in changing directions, improving the Way of Working, and delivering results consistently. Their role involves building a high-performance team which requires a separate set of soft skills and people management skills. Therefore, their involvement does not become less important for a mature team.
The Real Role Of A Scrum Master
The role of a scrum master is critical to achieving Agility for a team and the organization.
The Scrum Master acts as a Coach for the Agile Team to help them meet the set goals. They drive agility by helping their teams deliver value sooner to the customer.
In Disciplined Agile, a scrum master’s role is carved to be beyond just soft skills. They help the project team with value stream management, planning, and designing project metrics as well. Moreover, in the Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC) certification, the Scrum Master role goes one level higher and focuses on bringing an Agile Transformation to the organization.
So, if the Scrum Master seems to have free time on the project or probably hasn’t done much on the project, you need to investigate if things are happening in the right way in the project. To be realistic, everyone should be actively engaged to achieve project goals. And Scrum masters have a crucial role in consistently finding ways to improve the way of working of the teams.
However, the effectiveness of the scrum master duties also depends on team structure and organizational culture. Here, leadership plays a key role in shaping a culture that fosters better team collaboration and performance. Thus, the Scrum Master role is also a play of various organizational factors and cannot be looked at in isolation in a practical scenario.
Closing Thoughts: Do We Really Need Scrum Masters?
Do we really need Scrum Masters? Very much.
How much are they needed in the project? We would say full-time, with an indispensable role.
While every organization behaves differently and has a different culture and dynamics, compromising on the Scrum Master role means compromising on your project delivery goals and your Agility.
A full-time Scrum Master brings unique value that goes beyond mere status meetings —they are coaches, problem-solvers, and champions of Agility. A Scrum Master’s presence helps steer teams toward high performance and successful project delivery.
In the end, whether you’re building new teams or managing seasoned ones, take the long view about the value a dedicated Scrum Master could bring to your Agile projects. Then, you can take the call!
Your thoughts and suggestions are most welcome.
Happy Reading!
