Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches

From Process Police to People Partner, Self-Accountability and Self-Awareness for Scrum Masters | Anuj Ojha

Mar 3, 2025

Anuj Ojha, Co-founder and Lead Consultant at Benzne Consulting, shares his transformative journey from a process-driven Scrum Master to a people-oriented leader. He highlights the importance of self-awareness and feedback for personal growth. Anuj emphasizes shifting focus from metrics to value delivery, embracing conflict as a tool for growth, and the significance of creating a nurturing environment for teams. His insights challenge Scrum Masters to reflect on their leadership style and the impact of their process-centric approach on team dynamics.

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ANECDOTE

From Process Police to People Partner

Anuj Ojha initially focused on enforcing Scrum rules rigidly, causing tension and resistance.
He realized this process-oriented approach hindered team connection and value delivery.

INSIGHT

Internal Focus

Focusing solely on external factors like Jira and velocity can be misleading.
The real challenge often lies in addressing internal biases and understanding the team's purpose.

ADVICE

Focus on Collaboration

Observe your conversations and identify unhelpful patterns like citing the Scrum Guide as a solution.
Focus on understanding the team's problems and facilitating collaborative solutions instead of enforcing rules.

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Anuj Ojha: From Process Police to People Partner, Self-Accountability and Self-Awareness for Scrum Masters

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.

In this insightful episode, Anuj shares a powerful story of personal growth as a Scrum Master. Initially caught up in the mechanics of Scrum, he found himself trying to control situations and please everyone while rigidly adhering to the Scrum Guide.

Through a three-step journey of self-awareness, feedback-seeking, and actualization, Anuj discovered that his true challenge lay in understanding himself and his purpose. He learned to shift his focus from velocity and burndown charts to delivering value, and from being process-oriented to being people-oriented. This transformation led him to become more of a listener than a talker, embracing conflict as a natural part of growth.

Self-reflection Question: How might your current focus on processes or metrics be affecting your ability to connect with and serve your team members?

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About Anuj Ojha

Anuj is the co-founder & Lead Consultant at Benzne Consulting. With more than a decade of consulting experience & setting up Agile environments. Anuj and his team partner with businesses to unlock their true potential and drive continuous growth. Anuj considers himself framework agnostic, purpose & data driven.

You can link with Anuj Ojha on LinkedIn, or via his company’s website Benzne.com.