The Risks of Having Scrum Masters as Schedulers

In this episode of the Trainer Talk supplemental series to the Agile Coaches' Corner Podcast, Professional Scrum Trainer Sam Falco answers the questions: Is there anything wrong with the Scrum Master scheduling and running all the Scrum events?

Today’s question came up in a discussion about the perception that a Scrum Master’s responsibility includes scheduling all the Scrum events and running them all. Is there anything wrong with that being the Scrum Master’s responsibility? After all, the Scrum Guide says that one of the Scrum Masters’ services to the Product Owner and to the Development team includes “Facilitating Scrum Events as requested or needed.”

Danger 1: Scrum Master as Admin Assistant

While that’s true, I think there are hidden dangers in assuming that “as requested or needed” means “always.”

The first danger is that it risks turning the Scrum Master into an administrative assistant to the team. Remember that a Scrum Master is also supposed to provide other services to the Scrum Team and to the organization at large. When a Scrum Master’s primary responsibility is to schedule meetings and run them, it necessarily means that the Scrum Master has to limit other activities that may provide higher value.

Danger 2: Teams Will Not Self-Organize

The second danger, and the more significant one, is that it may impair the team’s ability to self-organize. This is especially true in the case of the Daily Scrum. The Daily Scrum is a tool for the Development Team to self-organize around solving problems, and the Development Team is explicitly given responsibility for conducting the Daily Scrum. When this responsibility is shifted onto the Scrum Master’s shoulders, the Daily Scrum often transforms from a collaboration session into a round-robin status report of Development Team members to the Scrum Master. For the other events, it is valuable for everyone on the Scrum Team to develop the skills necessary to facilitate the Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective events.

Conclusion

There’s nothing wrong with a Scrum Master facilitating events “as requested or needed,” but if the Scrum Master is always needed and is always requested, it’s a sign that the Scrum Team needs to work on its self-organization.

Let us know what you thought about this supplemental episode of the Agile Coaches’ Corner. If you’re interested in training, visit agilethought.com/training or call us at 877.514.9180 to learn more. And if you have a question you want us to answer on the next Trainer Talk episode, email us at podcast@agilethought.com.

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