Agile Coaches' Corner What Makes a Great Scrum Master? with Quincy Jordan and Christy Erbeck
In this episode, Dan Neumann is joined by not one — but two! — AgileThought Colleagues; Quincy Jordan and Christy Erbeck!
In their conversation today, Dan, Quincy, and Christy discuss the key qualities to look for when bringing a new Scrum Master into your organization. They discuss the important characteristics you should be on the lookout for, the key skillsets, important soft skills, and some of the qualifiers (and disqualifiers!). They also share what to pay attention to when hiring, red flags to watch out for, and insightful questions you can ask during the interview process to make sure they’re a good fit.
Key Takeaways
What to consider when beginning to look for a Scrum Master:
Key characteristics
Skillsets
Soft skills
Qualifiers and disqualifiers
Good qualities:
Humbleness — they focus on the betterment of the team rather than shining the limelight on themselves
They are a servant leader
A capacity to focus on the strengths of others
A good balance of leadership and humility
Open to feedback
They have a growth mindset
They are a learner; not a knower
They come from a place of curiosity vs. judgment
What to pay attention to when hiring:
They understand the five Scrum values
Mastery of the Scrum guide
They are staying up-to-date on the Scrum framework
They purposefully model the behaviors and values of Scrum
Listen to how they use their words; i.e. are they phrasing from a competitive standpoint or a collaborative standpoint? Are they phrasing from a comparative standpoint or an inclusion standpoint?
They should have stories and anecdotes of how they have applied the Scrum guide in real life
They should take on the role of a Maestro rather than a ‘Master’
In the interview process, identify how they apply values, think through problems, and how they recover and ‘rise strong’ from a failure
If they don’t have any certifications, inquire why that is and how they have self-taught
If they do have certifications, ask when they received them and what they have done with them since
Ask how they are participating in the agile community in their area
Disqualifiers:
Humility to the point where they are not actually leading anything
Having too much knowledge and have a hard time pulling their weight from their own experience/knowledge and not allow the team to determine the ‘how’ for themselves
They are not open to self-evaluation or evaluation from others
They have a fixed mindset
They are a knower; not a learner
Misconceptions:
Do not assume that you can take all of your project managers and turn them into Scrum Masters
“We need a very technical person to be a Scrum Master” — untrue; in many cases, a less technical person makes a better Scrum Master
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