Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches

When Empathy Becomes a Double-Edged Sword And Why Scrum Masters Need to Learn Coaching | Pooja Gupta

Aug 26, 2024

Pooja Gupta, an Agile Coach with a background in product development, delves into the complexities of empathy in her role. She discusses how empathy can be both a strength and a challenge, especially during the COVID pandemic when she found herself mediating without adequate resources. Pooja shares her evolution from merely facilitating meetings to empowering her team to take ownership. By redefining her role and learning coaching techniques, she shifts her team's mindset from dependency to accountability, illustrating the importance of fostering independence in Agile practices.

13:23

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Pooja Gupta

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Quick takeaways

Pooja Gupta highlighted the significance of redefining Scrum Master roles to foster team ownership rather than defaulting to mediation during challenges.

The transition to remote work during the pandemic revealed the dangers of excessive empathy, emphasizing that leaders must encourage team accountability instead of individual burden.

Deep dives

The Journey to Scrum Mastery

The speaker shares her unexpected journey to becoming a Scrum Master, starting from a background in product development. Initially unaware of the role's responsibilities, she faced challenges when asked to fill multiple roles, including those of a product owner and Scrum Master, shortly after returning from maternity leave. This led her to pursue certifications and actively explore the Scrum methodology, despite realizing that the Scrum Guide's outline lacked practical insights for real-world application. Her commitment to personal growth and leveraging her strengths set the stage for her ongoing journey in the Agile field.

Navigating Empathy and Autonomy in the Scrum Master Role

02:04

Intro

2min

Navigating Empathy and Autonomy in the Scrum Master Role

2min

Navigating the Shift from Mediator to Empowering Scrum Master

3min

The Journey to Team Accountability and Effective Coaching

4min

Empowering Teams Through Accountability in Agile Practices

3min

Pooja Gupta: When Empathy Becomes a Double-Edged Sword And Why Scrum Masters Need to Learn Coaching

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

Pooja shares her journey from product development to becoming an Agile Coach, where her natural empathy became both a strength and a challenge. Reflecting on how the work environment shifted during the COVID pandemic, she reveals the struggles she faced when she found herself in a mediator role without access to the necessary resources. Pooja discusses how she fell into the trap of focusing solely on facilitating meetings and how that limited her effectiveness. Recognizing that her team was working in silos and avoiding responsibility, she took the initiative to redefine her role, learned coaching from scratch, and empowered her team to take ownership of their work. What does it take to transform a team’s mindset from dependency to accountability? Listen to find out!

[IMAGE HERE] Recovering from failure, or difficult moments is a critical skill for Scrum Masters. Not only because of us, but also because the teams, and stakeholders we work with will also face these moments! We need inspiring stories to help them, and ourselves! The Bungsu Story, is an inspiring story by Marcus Hammarberg which shows how a Coach can help organizations recover even from the most disastrous situations! Learn how Marcus helped The Bungsu, a hospital in Indonesia, recover from near-bankruptcy, twice! Using Lean and Agile methods to rebuild an organization and a team! An inspiring story you need to know about! Buy the book on Amazon: The Bungsu Story - How Lean and Kanban Saved a Small Hospital in Indonesia. Twice. and Can Help You Reshape Work in Your Company.

About Pooja Gupta

Pooja is an Agile Coach at Visma Solutions and Agile Community Lead for Visma Group. With a passion for "limitless learning" and "selfless teaching," she brings empathy and a people-centric approach to her work and everyday life. Based in Helsinki for 9 years, she finds balance through yoga, meditation, and family life.

You can link with Pooja Gupta on LinkedIn.

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