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What exactly do Scrum Masters perform throughout the course of a typical day

What exactly do Scrum Masters perform throughout the course of a typical day

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David Tzemach
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Many theoretical descriptions explain the role of the Scrum Master as a vital member of the Scrum team. However, these descriptions do not provide an honest answer to the fundamental question: “What are the day-to-day activities of a Scrum Master?”

In one of my last workshops, in front of about 30 Scrum Masters from some of the leading companies in the industry, I asked the participants this question, which triggered a productive discussion about their day-to-day activities related to the main Scrum events. Here are some of the main highlights:

  • Ensures that external stakeholders that attend do not hijack the meeting, and neither does any team member that does not come prepared.

  • Ensures that the meeting is conducted daily, with a specific timebox (At least when the team is new to Scrum).

  • Ensures the product backlog is updated during/post-meeting.

  • Ensures that each team member is focused on the sprint goal.

  • Ensures that the sprint burn-down chart reflects the actual work progress.

  • Ensures that the team is conducting the meeting without actively promoting a single authority.

  • Ensures that team members do not use the meeting to resolve technical issues (those should be discussed separately).

  • Ensures that there are no “reporting” symptoms to one authority.

  • Ensures that there are follow-ups for any issues that were not fully resolved/handled during the meeting.

  • Ensure that the team will answer all open issues from the previous day’s meeting.

  • Ensures that each team member provides complete and accurate information about their progress.

  • Works with the Product Owner to ensure that all candidate stories for the sprint contain the relevant information, including clear acceptance criteria, Definition of Done, and specific technical information.

  • Ensures that all stories are explained by the Product Owner and understood by all team members before making their commitments.

  • Works with the team to conduct a risk management process to reveal any significant risks affecting their commitments.

  • Works with the development team and the Product Owner to establish a clear goal for the upcoming sprint.

  • Ensures that the team has absolute confidence before making the final commitment.

  • Uses their technical skills to help the team with any questions raised during the task breakdown.

  • Ensures there is a balance in the team commitments to avoid situations of over/under-commitment.

  • Works with the team during the process of task breakdown and task estimation (it is their job to ensure that the estimation process can predict the actual workload).

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  • Ensures that the team is ready to present the work they accomplished.

  • Works with the Product Owner to update the backlog based on feedback generated by the participants.

  • Ensures the team has the information (metrics, KPIs, impediments, etc.) that they can share to increase the transparency between the team and stakeholders.

  • Ensures that the team has answers to any question related to uncompleted stories.

Scrum Master activities related to the retrospective meeting

  • Ensures that team members feel safe to share their honest thoughts.

  • Ensures that the meeting does not become a “blame” meeting.

  • Ensures that every team member has the chance to speak.

  • Ensures that all impediments are documented, prioritized, and have a mitigation plan led by a dedicated owner.

  • Searches for new techniques to make reporting more effective.

  • Suggests cases/events from the last sprint to contribute to the discussion.

  • Ensures that any external stakeholder who can contribute to the meeting is invited.

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In addition to the first question related to the Scrum events, I asked the participants to provide their checklists for working with their Scrum development team and Product Owner.

Below, you will find the main items from those checklists:

  • Does the Product Owner get information from the team about newly added stories?

  • Can the Product Owner explain the roadmap and vision of the product?

  • Is there an agreed format that the team can use for adding “technical” stories?

  • Is the Product Owner truly committed and available to the team?

  • Is there a clear DoD/R for main items (features, sprints, and stories)?

  • Does the Product Owner have clear and direct access to the team?

  • Is there a clear factor used for the prioritization process?

  • Is the product backlog visible to all stakeholders?

  • Does the product backlog contain the “technical” stories requested by the development team?

  • Is the team’s technical debt managed and transparent to all stakeholders?

  • Are the team’s task board, visual board, and sprint backlog consistently updated?

  • Do the team members know their velocity and are they improving it in each sprint?

  • Does the velocity reflect the true capabilities of the team?

  • Are there any personal issues that affect team members?

  • Did the team start each sprint with a clear sprint goal? Did they focus on it throughout the sprint?

  • Is the team on the right path to being self-organized? If not, what is holding them back?

  • Do team members work in collaboration, like each other, and celebrate each other’s success?

  • Do team members actively volunteer to take tasks and help other team members?

  • Do the team feel comfortable regarding the Definition of Done they need to follow

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