What is a Scrum Master?

By Jonathan Dale

If you’ve ever tried to lead a group project, you’re probably familiar with just how challenging it can be to pull off. Maybe an issue you didn’t foresee stalled progress, or the work being produced didn’t meet the expected outcome. Problems can arise when the team and stakeholders are not on the same page.

For as long as there have been project management problems, there have been attempts at solutions. One such solution, known as scrum, is a method growing in popularity due to its adaptability. As companies seek to respond to a changing world with new technologies and new demands, problem-solving methodologies like scrum will continue to hold promise.

What is scrum master?

Scrum is an agile methodology that’s an effective competitor to classic project management. As a process, scrum uses close collaboration and adaptive development to solve problems, develop products and create value in a highly agile manner. Created by software developers, the scrum methodology is highly applicable to software development. Many industries where scrum is popular prioritize building out and growing software or proprietary technology in fast-paced markets. For example, as companies seek to build apps or websites so their customer base can connect online, scrum can help developers solve the complex challenge of bringing a robust webpage life.

Companies are increasingly turning to scrum because it can address complex issues. That is why the role of scrum master is a fast-growing and highly valued job within many companies.

The scrum master is at the heart of the scrum process and team. He or she plays a pivotal role in solving problems so that developers can work on the product. Put simply, the scrum master is the facilitator of the scrum team and is responsible for guiding the rest of the team through the scrum framework, creating interteam dialogue, coaching, solving problems, and teaching best practices and theories for high-performance output.

What is the difference between scrum master and project manager?

While scrum master and project manager might seem like similar positions, they aren’t the same and shouldn’t be treated as such. A typical scrum team has no project manager. Instead the scrum master and a product owner share those responsibilities.

A scrum master is responsible for facilitating the scrum process and ensuring that every team member is aware of the process. A scrum master, sometimes referred to as a “servant-leader,” keeps everyone on the same page so team members can do what they do best instead of worrying about the scrum method. The scrum master is a team leader whose primary focus is on the people and interactions needed to help the team achieve their commitment to delivering value.

A project manager is more concerned with tracking the progress of the project by using product road maps to strategize and establish product objectives.

While these two roles are different and shouldn’t be conflated, a good scrum master and a good project manager will often share characteristics, such as leadership, organizational skills and an ability to connect with the team in meaningful ways to create value and high performance.

Agile vs. scrum: A false dichotomy

Scrum was born out of the “Manifesto for Agile Software Development.” This is a 2001 document written by a group of software developers who wanted to improve upon what they saw as outdated development practices and methodologies. “Agile” is the umbrella term for development methodologies. It favors a responsive and collaborative process. Scrum is one example of an agile methodology.

The agile suite of methodologies differs from the more traditional model of project management known as “waterfall.” With a waterfall method, tasks are divided into a series of phases that progress linearly. With agile methodologies, tasks are distributed throughout the team to be completed in parallel. Developing in parallel allows the team to deliver value to customers faster.

Many industries are implementing agile methodologies. These industries include:

• Information technology
• Financial services
• Construction management
• Pharmaceuticals

What is the scrum process?

Scrum uses “sprints,” which are one-to-four-week blocks of time in which project goals are accomplished. At the end of each sprint, the scrum master, team members and other project stakeholders gather to discuss how the sprint went and what to focus on for the next sprint. In this way the scrum process is iterative and adaptive, as the development team can reflect on the work accomplished so far and create new goals based on results from previous sprints.

The scrum framework is rooted in empiricism, meaning that evidence is gathered through verifiable observation. Empiricism is rooted in maintaining interteam transparency, adapting goals to new challenges and evidence, and regularly inspecting ongoing work.

Sprint collaboration relies on a once-per-day, 15-minute time-boxed meeting known as the daily scrum. Its purpose is to envision the next 24 hours of the sprint. In a daily scrum meeting, team members can plan collaboration, resolve issues and inspect work. This is all to further home in on the goals of the sprint, tackling challenges in smaller and more accomplishable tasks.

How to become a scrum master

Luckily, becoming a scrum master has never been easier. There are online professional development courses that can help you learn scrum fundamentals so you can put yourself on a path toward a fulfilling and valued career.

You can expect to learn how to identify common agile and scrum terminologies, how to explain the elements of the agile framework, how to discuss the sprint process and how scrum contributes to a project’s success.

Professional development courses like Scrum Fundamentals offer in-demand skills for a changing marketplace. The many benefits of professional development courses may include hands-on, skills-focused training that can be done on your own schedule. These have the potential to put you well on your way to pursuing a certification.

An online course is a great step toward achieving a scrum master certification. Additionally, there are other skills that a successful scrum master usually has. These are often soft skills and aren’t as easily teachable. They include:

• Strong communication skills
• Leadership skills, especially for keeping a team focused
• Organizational skills
• The ability to see long-term goals and plan short-term actions to achieve them

Scrum and other agile methodologies are an exciting and expanding sector of the job market. A certified scrum master is an esteemed role in many companies looking to add value to their product development process.

Wondering if scrum or project management is for you? Compare notes with our blog on If you’re ready to get started on your path to becoming a scrum master, check out our soon-to-be released course! project management.

Originally published at https://www.phoenix.edu on July 12, 2021.