Main Responsibilities and Required Skills for Scrum Master
A scrum master helps the team to follow the scrum framework and guides them in their daily work. He/she facilitates meetings, answers questions, and makes sure everyone knows what their responsibilities are and how they fit into the team's goals. In this blog post we describe the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for Scrum Masters.
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Main Responsibilities of Scrum Master
The following list describes the typical responsibilities of a Scrum Master:
Anticipate
Anticipate challenges, identify risks and recommend mitigations and solutions.
Anticipate product risks and issues working with Product Owners.
Anticipate threats to team progress and engage stakeholders and leadership to address issues.
Assemble
Assemble ideas, issues, and observations into a clear and useful explanation.
Assist in
Assist in addressing impediments that may limit team's effectiveness and progress.
Assist in managing the work intake process and scheduling associated.
Assist in removing impediments to team progress.
Assist in the creation of an Agile Release Train, integration with SAFe, LeSS, and / or Nexus.
Assist team with forecasting their Sprint Goals through story selection, task definition.
Assist the Engagement Director in negotiating tradeoffs to meet budget and release schedule.
Assist the Product Owner with backlog maintenance and grooming.
Assist the Scrum Master in mitigating impediments.
Assist with Agile process improvement initiatives.
Assist with budgeting and forecasting processes.
Assist with internal and external communication, improving transparency, and radiating information.
Attend
Attend project management meetings.
Build
Build and enhance best-in-class customer experiences across channels.
Build and maintain processes to facilitate sprint and release planning and tracking.
Build an understanding of practicing agility and agile ways of working.
Build a safe environment with an emphasis on collaboration and problem solving.
Build a trusting, collaborative and safe environment where the team can experiment and learn.
Build, maintain and collaborate in relations across multiple functions and seniority levels.
Build and develops a high-performance team.
Build a trusting and safe environment where problems can be raised without fear of punishment.
Build effective relationships with internal / external stakeholders including third party suppliers.
Build smart and user friendly interface to provide to our client an easy way to pilot or IA solution.
Build relationships with internal customers / stakeholders.
Build strong trusting relationships with the client stakeholders and / or client project team.
Build team cohesion and fosters good communication between various development teams.
Champion
Champion culture change and an Agile mindset.
Coach
Coach both individuals and teams on their Agile journey.
Coach team to continuously grow percentage of automation or automated testing.
Coaching, inspiring and mentoring teams on Agile principles, values and practices.
Coach leadership in creating an environment for team effectiveness.
Coach scrum team to balance technical debt against new feature delivery.
Coach teams on self-organizing in order to optimize velocity of execution.
Coach the team in Agile practices and mindset.
Coach your team on how to problem-solve and practice self-reflection.
Collaborate
Collaborate and partner within and beyond one's team.
Collaborate closely with the product owner to manage the backlog.
Collaborate directly with the CTO.
Collaborates across the ART to create program level transparency, visibility and drive commitment.
Collaborate with various chapter leads to implement a continuous improvement process.
Collaborate with non-Agile team, educate and support them throughout transformation.
Collaborate with third party vendors for data integration projects, staffing needs.
Communicate
Communicate and collaborate with other internal teams to understand any changes and remove blockers.
Communicate clearly and effectively with clients and 3rd parties.
Communicate effectively, Engagement, Teams, Tech savvy, Work processes.
Communicate effectively, Interpersonal Savvy, Persuades, Plans and aligns.
Communicate with internal and external stakeholders and shares status.
Conduct
Conduct and documents lessons learned.
Conduct inception workshops as required to evolve project objectives.
Conduct pulse-checks with Squad to assess progress in Stand-ups.
Conduct Sprint Planning Session (every 3 weeks).
Contribute
Contribute to process improvement initiatives and improve on-going work.
Coordinate
Coordinate and at times, facilitate project change management activities.
Coordinate internal and external resources throughout the execution of each project.
Coordinate internal resources, third parties and vendors for the flawless execution of projects.
Coordinate resources, schedules and issues escalation.
Coordinate technical deployments across multiple teams.
Coordinate the resolution of impediments across organizational boundaries.
Coordinate with other teams to ensure an effective delivery.
Coordinate with the Scrum Team to refine user stories.
Create
Create a culture of collaboration, facilitating discussion, decision making, and conflict resolution.
Create and maintain comprehensive project documentation.
Create an environment conducive to team self-organization and collaboration.
Create a safe environment for experimentation, innovation and communication.
Create forum for communicating vision, goals, and product backlog items to the team.
Create or analyze business requirements documents and project timelines.
Create queries to create report from Jira.
Define
Define and document business requirements, functional requirements and process flows / modelling.
Define, document, and communicate best practices to drive continuous improvement and team innovation.
Define, document and coordinate the functional system specifications.
Define professional standards / work methodology within the Chapter.
Define quality gates for each sprint.
Design
Design and implement a strategy to ensure organizational adoption of Agile.
Design patterns, knowledge, modelling.
Develop
Develop a detailed project plan to track progress.
Develop a detailed sprint, release, and communications.
Develop and Build Agile Capability.
Develop and maintain Configuration Management Plan.
Develop a roadmap or framework for those programs.
Develop, creates and conducts training to internal and client teams.
Develop learning plans to elevate teams to higher levels of maturity and effectiveness.
Develop, maintain, and report on an overall integrated delivery plan.
Develop requirements documents.
Develop software code in Java for automated execution of radio performance test cases.
Direct
Direct and lead the work of technical staff.
Direct and supervise team resources.
Drive
Drive "acceptance criteria” driven requirement and "definition of done” driven development.
Drive continuous improvement and lead the team by example.
Drive cross team, ART, and departmental impediments, planning, collaboration, and coordination.
Drive cross team planning, collaboration, and coordination to deliver the highest value to customers.
Drive project timelines and road mapping while ensuring projects align to department launch goals.
Drives consolidation and manages multiple work streams into one cohesive program.
Drive software engineering development projects integrating large complex medical device systems.
Drive Scrum adoption across all levels in the organization.
Drive the adoption of new processes across the organization.
Encourage
Encourage and facilitate cross-team coordination and collaboration.
Encourage continuous improvement and increase Scrum team's productivity.
Ensure
Ensure Agile / Scrum concepts and principles are adhered to.
Ensure all dependencies are being met during each iteration.
Ensure all groups are being provided with timely and accurate project information.
Ensure all necessary sign-offs are received before production releases.
Ensure consistency in methodology across the org.
Ensure good collaboration and communication between all project participants.
Ensure individual and team accountability.
Ensure IT deliverables align with business requirements with measurable results.
Ensure observance of the "Definition of Done”.
Ensure progress of multiple projects against schedule, within budget and to high quality standards.
Ensure resources deliver desired results within budget and schedule.
Ensure root causes are effectively identified and addressed.
Ensure Scrum and / or Kaban practices are used and improved within and across teams.
Ensure scrum team follows all normal scrum cadences.
Ensure Sprint backlog reflects what the team is actually doing.
Ensure stories reach the definition of ready during sprint planning and tasks are clear for the team.
Ensure team is well-informed on internal and external initiatives and activities.
Ensure team's adoption of Scrum and practice of it.
Ensure that each team member is fully engaged and making a meaningful contribution.
Ensure that the team & delivery issues / concerns are handled pro-actively.
Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed.
Ensure the correct products and services are delivered to customers in a timely manner.
Ensure the successful delivery of projects.
Ensure the team is efficient and efficient.
Ensure traceability through the software development lifecycle is maintained.
Ensure transparency on the progress of the work.
Ensure with test lead that test briefs are ready, on time and with all required info.
Establish
Establish and maintain sprint velocities and track project delivery.
Establish a trusted professional presence in all environments.
Establish standards and procedures for sprint, feature, and project reporting and documentation.
Estimate
Estimate and sequence project tasks, milestones and deliverables in alignment with desired outcomes.
Estimating, including design, development / purchase, and installation.
Facilitate
Facilitate Agile Ceremonies across multiple (2) development teams.
Facilitate agile ceremonies for the team.
Facilitate Agile ceremonies (planning, refinement, stand-up, sprint review and retrospective).
Facilitate all agile ceremonies for their teams.
Facilitate backlog grooming sessions, supporting collaborative product backlog management.
Facilitate change management at all levels.
Facilitate communication and collaboration inside and outside the team.
Facilitate communication and improve transparency.
Facilitate communication between team members and between the team and its stakeholders.
Facilitate discussion, workshops, meetings, decision making and conflict transformation.
Facilitate getting the work done, support the team to remove road blocks.
Facilitate getting the work done without coercion, assigning, or dictating the work.
Facilitate processes of an agile marketing team.
Facilitate product demos and retrospectives.
Facilitate product owner input and team interactions.
Facilitates and monitors the Scrum process from initiation through delivery.
Facilitate Scrum and / or other ceremonies put in place for communication purposes.
Facilitate scrum ceremonies.
Facilitate scrum process for projects involving 3 - 4 departments.
Facilitate resolving obstacles & advances where necessary.
Facilitate Scrum ceremonies.
Facilitate team and cross-team impediment removal for the team.
Facilitate the sprint planning sessions, backlog grooming, daily scrums.
Facilitate the use of Agile / SCRUM Framework ceremonies and activities.
Facilitate the work of an agile team on a sprint-by-sprint basis.
Facilitate strong communication and collaboration between all parties.
Facilitate teamwork and continuous improvement of the team's agile engineering practices.
Facilitate the day-to-day activities of up to two scrum teams.
Facilitate the prompt delivery of high value product for the customer.
Facilitate User Story Refinement Sessions.
Foster
Foster a culture of think / build / run where teams own the services they create.
Foster a team collaborative environment that tears down silos between groups.
Foster a transparent way of working with the team that promotes openness, trust and accountability.
Foster better communication between the disciplines.
Generate
Generate data to help measure team success and and cycle time.
Generate multiple levels of reports - transactional, executive summary.
Guide
Guide and coach the Scrum team on how to use Agile practices and principles.
Guide and coach the team on the use of Agile / Scrum processes.
Guide development teams to higher scrum maturity.
Guide and empower the flow of a multi-functional feature team.
Guide team in estimating practices and facilitate team estimates.
Guide the team and organization on how to use Scrum & agile practices and frameworks.
Guide team on utilizing Agile process and best practices.
Guide the product owner to maximize return on investment and meet objectives.
Guide the Product Owner to maximize the value delivered in order to achieve its objectives.
Guide the scrum team to resolve impediments.
Guide the team on how to get the most of self-organized cross-functional team.
Guide the team to remove and manage impediments.
Help
Help global teams to juggle schedules and resources.
Help improve the way we do business Agile and harmonize.
Help in the removal of things that are hindering the delivery of high value product.
Help educate the squad on Agile practices, from writing useful user stories to managing the backlog.
Help remove impediments to progress, facilitates meetings, and keeps the team focused.
Help scrum team organize themselves within the Scaled Agile Framework.
Help the department and company mature out of legacy processes.
Help the team embrace core Agile values and principles.
Help the team use their time wisely and avoid distractions.
Help with Root Cause Analysis and maintain other process already in place.
Help team members communicate, coordinate, and cooperate to meet delivery goals.
Help team members operate within the Agile framework.
Help teams apply the Scrum framework, plan deliverables, and provide full transparency.
Help team set realistic objectives for Feature and Sprint delivery timeframes.
Help teams in their adoption and adherence to Agile methodologies and drive process improvement.
Help the product owner maximize return on investment, meet objectives and manage the product backlog.
Help the scrum team implement and use the Agile approach for large-scale projects.
Help the Scrum team implement and use the Agile approach for major projects.
Help the team create value and products with quality.
Identify
Identifies, analyze, mitigate, document, and control project risks.
Identify and analyze options and selects course of action based on best fit with desired outcomes.
Identify and help to remove impediments to enable success of the Sprint team.
Identify project issues that impact project delivery and escalate to management.
Identify team inefficiencies and coach the team to progress to a high-performing agile team.
Identify alternative solutions and communicate alternatives analyses.
Identify and communicate potential risks to the completion of a sprint.
Identify and handle project risks, issues, and dependencies to keep the project on cost and schedule.
Identify and help to remove impediments to enable success of the Sprint team.
Identify and maintain relevant metrics that gives the team insight into their progress.
Identify and manage dependencies for both internal and external teams.
Identify and mitigate risks to product or service delivery.
Identify and promote new techniques for improving Agile Software Development.
Identify and remove impediments as needed.
Identify and remove roadblocks impeding team's delivery of value.
Identify existing and manage Configuration Items across all system in the suite.
Identify issues during the sprint and help team in resolution of issues which impede progress.
Identify, organize, and control software and hardware configuration changes.
Improve
Improve focus on delivery timelines, prioritisation and product outcomes.
Improve transparency within the team, and while working with business representatives.
Inspect
Inspect the Sprint's execution and identify areas of improvement in Sprint Retrospective.
Inspire
Inspire all stakeholders at any level in their Agile transition.
Inspire and influence individuals to do their best work.
Lead
Lead and define the change management process for projects.
Lead creative problem solving via collaborative problem-solving processes.
Lead cross-functional teams distributed across PVH and vendor locations globally.
Lead Maintenance / Evolution projects.
Lead, organize, and execute while delivering commitments on time.
Leads an agile development team responsible for new platform creation.
Lead Scrum ceremonies - Daily Scrum, Backlog grooming, Retrospectives and Sprint planning.
Lead team in release / deployment coordination, enabling smooth delivery.
Lead teams by mentoring and coaching on scrum best practices, serve by facilitating scrum events.
Lead the Marsh Digital teams as Scrum Master on new or existing product development opportunities.
Maintain
Maintain Agile and Scrum values and helping others to understand and follow these values.
Maintain Hardware / Software (HW / SW) registry.
Manage
Manage and conduct meetings.
Manage and provide consultative services and specialized expertise in information-technology areas.
Manage a offshore development team and stay in touch with their tech lead every daily.
Manage change, communication, and training as part of implementations.
Manage clear, concise and timely communication across the project.
Manage dependencies between teams, IT and third party vendors.
Manage dependencies between teams, IT and third-party vendors and facilitate release management.
Manage each projects scope and timeline.
Manage governance routines.
Manage, mitigate, and monitor project risks & progress to minimize delays and ensure project success.
Manage monthly capitalization processes and change management.
Manage multiple scrum teams throughout the whole software development lifecycle.
Manage project scope, timeline, and facilitate internal communication and effective collaboration.
Manage relationships across various areas to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Manage relationships with clients and all internal stakeholders.
Manage resources, risk, quality, scope, team budget and deliverables.
Manage resources, risk, quality, scope, team budget, and deliverables.
Manage risk and develop mitigation plan through input from teams.
Manage a matrixed project team on-site as well as virtually.
Manage several concurrent high visibility projects using Agile methodologies.
Manage Impediments by helping the team ensure a resolution is found.
Manage timelines and communicates project status.
Manage to timelines and communicates status.
Manage the communication to all.
Manage the momentum and status of the project.
Manage the Scrum process with the coordination of Scrum teams in Agile methodology.
Manage the scrum process with the coordination of the scrum team in Agile methodology.
Manage the work for an assigned Scrum Team.
Measure
Measure and celebrate success.
Measure and improve team productivity.
Measure, evaluate, and communicate team metrics.
Measure the velocity of the team.
Mentor
Mentor and coach the teams on Agile methodologies and Scrum and / or Kanban values and process.
Mentor fellow Scrum Masters.
Mentor and coach Scrum teams to instill agile values and principles and lead by example.
Monitor
Monitor and report back on key insights from campaign data, ensuring key performance metrics are hit.
Monitor and report ongoing team performance metrics.
Monitor and track PI milestones, and facilitate mitigation of issues and risks.
Monitor and track Release milestones, and facilitate the mitigation of issues and risks.
Monitor project budget and escalate issues as appropriate.
Monitor Sprint plan progress and ensures it remains up to date.
Monitor the effectiveness of scrum team processes and performance.
Oversee
Oversee Scrum process, coach the team, and facilitate transparent & adaptive team culture.
Participate
Participate and support development and software delivery.
Participate in coaching activities across cross-functional teams on Agile practices and principles.
Participate in developer led code reviews & documentation.
Participate in enterprise wide project portfolio planning and strategy planning as required.
Participate in process improvement by integrating the Scrum Masters community.
Participate in the meeting and capture feedback.
Participate / lead scrum of scrums with external vendor teams.
Participate with the project managers in overall project planning and risk management.
Perform
Perform as an evangelist for Optum's internal implementation of SAFe (SAFe + PLM).
Perform code reviews and participates in test reviews.
Perform ongoing assessment of the team's Agile maturity.
Plan
Plan and implement Software projects.
Plan and lead sprint planning sessions.
Plan and lead sprint retro sessions.
Plan and organize the Scrum strategy.
Plan and oversee multiple projects to completion.
Plan and schedule project time-lines.
Plan, coordinate, track, communicate project activities / status.
Plan deliverables and helping teams monitor performance.
Prepare
Prepare and animate Demos / Retro for each project.
Prepare and present bi-weekly PI Performance Review.
Prepare metrics and reports related to team velocity and defect rates.
Promote
Promote Agile / Scrum values and support team's transformation to Agile / Scrum work practices.
Promote a 'can do' culture build on commitment, openness, focus, respect and courage.
Promote controlled innovation every Sprint based on tracked statistics.
Promote quality, innovation, teamwork, and timely communication of issues / opportunities.
Promote self-organization within the team.
Promote team culture and Agile practices (Agile coach for own team).
Promote team engagement and motivation.
Promote test automation within the team.
Provide
Provide all support to the team using servant leadership style and leading by example.
Provide clarity to stakeholders by producing weekly reports.
Provide hands-on scrum leadership to Agile DevOps team.
Provide information and metrics for project reporting and analytics.
Provide input to and participate in Release Planning.
Provide mentorship to less experienced Scrum Masters.
Provide ongoing input on how to best track and manage a portfolio of work across teams.
Provide real time feedback to the methodology team based on experiences with software delivery teams.
Provide resource performance assessment to department heads for the 'project' component.
Provide schedule, costs forecasts including risk based provisions, and status.
Provide support as necessary to other team members for various projects.
Provide technical, administrative, or operational support.
Provide timely communication throughout the Sprint.
Recommend
Recommend improvements and assist in changes to best practices where appropriate.
Recommend improvements and drive alignment across teams.
Recommend improvements and drive alignment across teams and organization.
Report
Report against project team deliverable / milestones including risks / issue.
Report and escalate issues to management as needed.
Report on the status of sprint work and goals to stakeholders.
Report on team effectiveness by utilizing velocity tracking or other metrics and tools.
Report status on agile project metrics, milestones and deliverables.
Report Team KPIs and Metrics along with risks and issues to the Agile PMO.
Report team performance, and delivery metrics.
Report team progress and accomplishment up and across, including risks and financials.
Represent
Represent data analyst team in project team meetings.
Represent Engineering function in project audits along with Release manager.
Represent team in Scrum of Scrums and biweekly sync with Product Managers / Scrum Masters.
Represent the team in Scrum of Scrums.
Represent your unit in dealings with decision-making bodies.
Resolve
Resolve blockers across the organization to facilitate successful delivery.
Resolve conflicts and issues proactively that occur.
Resolve conflicts and remove obstacles that occur.
Resolve conflicts and remove obstacles that occur, escalate if required.
Resolve or escalate impediments to the team's delivery of value.
Review
Review status reports prepared by project personnel and modifies commitments and plans as required.
Review updates by the team in team tool and time entry system weekly to ensure accuracy.
Schedule
Schedule and facilitate all scrum ceremonies.
Set up
Set up and facilitate iteration planning, daily scrum or stand-ups, demo, and retrospective meetings.
Set up and maintain tools (configure and update Zapier, JIRA, confluence, etc.).
Support
Support and educate the Product Owners on scrum methodologies.
Support and facilitate auditing and reporting.
Support and guide the work of the team, identifying gaps and working with managers.
Support and models appropriate agile practices to improve service / project team performance.
Support and reinforces processes and team agreements.
Support both, planned and unplanned business and IT driven changes during off business hours.
Support building quality in by understanding the security, SOX, compliance and regulatory needs.
Support infrastructure engineers with useful data points on personal effectiveness and task trends.
Support Product Owner ensuring the product backlog is properly refined -.
Support Product Owners in the forecasting, grooming, and estimation of the product backlog.
Support team's automation (testing, pipelines, deployments) / DevOps journey.
Support team vision through backlog grooming.
Support Testing and Quality Assurance on projects prior to release.
Support the Product Owner in prioritizing the backlog and its ongoing maintenance.
Support the Product Owner in the creation of clear epics, stories and requirements.
Support the Product Owner on the release of new features and digital initiatives.
Support the team in driving execution from ideation, to development, through to execution.
Support the team on their understanding of Agile and delivery of a product.
Take
Take a creative approach to Agile ceremonies and events, especially in a remote environment.
Take responsibility for managing dependencies between our team and third parties.
Take initiative and takes a leadership role.
Teach
Teach and mentor Product Owners in Scrum.
Teach and Mentor the team and organization in Agile theory, practices and rules.
Teach problem-solving techniques and empowers the team to resolve.
Teach problem-solving techniques and helps the team become better problem-solvers for themselves.
Teach the team how to interact with themselves (collaboration) and with the organization.
Track
Track agile related metrics for continuous improvement.
Track and communicate team progress, as well as sprint or release progress.
Track and measure client satisfaction levels and make and implement recommendations.
Track and publish prescribed team metrics.
Track dependencies that impacts Product Partner delivery.
Track team delivery on commitments through the use of burndown charts and other visual methods.
Track the execution of projects.
Understand
Understand domain architecture and upstream / downstream dependencies.
Understand and can explain to others the core processes involved in their area of support.
Update
Update activities during the Scrum and communicate all updates / changes to the team.
Update agile tracking systems to provide transparency on Product & Sprint.
Update team's improvement backlog with commitments from the Retrospective.
Work with
Work collaboratively with Business and IT partner teams to support development.
Work on single Train / with a few agile teams.
Work on-site at Austin-based client locations.
Work under minimal supervision on line of business projects requiring creative solutions.
Work with Agile Coaches and other Scrum Masters to grow within the role.
Work with Agile Programs to identify gaps in Agile delivery, and facilitate improvement.
Work with best-of-breed technologies.
Work with CMO, Implementation and business analysis resources to deliver functionality.
Work with customers and team leads to outline release plans.
Work with management team to enable agile work styles.
Work with multi-site project teams across time zones.
Work with PMO on forecasting, record keeping, and cross commit needs.
Work with PMO team members to share lessons learned and continuously improve tools and techniques.
Work with Product Managers to define and groom the backlog to facilitate sprint planning.
Work with stakeholders to prioritize work items by keeping the backlog groomed.
Work with team to break down high level objectives into manageable work tasks.
Work with the Agile team to remove impediments.
Work with the product development teams to address gaps in fulfilling "Done”.
Work with the Product Owner to ensure backlog refinement occurs regularly.
Work with the team leads to resolve people problems and project roadblocks.
Most In-demand Hard Skills
The following list describes the most required technical skills of a Scrum Master:
Software Development
User Stories
Continuous Integration
Scrum Principles
Automated Testing
TDD
Agile Methodology
XP
Business
CSP
Agile Techniques
PMI-ACP
PMP
ATDD
Agile Environment
SDLC
Agile Principles
Lean
Pairing
Java
Agile Delivery
Continuous Testing
PSM
Agile Practices
Servant Leadership
Excel
Financial Services
Rally
Handling Bugs
Agile Games
Agile Coach
Scrum Approach
Devops
Burndown Metrics
Backlog Tracking
Waterfall
Most In-demand Soft Skills
The following list describes the most required soft skills of a Scrum Master:
Written and oral communication skills
Leadership
Organizational capacity
Problem-solving attitude
Interpersonal skills
Facilitation
Analytical ability
Conflict resolution
Collaborative
Mentoring
Attention to detail
Situational awareness
Empowerment
Increasing transparency
Continual improvement
Customer focused
Action-oriented
Planning
Engage others
Negotiation
Time-management
Coaching
Presentation
Adaptable to changes
Self-motivated
Flexible
Creative
Organized
Self-starter
Innovation
Critical thinker
Servant leadership
Team player
Nimble learning
Detail-oriented
Initiative
Bilingualism
Enthusiastic
Influencing
Motivating
