March 14, 2021
Vasco Duarte returns to the podcast to discuss the Scrum Master. Scrum Masters are the face of agile in many organizations. Helping team facilitators get the role right benefits not only the agile community but every business they are involved with!
(more…)October 13, 2019
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This week in SPaMCAST 568 marks the return of Sandeep Koorse. Sandeep brings deep insight into the Agile mindset, passion, and experimentation. All three are required for a healthy team. Sandeep last appeared as part of SPaMCAST 511.
Sandeep is an innovative leader with over 15 years of experience in helping companies achieve higher results through a careful evaluation of their processes and their technology. Known for determining the metrics and behaviors that promote consistent excellence then sharing those values with colleagues through influence and authority. Recognized by peers for exceptional problem-solving abilities, excellent communication skills, and a passion for the community. Reach out to Sandeep at sandeep@koorse.com (more…)
August 19, 2018
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SPaMCAST 508 features our interview with Vasco Duarte! Vasco and I discuss vision and product owners. The product owner role is crucial. To be effective, the product owner must be able to articulate a vision for the product they champion.
Vasco Duarte’s Bio in his own words:
I want to transform product development organizations into product business organizations. I do that by focusing the work of the product development teams on the end-to-end life-cycle of their products. From Concept to Cash and Back!
Currently a Managing Partner at Oikosofy.
Product Manager, Scrum Master, Project Manager, Director, Agile Coach are only some of the roles that I’ve taken in software development organizations. Having worked in the software industry since 1997, and Agile practitioner since 2004. I’ve worked in small, medium and large software organizations as an Agile Coach or leader in agile adoption at those organizations.
I was one of the leaders and catalysts of Agile methods and Agile culture adoption at Avira, Nokia, and F-Secure.
I host a daily podcast where I interview Scrum Masters about their daily challenges and insights: https://scrum-master-toolbox.org/
You can read more from me at my blog: http://SoftwareDevelopmentToday.com
You can join me on twitter: @duarte_vasco
Re-Read Saturday News
In week 4 of re-read of The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (use the link and buy a copy so you can read along) we tackle Chapter 3, The End Of The Master Builder. In Chapter 3 Gawande identifies the scenarios in which checklists have an impact. Checklists provide value even in the most complicated scenarios.
Current Installment:
Week 4 – The End Of The Master Builder – https://bit.ly/2BmIGBc (more…)
April 28, 2016
What’s the difference between an Agile coach and a scrum master? A quick internet search returns a variety of competing opinions (and a lot of ads for training classes). This is not an arbitrary question – these terms have a great deal of power to set expectations for behavior. While some of the components of the roles are similar, the two roles are different in at least one major way – scope.
Both Agile coaches and scrum masters help teams. Both roles are tasked with helping Agile teams use Agile values and practices to deliver value to the organization. Agile coaches and scrum masters use similar techniques to guide, facilitate, and coach teams so that they learn and use Agile techniques, confront delivery problems as they occur, and work together as a well-oiled unit. If we stopped here the two roles would be the same. However, the scope of the two roles is different.
Agile coaches typically pursue the implementation of an organizational vision of Agile, or are tasked with delivering external knowledge and expertise to a team. In both cases the coach is external and is not a member any specific project team. In order to effect change from the outside the project, the coach needs a broader exposure to Agile roles than a typical scrum master. A coach should have played all of roles on an Agile team multiple times. They have the gravitas to influence without direct authority and from outside the team. They interact with a team or teams, and then let the team synthesize and internalize the advice. The Agile coach is typically the voice of Agile at an organizational level. This generally requires broader exposure and experience with Agile techniques, which is why many organizations use external consultants to play this role. The need for an Agile coach is generally transitory, specifically they are needed when external injections of knowledge or energy is necessary to help ensure the application of Agile continues to evolve.
On the other hand, the scrum master is the team’s tactical coach (scrum defines the team as the scrum master, product owner and the development team). He/she facilitates the team’s use of Agile techniques and helps to protect the team from the outside world. Scrum masters are the voice of the process at the team level. Scrum masters are a critical member of every Agile team. The team’s need for a scrum master is not transitory because they evolve together as a team.
The role of an Agile coach and that of scrum master have similarities, but also significant differences.
October 1, 2015
For a Product Owner, a larger teams means more complexity!
As organizations find that using Agile delivers higher levels customer satisfaction, higher quality and greater efficiency and effectiveness, they try Agile in more situations. One of the most common scenarios that organizations struggle with as they expand their use of Agile is with larger and larger projects. One common stumbling block is implementing the product owner at scale. Getting the product owner role wrong is a problem. The product owner plays a pivotal role in an Agile project. One of the critical aspects of the product owner role is the relationship between the product owner and the team, stakeholders/customers and Scrum masters. As projects are scaled, these relationships become more complicated.
Product Owner to Team(s): On paper, the relationship between a product owner and team is fairly straightforward. The product owner owns and prioritizes the backlog, provides a product vision, involves customers, users, and other stakeholders and collaborates with others on the team. But, the role is more complicated; the product owner is also a leader, mentor, politician, and confidant, just to name a few roles. Add more teams to a product owner’s plate, and the relationships get even more complicated because the number of possible combinations required at any one time increases.
Product Owner to Stakeholders/Customers: The product owner is the primary facilitator and connector between the team or teams and external stakeholders. The product owner gathers needs and priorities that he or she leverages to prioritize the backlog. As projects become larger, the pool of stakeholders and customers will increases, which will complicate the role of the product owner. It requires judgment and tools to balance needs as in order to prioritize. As a project grows the number of groups of customers and stakeholders generally increase.
Product Owner to Scrum Master(s): The relationship between the product owner and Scrum Master(s) should be fairly straightforward. The product owner prioritizes, makes decisions and connects the team with stakeholders, while the Scrum Master mentors and facilitates the team. My observation is that real life is more complicated. The two roles often blur based on the personalities of the people involved. As the number of teams and Scrum Masters increase things get messy if roles blur. Since the relationship between each combination of product owner, Scrum Master and team might be slightly different, it will be difficult to predict the outcomes of interactions as people and groups involved in the project randomly work together.
If a large project chooses to leverage several product owners, the potential combination of relationships between the additional product owners and the stakeholders, teams and Scrum Masters increases dramatically, as does the level of complexity. We will discuss this possibility later in this series on scaled product owners.
The relationship between product owners and other constituencies in a project gets more complex as the number of parties increase. Complexity requires a proactive mitigation to avoid the possible negative aspects, such as communication failure, quality issues, reduction in efficiency or simple project failure. We will tackle techniques to mitigate the complexity that scaling an Agile project can cause in the product owner role in the next installment.
November 9, 2014
Listen to the podcast.
SPaMCAST 315 features our essay on Scrum Masters. Scrum Masters are the voice of the process at the team level. Scrum Masters are a critical member of every Agile team. The team’s need for a Scrum Master is not transitory because they evolve together as a team.
In this edition of the Software Process and Measurement Cast we debut a new column. Gene Hughson brings the wisdom from his Form Follows Function blog to the SPaMCAST. Gene appeared on SPaMCAST 268 to talk architecture, people and process. We are glad to have him back on a regular basis. This first column discusses the idea that quick fixes might not always be the right answer!
The essay on Scrum Masters begins:
The difference between facilitating and enabling is at the core of the Agile concept of self-organizing and self-managing teams. An effective scrum master should be a facilitator in a well functioning Agile team. However, when there is a breakdown in a self-organizing and self-managing team, sometimes scrum masters become enablers. This makes scrum masters more like project managers. A facilitator helps to unstick something that has stopped or creates an environment where progress can be made by the team. An enabler provides the team with permission for making a decision. For example, I recently watched as a team asked their scrum master if they were allowed to hold an interim show and tell/demonstration to prompt the product owner for feedback. The team saw the scrum master as an enabler rather than a facilitator.
Listen to the rest on the Software Process and Measurement Cast!
Call to action!
What are the two books that have most influenced you career (business, technical or philosophical)? Send the titles to spamcastinfo@gmail.com. What will we do with this list? We have two ideas. First, we will compile a list and publish it on the blog. Second, we will use the list to drive “Re-read” Saturday. Re-read Saturday is an exciting new feature that bagan on the Software Process and Measurement blog on November 8th with a re-read of Leading Change. So feel free to choose you platform and send an email, leave a message on the blog, Facebook or just tweet the list (use hashtag #SPaMCAST)!
Next
SPaMCAST 316 features a return visit from Dr. David Rico. We talked about the cost of quality and Agile. Does Agile impact the cost of quality? Dr. Rico walks us through the evidence that not only does Agile improve customer satisfaction but it also improve the cost of quality. If you are interested in effectiveness, efficiency and quality then this interview for you!
Upcoming Events
DCG Webinars:
How to Split User Stories
Date: November 20th, 2014
Time: 12:30pm EST
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The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor.
As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI’s mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world’s leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI.
Shameless Ad for my book!
Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here.
Available in English and Chinese.
In this edition of the Software Process and Measurement Cast we debut a new column. Gene Hughson brings the wisdom from his Form Follows Function blog to the SPaMCAST. Gene appeared on SPaMCAST 268 to talk architecture, people and process. We are glad to have him back on a regular basis. This first column discusses the idea that quick fixes might not always be the right answer!
The essay on Scrum Masters begins:
The difference between facilitating and enabling is at the core of the Agile concept of self-organizing and self-managing teams. An effective scrum master should be a facilitator in a well functioning Agile team. However, when there is a breakdown in a self-organizing and self-managing team, sometimes scrum masters become enablers. This makes scrum masters more like project managers. A facilitator helps to unstick something that has stopped or creates an environment where progress can be made by the team. An enabler provides the team with permission for making a decision. For example, I recently watched as a team asked their scrum master if they were allowed to hold an interim show and tell/demonstration to prompt the product owner for feedback. The team saw the scrum master as an enabler rather than a facilitator.
Listen to the rest on the Software Process and Measurement Cast!
Call to action!
What are the two books that have most influenced you career (business, technical or philosophical)? Send the titles to spamcastinfo@gmail.com. What will we do with this list? We have two ideas. First, we will compile a list and publish it on the blog. Second, we will use the list to drive “Re-read” Saturday. Re-read Saturday is an exciting new feature that bagan on the Software Process and Measurement blog on November 8th with a re-read of Leading Change. So feel free to choose you platform and send an email, leave a message on the blog, Facebook or just tweet the list (use hashtag #SPaMCAST)!
Next
SPaMCAST 316 features a return visit from Dr. David Rico. We talked about the cost of quality and Agile. Does Agile impact the cost of quality? Dr. Rico walks us through the evidence that not only does Agile improve customer satisfaction but it also improve the cost of quality. If you are interested in effectiveness, efficiency and quality then this interview for you!
Upcoming Events
DCG Webinars:
How to Split User Stories
Date: November 20th, 2014
Time: 12:30pm EST
Register Now
The Software Process and Measurement Cast has a sponsor.
As many you know I do at least one webinar for the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) every year. The ITMPI provides a great service to the IT profession. ITMPI’s mission is to pull together the expertise and educational efforts of the world’s leading IT thought leaders and to create a single online destination where IT practitioners and executives can meet all of their educational and professional development needs. The ITMPI offers a premium membership that gives members unlimited free access to 400 PDU accredited webinar recordings, and waives the PDU processing fees on all live and recorded webinars. The Software Process and Measurement Cast some support if you sign up here. All the revenue our sponsorship generates goes for bandwidth, hosting and new cool equipment to create more and better content for you. Support the SPaMCAST and learn from the ITMPI.
Shameless Ad for my book!
Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received unsolicited reviews like the following: “This book will prove that software projects should not be a tedious process, neither for you or your team.” Support SPaMCAST by buying the book here.
Available in English and Chinese.
September 3, 2014
Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that the project sponsor can fill all roles.
Project sponsors play a critical role in all projects. Sponsor’s typically are senior leaders in an organization with operational roles that make playing multiple roles on a project difficult at best. Project sponsors have the bandwidth to take on the project sponsor role, their day job and no other project role, therefore project sponsors are not project managers, Scrum masters or product owners.
Project managers develop plans, report and track progress, assign work and manage resources. Sponsors, on the other hand, provide direction and access to resources. Sponsors are informed by the project manager. On large or medium sized projects, the project manager role is generally a full-time position while the sponsor (generally a member of senior management) spends the majority of his or her time managing a portion of the business rather than a specific project.
In Agile projects the roles of the project sponsor and Scrum master are sometimes confused. A Scrum master facilitates the team. The Scrum master continuously interacts with the team ironing out the interpersonal conflicts, focusing the team on the flow of work and ensuring that nothing blocks the team from achieving their sprint goals. The sponsor provides motivation and exposure for the team at a higher level. A sponsor has issues and blockages escalated to them when they are outside of the team’s span of control. As with the project manager role, the Scrum master’s role provides intimate day-to-day, hour-to-hour support for the team while the sponsor is involved when needed or called upon.
Rarely is the sponsor the product owner. The only time I have seen the two roles combined is in very small organizations or in very small projects (and it wasn’t a great idea in either case). While both roles represent the voice of the business and the organization, a sponsor typically brings significantly more hierarchical power to the table. This positional power tends to dampen important Agile behaviors such as collaboration and self-organization. The product owner role will draw significantly on the time and focus of the project sponsor, which can cause them to take their eye off the direction of the business having negative ramifications.
As noted in The Role of The Project Sponsor, sponsors provide teams with a goal or vision, with access to resources and the political support needed to stay focused. The role can’t be played well by those in the organization without the needed sources of power, interest and resources needed to empower the project. Nor can someone play the role without the time needed to invest in the role. Project sponsors are typically senior leaders within an organization that are tied closely to the day-to-day operations of the organization, which makes it difficult if not impossible for them to play the role of project manager, Scrum master or product owner.
March 15, 2014
It Takes A Team
Hand Drawn Chart Saturday
An Agile team is comprised of a product owner, team members (all disciplines needed to deliver the project) and the scrum master. Delivering on the team’s commitment is the ultimate measure of value. The scrum master helps to create an environment for the team to work together. Over the life of a project, everyone on the team has to lead and facilitate for the team to effectively deliver value.
Leadership in Agile projects has multiple layers. Product owners provide visionary leadership. Scrum masters provide process leadership and day-to-day leadership is more situational and generally defused across the entire team. Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, leadership gurus and authors, have both written that effective leadership is task-relevant. Task-relevant means that the task will determine the type of leadership and in an Agile who provides that leadership. The focus of any Agile team changes over the life of project based on both on the stories being worked on and the barriers being addressed. As the focus changes, the mantle of tactical leadership typically changes. In a typical sprint, the product owner’s leadership will be most apparent during story grooming and planning as the focus changes to analysis and construction development personal provide leadership. When the focus turns to proving that a story is done the focus changes again and the testing role typically provides leadership until the team drives a story to completion when the cycle begins again. The scrum master facilitates that ebb and flow reflecting their own form of leadership.
The primary role of a scrum master is as a facilitator. That responsibility does not have to be shouldered alone. All team members are responsible for keeping work flowing, for unsticking work when it gets stuck and for helping to create an environment to maximize the delivery of value. Every member of the team has eyes and ears and within the boundary and intimacy of the team and the responsibility to help each other meet their common goals.
While a product owner prioritizes and a scrum master facilitates, it takes a whole team to deliver. The whole team is responsible for getting the job done which means that at different times in different situations different members will need to provide leadership. Every team member brings their senses to the project-party, which makes all of them responsible looking for trouble and then helping to resolve it even if there isn’t a scrum master around.
March 14, 2014
Divided loyalties makes for a bad scrum master. Don’t be a fox watching the hen house!
Not everyone who has the characteristics of a scrum master should be a scrum master. Here are five very simple guidelines to let you know who shouldn’t be the scrum master:
Finding a scrum master begins with understanding the role and finding a person that has the necessary characteristics. Next, does the person have the time and the passion? Finally consider whether there are conflicts of interests that using a product owner or line manager can cause.
March 13, 2014
What are the characteristics of an effective scrum master? Different projects, team and organizations could generate an infinite set of lists with an infinite number of attributes, but the core attributes of a scrum master are:
An effective scrum master makes the team better by prioritizing the team’s common goal. Staffing a scrum master position is more than just repurposing a project manager or business analyst, rather it is means finding an individual that can facilitate delivering value as part of team.
Software Process and Measurement 