A scrum master must possess a set of specific skills to create the right balance and ensure that the scrum does the best it possibly can for the business. Here are 10 essential skills that every scrum master must have.
Image Credit
1. Be able to facilitate meetings
The scrum master is someone who facilitates a scrum meeting, reminding the team of its goals and how it has chosen to meet them.
2. Be prepared to protect the team
The scrum master is tasked with the job of protecting his or her team. This means they ensure the team members do not over-commit themselves to what can be achieved, while also stopping them becoming complacent.
3. Find ways to resolve conflicts
The scrum master must do all they can to make meetings stay on target; as such, they need to find suitable ways to prevent conflicts getting in the way of progress.
4. Be able to coach agile practices
The scrum master should be trained in agile practices so that they can coach the team successfully.
5. Have a good knowledge of agile estimating and planning
To get a good grip of agile estimating and planning, professionals can attend a scrum master training Dublin course from a provider such as https://www.althris.com/courses/scrum-master/.
6. Be good at forecasting
While the scrum master does not make decisions, his or her position is to guide the team towards progress; therefore, knowing the implications of not achieving a particular goal is paramount.
7. Be able to remove impediments
The scrum master is responsible for doing everything possible to help the team to progress, which means working with the product owner to get the backlog in good shape.
8. Be a channel of communication
The scrum master can be anyone, but the key to this position is that he or she must be a communication channel for the team and the key stakeholder or product owner.
9. Be prepared to be a servant leader
Although the scrum master is like a coach, the individual has no authority other than that granted to him or her by the team.
10. Be strong enough to enforce rules
Despite balancing a position of leadership with one that has no authority, the scrum master must be dominant enough to enforce the rules of the scrum.