Should Your Scrum Master Be Present at the Daily Scrum?
The Scrum Master’s ultimate goal is a self-sustaining and self-managing team that can collaboratively and successfully reach its goals. The Daily Scrum creates the focus needed for this.
By not being present at the Daily Scrum, the Scrum Master signals trust in the team's ability to inspect the progress towards the Sprint Goal and adapt their Sprint Backlog by solving problems collaboratively. This fosters a culture of responsibility and independence.
While a good Scrum Master's absence from the Daily Scrum can seem puzzling, it often empowers the team, encouraging self-management, reducing dependency, and fostering open communication and peer collaboration.
1. Empowerment and Trust:
The Scrum Master's absence can instil a sense of trust and responsibility within the team, empowering them to take ownership of their work and discussions, knowing they are trusted to navigate their work autonomously.
This empowerment encourages a proactive attitude, where team members step up to solve issues and share progress without relying on external facilitation.
2. Encouraging Self-Management:
One of Scrum's core objectives is fostering an environment for self-managing teams. By not attending the Daily Scrum, the Scrum Master reinforces this.
The team learns to manage their workflow, identify obstacles, and devise solutions independently.
This practice enhances their ability to collaborate and coordinate effectively without any need for supervision, promoting a more resilient and adaptive team dynamic.
3. Reducing Dependency:
Regular attendance by the Scrum Master at the Daily Scrum can lead to a dependency where the team looks to the Scrum Master for direction or validation.
By stepping back, the Scrum Master helps the team build confidence in their decision-making abilities.
This reduction in dependency ensures that the team remains functional and efficient even in the Scrum Master's absence, creating a more sustainable and scalable team environment.
4. Focus on Facilitation:
The Scrum Master is accountable, among other things, for facilitating the removal of impediments. By occasionally stepping back, the Scrum Master can better observe team dynamics and identify areas where better facilitation is needed.
This distance allows the Scrum Master to focus on higher-level impediments and strategically support the team rather than getting bogged down in daily operational details, which the Developers can easily remove independently.
5. Promoting Open Communication:
Without the Scrum Master present, team members might feel more open to discussing their challenges and progress honestly.
Sometimes, the presence of an unneeded facilitator, even a supportive one, can inhibit open communication. The absence of the Scrum Master can create an environment where the team feels they can freely share their thoughts and concerns.
6. Encouraging Peer Collaboration:
When the Scrum Master is absent, team members are likelier to turn to each other for help and support.
This peer collaboration strengthens the team's cohesion and builds a stronger sense of community. Team members develop a habit of relying on each other, which enhances their collective problem-solving skills and fosters a more collaborative and supportive team culture.
The Scrum Master's strategic absence from the Daily Scrum is a powerful tool for cultivating a self-sufficient, empowered, and cohesive team.
By stepping back, the Scrum Master encourages the team to take ownership, enhance their problem-solving skills, and develop more robust communication and collaboration practices, ultimately leading to a more robust and resilient team environment.