Published on May 18th, 2020 | by Sunit Nandi

What does a Scrum Master do daily

Like every working IT professional, you are keen to advance further in your career. Towards this end, you will need to equip yourself with a few certifications. However, the growing number of certification courses can prove to be quite confusing! Maybe, if you take an in-depth look at your personality, it might help. For instance, you may possess excellent communication skills, have healthy problem-solving capabilities, and find multi-tasking easy. Such talents are suitable for becoming a scrum master.

You will need to apply for a certification course. After all, your existing knowledge about this position is somewhat limited in nature. Ensure that you sign up for a course at a genuine coaching center only. For instance, if you sign up for the Agile Scrum Master certification, you gain access to a reputed institute, personal mentoring, and well-qualified trainers. If you want to know more, visit.

The Certification Program

The Scrum Alliance awards all scrum master certifications. The Alliance is keen to help IT professionals gain an improved understanding of Scrum methodologies. In turn, they should be able to use them efficaciously and effectively wherever and whenever needed.

Eligibility

It could be that you are eager to take up a management role in an organization. Well, becoming an agile scrum master is one way of doing it! However, the course can prove extremely beneficial for developers in scrum teams, team leaders, product owners, project managers, and scrum masters. It is also suitable for teams who are keen to transition to scrum. Managers of Scrum teams may find this certification valid for future promotions.

Examination

It is important to clear an online examination at the end of the training program. There are no essay-type questions, and the entire questionnaire is in the multiple-choice format. You will have 60 minutes to answer 50 questions. Note that you must be quick and accurate in answering them. Unless you receive at least 37 answers correct, you will not be able to display a pass percentage of 75%. If you fail to clear the exam, you may retake it immediately.

Certification

Once you gain the agile scrum master certification, it remains valid for a lifetime. There is no renewal. At the same time, the Scrum Alliance expects to affix your signature on its license agreement. After the license comes through, you will have to fill in the details on your membership form on the Scrum Alliance website. Later on, you may even strive to attain advanced certifications. Whatever you opt for, as a scrum master, you will be able to urge your team to develop, as well as deliver only quality products to consumers.

Daily Tasks of a Scrum Master

Your employer will have your roles and responsibilities outlined for you. You may have to perform certain duties daily. You may relegate the others to weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. Whatever is the case, it would be good to approach each day with an open mind. Have a certain amount of curiosity, too, as to what the day will bring to your plate! Similarly, keep formulating strategies to promote creativity and empowerment within your designated team. After all, you are here to set up a healthy working environment wherein your team members, product owners, and others work in harmony.

It is imperative to keep your team updated on every aspect related to a project. Otherwise, it will not move forward. Therefore, it is essential to set up a meeting every day with your team. This is the daily standup. The agenda for the meeting focuses on three questions. The first one initiates a discussion on the previous day’s activities. The second one requests each team member to outline what he/she would do that day. The third question concentrates on obstacles/hindrances to effective performance. Should the team face any obstacles during the course of the day, how did they intend to tackle them? Remember to listen and observe more, instead of talking all the time. You may have to adopt diverse roles along the way. For instance, you could be the coach/teacher/mentor. You could be the facilitator/manager. You might have to become the problem solver or resolver of conflicts.

Another daily task is to ensure that your team members remain motivated throughout the development sprint. Therefore, you must connect to each individual, ensuring that he/she is handling the appropriate tasks, and in a proper manner. Individual contribution is as significant as group contribution. Should any team member feel that there is something blocking progress, it will be your job to remove the obstacle. You may opt for improvement in the process or the workflow.

By keeping track of everything daily, you ensure that even the product owner remains satisfied. You must make sure that the product owner, organization, and various stakeholders in your project remain updated about progress, always.

From the time you enter your workplace in the morning until it is time to leave, you must appear busy. Your team members derive inspiration from you. Therefore, you must set an example of working diligently throughout the day.

Regular Responsibilities of the Scrum Master

Tackling the scrum process is a working lifetime’s responsibility! You use the agile methodology to bring about coordination and cooperation within your team. This is possible by removing impediments to progress immediately.

You are also responsible for arranging all kinds of meetings with diverse groups. Sometimes, you have to schedule demos. At other times, you have to engage in the decision-making process.

Organizing retrospective meetings and sprint planning meetings are other duties that you have to perform. The product owner would appreciate your help in creating simple product backlogs for presenting at sprint meetings. You must also invite feedback from your team and all the stakeholders in the concerned project. This feedback goes into a detailed report for your employer to view.

The team looks upon you as its protector. Therefore, you must go all out to shield the team members against outside interferences and distractions.

Other roles that you take up are those of administrators on the Scrum Board and internal consultant for stakeholders.

Tags: daily, Scrum master

About the Author

Sunit Nandi I'm the leader of Techno FAQ. Also an engineering college student with immense interest in science and technology. Other interests include literature, coin collecting, gardening and photography. Always wish to live life like there's no tomorrow.