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As many organizations are making a shift from the traditional software methodologies and are leveraging towards the Agile Methodology, the Agile industries have boomed in the past several years. The companies prefer to use the new-age Agile technologies as they want to remain competitive in the market and reach out faster to the customers and the user than their competitors. By adopting Agile, most of the companies have chosen the Scrum Framework to work on the Agile principles to develop and deliver the product. They use Scrum values and principles to process a disciplined product management practice. As Agile always supports iterative development, teamwork, frequent feedback, and frequent delivery with a high-built, more companies have planned to implement in the coming years and companies who have already implemented tend to maintain and grow with Agile Methodology.

What is Scrum?

Scrum is a framework that uses Agile principles and values to develop complex development practices. It is a process framework that is used by organizations that are seeking to develop products in an iterative approach. Scrum develops product increments in the form of short cycles called Sprints which lasts for weeks. Scrum provides many robust features that bring transparency in the process of product development. 

Some of the important characteristics of Scrum are:

• Faster development 
• Self-organized teams
• Lightweight framework
• Ability to adapt itself to changing market conditions.
• Time-boxed activities
• An iterative and incremental approach

Scrum is a simple and concise framework that can be used easily to develop the products. Implementing Scrum in an organization may be a tedious task and requires the cooperation of several members of the organization. Professionals like Scrum Masters are required to manage the Scrum Team and the operations of the Scrum Framework.

What is Scrum Master?

A Scrum Master is a professional who acts as a servant leader and guides the Scrum Team during product development and delivery. They are one of the Scrum Teams and take decisions when the team cannot decide away during the process of development. A Scrum Master has many roles and responsibilities which has to be completed such that the Scrum project is successful. Organizing Scrum Events, listening and understanding the impediments of the Developer, and solving any problems that create a hurdle in product development are a few of the important duties of a Scrum Master. 

As with many professionals, many Scrum Masters may make mistakes that may hamper the development process. This causes a delay in the delivery of the product and can also affect the quality of the product. To understand the Scrum Master mistakes, let us look at a few of the common mistakes a Scrum Master makes, and how to avoid them.

Common Mistakes of a Scrum Master and How to avoid them?

1. Not conducting Retrospectives

Sprint Retrospective meetings are one of the important Scrum Events that are conducted so that the team members can understand what mistakes they performed in the previous Sprint and learn from them such that they do not repeat them in the upcoming Sprints. Few Scrum Masters may feel that retrospectives are not worth the time and are time-consuming, hence, skip them and conduct other Scrum Events. This is one of the common mistakes by Scrum Master that has to be avoided. Conducting retrospective meetings can help the team assess a project and increase the team's efficiency. Teams can make detailed notes of work completed, pending tasks which will enable them to develop continuous development. Retrospectives can be structured into five steps:

• Stage setting
• Data Gathering
• Generating insights
• Decide what all to do
• Closing of the Retrospective

Some of the important benefits of doing Retrospectives are:

• Gives space for team members to express their views and opinions in an effective way.
• The Scrum Team becomes more Agile.
• The Development process is enhanced with increased Retrospective meetings.
• It can be a mode of getting feedback and improving the process and also oneself.

Different ways of conducting Retrospective meetings

• High-performance tree: This technique aids the team members to create a vision for themselves that helps them to improve their overall performance.
• Sailboat: This technique helps the members to know the risk involved in their path and also create their vision with the knowledge of risks. It also introduces new ways to achieve their objectives.
• Lego retrospective: In this technique, the members of the team are encouraged to express their thoughts in a much playful way.
• Kudos cards: This is a technique used to reward the team members for their effort and hard work.

2. Lax Daily Scrum Meetings

The Daily Stand-up is a Scrum Event that occurs every day where the Developer members discuss their accomplishments of the previous day and their agenda for the day. It plays a crucial role in communication, collaboration, and understanding between the team members. Though Scrum Master need not necessarily conduct Daily Scrum Meetings, usually they facilitate especially when teams are still in initial stages. Not conducting daily stand-ups or having lax daily stand-ups where the conversations do not focus on the subject, would mean that the members are not connected and do not have ideas about other people's ideas for the project. The Scrum Master must conduct these daily stand-ups and keep these meetings time-boxed. Daily stand-ups should not be more than 15 minutes and should be aimed at bringing more transparency and visibility into the given project.

To avoid ambiguity in daily stand-ups, these three questions should be answered.

• What has been accomplished yesterday?
• What are the objectives to be accomplished today?
• What are the obstacles faced during the development process?

Daily Stand-ups should be done to discuss issues and challenges and can happen in distributed mode. Scrum Master along with other members should complete this in an ongoing way.

3. Scrum Master acting as a Mediator to the Product Owner and Developer

One of the common mistakes that the Scrum Master performs is that they act as the mediator between the Developer and Product Owner. The Scrum Master should act as a servant leader and may also act as one of the members of the Developer. Acting as a mediator between the Product Owner and the Developer could delay the process of development as the Scrum Master may not always be available. Also, the Scrum Master may have many other issues to handle, this could create a loss in communication about what the team member asked for and what the Scrum Master understood and communicated thereon. 

To avoid all these instances, the Scrum Master should not become a bridge between the PO and the team but instead, reduce the gap between them. Scrum Master should encourage the team members to communicate with the PO and get their doubts cleared. They should also communicate and collaborate and perform as a self-organizing team that does not need the Scrum Master most of the time. Hence, there should not be any mediators between the members and all the communication should take place directly.

4. Being the assistant of the team

A Scrum Master is considered as a servant leader where they help the other members when they need any help or when they are stuck in an obstacle. Many Scrum Master believes that the Scrum Master's role is only to assist the team members and help them during their obstacles. However, solving the problems every time and assisting the team members would create unreliable team members who cannot solve their complexities on their own. It creates unconfident people who always rely on Scrum Master for any help and do not take ownership of their actions. 

A Scrum Master should always create awareness among the team about how to anticipate and solve the problems on their own such that they gain ownership of their actions and take responsibility. As the team discovers newer ways to solve their obstacles, they grow as an individual and enhance their knowledge and confidence in Scrum. A Scrum Master should always encourage the team members to solve their problems on their own such that they become a self-organizing team in the coming time.

5. Scrum Master having the sole responsibility of the delivery

A common problem with organizations who have recently implemented Agile Methodology is that they believe that a single person is responsible for the delivery of the product. In traditional companies, the command and control method was being followed where a specific person was accountable for all the project tasks, making impediments-free management, simple, and more comforting. In Scrum, the Scrum Master is given the responsibility for the product delivery. Hence, they only concentrate on product delivery and not on the quality of the product.

To avoid this, the Scrum Master has to plan projects collectively where everyone is responsible for the product quality and product delivery. The responsibility has to be shared by everyone on the Scrum Team and each person has to adhere to the commitments and understand the targets of the project and find the ways to achieve that.

6. Not raising the obstacles in initial Stages

One of the primary functions of the Scrum Master is to communicate the impediments so that work is done efficiently. Waiting to raise an obstacle until it has become a bigger issue is one of the common mistakes that Scrum Masters make. It is not until the product increment is fully developed, that the Scrum Master identifies the error of the Developer. However, until that phase, more time and effort has been spent in the process. This leads to a delay in the delivery of the product and also the lower quality of the product manufactured. To avoid this issue, the Scrum Master has to identify any issue before the entire Developer works on it.

Team members should be encouraged to communicate during the Daily Standups to communicate any issues that are impeding their work and should be brought to the Scrum Master immediately. Scrum Master should remind the team to bring up even potential obstacles that may cause any blockage such that such scenarios can be avoided. If there is any chance that something can delay their work, it is always well and good to bring it to the notice of the whole team and the Scrum Master during the daily stand-ups.

7. Confusing between the roles of Scrum Master and Project Manager

A Scrum Master's role differs from the role of the Project Manager. The Scrum Master's roles are constant as they perform the tasks that are already defined by the Scrum Framework. A Project Manager's role, however, varies as the project evolves. Project Managers have more of a command and control mentality which varies greatly from the Agile Methodology. They are considered as leaders that only assign tasks and dictate the efforts of the team members. However, the Scrum Team is a self-organizing team where each individual is responsible for their actions and takes ownership of their work. They are responsible for the task they are assigned. Here the Scrum Master is a servant leader and helps out the team whenever they are facing any issues. They do not have the authority to dictate terms to the team. The team learns to become better in their work by collaborating and delivers greater value and efficiency through regular inspection and adaptation. 

Hence, the Scrum Master should understand their role clearly and also make the team understand how the Scrum Framework works. Scrum Master should not dictate the tasks to the team, but help the team understand their potential and instruct them about any problems in the process. Team members should learn by experience whether they are good or bad and bring out their best during the product development process. They should be allowed to make mistakes and should learn from them. This helps the entire Scrum Team to attain the satisfaction of becoming a productive team on their own. 

8. Expecting an easy transformation to Agile and Scrum

Scrum Masters are often hired by companies to transform the organization into an Agile environment. They are expected to easily transform the company's working pattern and expect all the benefits of Agile. But merely cutting down the requirements into user stories, beginning Daily Stand-ups, and developing software within two-three weeks should not be considered as Agile. The product development may see some improvement with faster ability to adapt to changes, efficient working software, etc. however, it would not be long that Agile transformation may fail to reach its full potential. 

Scrum Masters should consider taking the initial period of implementing Agile very slowly and try to create an Agile mindset in the members of the organization. It always would start messy and the transformation may also expose the existing corporate issues and cultural problems. All of these problems such as poor communication. Lack of accountability, distrust, etc should be taken care of. Effective Agile transformation is a change of culture of the entire organization. Proper time should be given by all the members of the organization including the Scrum Master, such that the transformation can take place effectively.  

9. Practicing without Principles

Practicing the Scrum Events, filling Scrum roles, and using Scrum Artifacts may seem that Scrum practices are properly implemented. However, it is only half the battle for a company in becoming Agile. Practicing the Scrum Framework without practicing the Agile principles would not make the organization sustainable in the long run. Often Scrum Master neglects to implement the principle of Agile during practicing Scrum. As principles are much harder to incorporate than practices, many companies fall short and do not perform the harder parts. Scrum Master should first understand the principles and apply the techniques by fully understanding why they are doing it. As Agile is about the people, interactions, and culture, not processes, practices, and tools, Scrum Masters and the entire Scrum Team should always incorporate the principles during their practices. 

10. Wait for someone else to initiate a change

Often Scrum Masters believe that someone is responsible for initiating a change when the organization does not move forward. They become reluctant to initiate a change and do not take any ownership or leadership for the organization. Waiting for someone else to initiate a change is a common mistake performed by a Scrum Master. It is the responsibility of each individual to initiate a change, hence, a Scrum Master should become a change agent and should take the responsibility of transforming the organization into a more efficient Agile company. 

Conclusion

As mistakes are inevitable, Scrum Master commits certain mistakes in their journey in making the company Agile. Learning from one's mistake is a good virtue, however, learning from the other's mistakes would make the person more productive and efficient. They would possess a greater virtue and would always keep learning from others. Scrum Masters are an integral part of the Scrum Team and are essential for the success of any Scrum Team. When Scrum Master commits mistakes, it costs the entire organization. By learning from the mistakes of other Scrum Master, a proper development process would take place. Agile teams formed by the Scrum Master would be excellent, and all the benefits of the Scrum Framework can be extracted by the organization. Also, the Scrum Master would be recognized as a Scrum expert and would have a great reputation in the organization. Hence, by avoiding common mistakes and performing their work flawlessly, Scrum Masters would prove to be an asset to the organization.

References

1. https://dzone.com/articles/10-common-Scrum-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them
2. https://agile-Scrum.com/2019/05/08/10-most-common-mistakes-of-Scrummaster/
3. https://www.tothenew.com/blog/10-common-Scrum-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid/

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