PremierAgile

The world is moving swiftly, and it is getting increasingly difficult to meet customer requirements in stipulated time. In this dire situation, a Scrum Master serves as a beacon of hope due to their passion to serve, interpersonal communication skills, team management, and knowledge of the Scrum Framework.

Hence, it is no wonder that more organizations are considering Scrum Masters as a one-person army. The job of the Scrum Master is one of the most promising jobs all over the world. It is heavily dependent on understanding and implementing the Scrum Framework. It also is a role that encourages constant growth and new learnings. If we take a look at the current scenario, the majority of business organizations around the world are implementing the Scrum Framework and hence the demand for the Scrum Master role is growing year after year. The growing demand for this profession has created an influx of new Scrum Masters into the role.

The Career Path of a Scrum Master

Scrum Master is a job that entails a high level of responsibility. While many Scrum Masters are happy with their current positions and their progress till-date, many wonder what opportunities might exist beyond the role. This set of curious Scrum Masters are eager to develop their skills and are constantly looking for new insights as well as opportunities.

The career path for a Scrum Master is always bright, with a wide range of opportunities, a lot to learn, and many learnings to pass on.

Scrum Master as an Agile Coach

A successful Agile Coach needs to develop the ability to coach on a higher level than the Scrum Master, which is often at an executive level. They should be fully aware of the Scrum Framework, its fundamentals, and its principles.

Additionally, they also have to familiarize themselves with concepts such as business agility to be able to better elucidate how an Agile approach can prove to be beneficial to an organization.

Scrum Master as a Product Owner

There are some Scrum Masters who find themselves fascinated by the end product the team is working on and personally works with the team to help them deliver a better product that meets the user's needs. For such an individual, the role of a Product Owner should be the right move. 

As a Product Owner, they have many more responsibilities and also will be empowered to make organizational decisions like managing the budget, planning product release, and much more.

As this is a much higher responsibility, one has to be sure if they can tackle various business challenges before making the move. Likewise, it is also empowering for the team to work with a Product Owner who has a background as a Scrum Master.

However, it is not recommended that the Scrum Master and Product Owner role are played at the same time by the same person.

Become a Mentor

This role is appropriate for those who enjoy working on the Scrum Framework to develop a product, irrespective of what the product might be.

There are some Scrum Masters who are more concerned about the process than the product. They always try to develop more creativity among the team. 

Of course, the role of a Mentor will only be recommended if the Scrum Master has a successful career in their respective field. The main responsibility of a mentor is to provide knowledge and psychological support to the team and guide the team to work effectively based on their past experience.

Become a Manager

Just like the Product Owner, a Manager has many responsibilities and higher authorities in the job. A good manager can motivate an entire group to strive towards a specific goal. It is the quality of a Manager to help their employee and desire to see them grow both personally and professionally. With the knowledge of Scrum, a Manager can provide proper guidance to the team and support them in the right way.

As a transformation expert

A Scrum Master can become the organizational transformation expert by helping not just one team but several teams and departments in the organization. They can coach management teams, customer organizations, other Scrum teams etc. eventually play a crucial role in organizational development and transformation.

Taking a Leadership Role

A Scrum Master should not be confused with a product managerial role. Both roles are quite different. However, some Scrum Masters find it interesting to work closely with the team. This role requires providing the team with proper guidance. 

Scrum Masters finds themselves very good at guiding a team after working as a Scrum Master for some time. Hence, this career option can be a good choice for someone with experience in team management.

Conclusion

A Scrum Master has many duties to perform in an organization, right from maintaining the Developers to helping the organization implement Scrum. However, since their role is ambiguous for some organizations, a Scrum Master ends up taking up numerous job responsibilities and designations. 

Moreover, they also take up many roles like an Agile Coach or a Mentor and work part-time, and impart valuable knowledge for helping the organization move forward with their experience. In the end, due to their versatility, a Scrum Master can find a suitable career path in any organization.