Recently I published the whitepaper "The 8 Stances of a Scrum Master". It describes the Scrum Master as a servant leader, coach, facilitator, teacher, mentor, manager, impediment remover and change agent. The whitepaper contains my personal experiences as a Scrum Master and includes my most important findings while researching the 8 different stances by studying books, articles and videos.
Currently I'm working as a Scrum Master for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Together with my fellow Scrum Masters we help each other improve fulfilling the role. Also we want to offer new Scrum Masters guidance and a structured approach in getting up-to-speed. Consider it a mentorship between Scrum Masters.
The white paper with the 8 Scrum Masters stances can be used to offer Scrum Masters an approach to improve themselves:
The assessment is a very lightweight tool. Maybe "assessment" isn't the right name because it doesn't have a comprehensive list of statements or questions. Just study the white paper and use your gut feeling and feedback from other Scrum Masters or team members to determine the score.
The upcoming period I'll offer ideas on how to improve yourself as a Scrum Master taking into account one of the 8 stances. For example:
As you might have noticed I'm using an incremental and iterative approach. First write a blog post for every stance. Merge it into a white paper. Create a lightweight assessment. Add practices, books and other ideas per stance. And maybe... just maybe combine everything into a book :-)
Of course I'm always curious about your ideas. Is this lightweight assessment useful for you? Would you consider it valuable when I add practices, books, and other ideas to improve yourself as a Scrum Master? Any other suggestions to take this to the next level? As always, feedback is appreciated!
Currently I'm working as a Scrum Master for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Together with my fellow Scrum Masters we help each other improve fulfilling the role. Also we want to offer new Scrum Masters guidance and a structured approach in getting up-to-speed. Consider it a mentorship between Scrum Masters.
Ideas for Using the Assessment
The white paper with the 8 Scrum Masters stances can be used to offer Scrum Masters an approach to improve themselves:
- Read, or even better, study the white paper
- Assess yourself or each other using the "Assessment - 8 Stances of a Scrum Master"
- Determine your goal for the upcoming period
- Decide what your actionable next steps are for the upcoming week
- Plan a (bi-)weekly meetup with other Scrum Masters to challenge and support each other
The assessment is a very lightweight tool. Maybe "assessment" isn't the right name because it doesn't have a comprehensive list of statements or questions. Just study the white paper and use your gut feeling and feedback from other Scrum Masters or team members to determine the score.
My Next Steps
The upcoming period I'll offer ideas on how to improve yourself as a Scrum Master taking into account one of the 8 stances. For example:
- What are practices you can try becoming a better facilitator?
- What are books you can read to learn more about coaching?
- What are ideas that can help you improve your teaching skills?
As you might have noticed I'm using an incremental and iterative approach. First write a blog post for every stance. Merge it into a white paper. Create a lightweight assessment. Add practices, books and other ideas per stance. And maybe... just maybe combine everything into a book :-)
Closing
Of course I'm always curious about your ideas. Is this lightweight assessment useful for you? Would you consider it valuable when I add practices, books, and other ideas to improve yourself as a Scrum Master? Any other suggestions to take this to the next level? As always, feedback is appreciated!