Do We Actually Need A Scrum Master?

In a class recently, a student asked a question that caught me by surprise. He asked if Scrum Master was a necessary role. If the team was fully engaged in approaching the work with an Agile mindset, inspecting, and adapting from one Sprint to the next both with respect to the deliverable AND the way they work together, AND they were self-organizing, then why would they need a Scrum Master? And, if management was imposing a Scrum Master on a team that was functioning this way, wouldn’t that indicate a lack to trust in the team?

These are good questions, and while we discussed the topic during class, I found myself returning to it over and over. What I love about this question is that even though I have an answer to it in my head, the asking the question challenged that. 

In this episode of the podcast, I’m joined by the person who asked the question, Kyle Macey, who works as a Senior Backend Engineer at Chow Now. And, because I wanted to do my best to keep my bias in check during the conversation, I asked a friend, Bjorn Jensen, if he’d be willing to lead the discussion. Bjorn and I volunteer for the Scrum Alliance TAC together. He’s not only a CST with a background in development, Bjorn has a level of openness and calmness that I only wish I could achieve.

drunkenpmradio · Do We Really Need A Scrum Master?

Contacting Kyle Macey

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/itskylemacey
• Web: https://kylemacey.com/

Contacting Bjorn Jensen

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mirouhh
• Web: https://jensen-und-komplizen.de/
• Email: mail@jensen.coach

Responsibility Immersion with Christoper Avery, Henning Wolf, and Patricia Sappenfield

The Responsibility Process is a system that provides you with tools that enable you to develop leadership skills by leading yourself first. Christopher Avery is now offering a 20-week Responsibility Immersion program where a small group of individuals will work together to learn, and deepen their understanding and practice of The Responsibility Process.

This interview features the creator of The Responsibility Process, Christopher Avery, Henning Wolf who is an Accredited Responsibility Mentor and a Certified Responsibility Workshop Leader who leads Responsibility Immersions in Germany, and Patricia Sappenfield, who has recently been through Responsibility Immersion. During the conversation, we discuss what the Responsibility Process is, how Immersion works and how you can learn more about it in advance of the workshop to make sure it is right for you. 

This interview is being posted in advance of the September 2021 Responsibility Immersion which begins on September 8. For more information please go to: https://responsibility.com/immersion

An audio-only version can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/drunkenpmradio/responsibility-immersion-august-2021

Contact Info:

• Christopher Avery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopheravery/
• Henning Wolf: https://www.selbstfuehren.de
• Patricia Sappenfield: patricia_sappenfield@baylor.edu
• Dave Prior: https://drunkenpm.blogspot.com/