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1 Tip I Would Give To A Scrum Master On The Beginning of Their Journey

Marcin Konkel

Nov 4, 2022

I have worked as a Scrum Master/Agile Coach for almost 10 years. I had my ups and downs and what I can tell you is that you need to choose your battles wisely, not to burn out and make an impact. Here’s what that means to me in 4 main points 👇🏼 #scrummaster #agile #work

It’s a journey

All of the org have their flaws. Many of them will be there for years to come. You won’t fix everything and definitely won’t change anyone. Focus on an initiative with the highest leverage, make it good enough and iterate with the next.

It’s not important to focus on predictability if the team is delivering crap each sprint. Due to your profession you might see inefficiencies everywhere. Learn to accept that they are there. Let go and take it one nudge at a time.

Focus will make you win quicker

Walk your talk and double down on removing a single impediment for your team to do the best work of their lives and keep on discovering and delivering value to the end-user. It builds trust.

Build trust

To make bigger waves, people need to see they can trust you and that you’re both fighting for the exact cause. Show up, and do the hard work. Some will become your advocates when they see they can count on you even if you don’t always agree on things.

Be loyal or take care of yourself and quit

You can change a company or change a company. If an approach or set of values you see in your org does not resonate, you have two choices. You can either show a better way to reach their goals or quit. Don’t sabotage the system.

It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission, and it’s nice to be a rebel now and then. That said, if you sabotage the strategy and incite resistance instead of showing value, new possibilities, and a mirror to the, org-you are just being unprofessional and harmful.

If you did everything you could, and nothing worked, take care of your mental health and move on. I’ve been there, done my introspections, and been respectful and all. Sometimes it just won’t work, and that’s okay for both parties.

Don’t forget to have fun while doing the above.