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Scrum Master Best Practices
Scrum Masters are servant leaders who help teams reach their full potential—not project managers who assign tasks and track hours. GitScrum supports the Scrum Master role with visibility into team velocity, blockers, and sprint health, enabling you to identify impediments before they derail progress. The key is facilitating team self-organization rather than directing the work.
Scrum Master Responsibilities
| Area | Activities | Time Allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Facilitation | Ceremonies, meetings | 25% |
| Impediment Removal | Blockers, dependencies | 25% |
| Coaching | Team and organization | 20% |
| Continuous Improvement | Metrics, experiments | 15% |
| Stakeholder Management | Shield team, communicate | 15% |
Ceremony Facilitation
SCRUM CEREMONY FACILITATION
SPRINT PLANNING:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Duration: 2-4 hours for 2-week sprint │
│ │
│ Scrum Master Role: │
│ ├── Prepare: Ensure backlog is refined │
│ ├── Facilitate: Guide conversation, time-box │
│ ├── Coach: Help team commit realistically │
│ └── Document: Capture sprint goal and forecast │
│ │
│ Signs of Good Planning: │
│ ├── Team understands the "why" │
│ ├── Commitment is realistic (not forced) │
│ ├── Dependencies identified │
│ └── Clear sprint goal │
│ │
│ Watch For: │
│ ├── PO pushing too much work │
│ ├── Team not asking questions │
│ └── Vague acceptance criteria │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
DAILY STANDUP:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Duration: 15 minutes max │
│ │
│ Scrum Master Role: │
│ ├── Start on time, every time │
│ ├── Keep focused on impediments │
│ ├── Defer deep discussions to after │
│ └── Note blockers to address │
│ │
│ Healthy Standup Signs: │
│ ├── Team talks to each other (not just SM) │
│ ├── Updates are brief │
│ ├── Blockers surfaced promptly │
│ └── Energy is positive │
│ │
│ Anti-patterns to Fix: │
│ ├── Status reports to SM │
│ ├── Going over 15 minutes │
│ ├── Problem-solving in standup │
│ └── People not paying attention │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
SPRINT REVIEW:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Duration: 1-2 hours │
│ │
│ Scrum Master Role: │
│ ├── Invite right stakeholders │
│ ├── Facilitate demo and feedback │
│ ├── Keep productive (not just show and tell) │
│ └── Capture feedback for backlog │
│ │
│ Success Criteria: │
│ ├── Stakeholders engaged and providing input │
│ ├── Team celebrates accomplishments │
│ ├── Feedback captured for future sprints │
│ └── Stakeholders understand progress │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
RETROSPECTIVE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Duration: 1-2 hours │
│ │
│ Scrum Master Role: │
│ ├── Create safe space for honest feedback │
│ ├── Vary format to keep fresh │
│ ├── Ensure all voices heard │
│ └── Drive to actionable improvements │
│ │
│ Format Ideas: │
│ ├── Start/Stop/Continue │
│ ├── Mad/Sad/Glad │
│ ├── Sailboat (wind/anchors) │
│ ├── 4Ls (Liked/Learned/Lacked/Longed for) │
│ └── Timeline (events → feelings → insights) │
│ │
│ Key Principles: │
│ ├── No blame, focus on systems │
│ ├── Psychological safety required │
│ ├── Action items must have owners │
│ └── Follow up on previous items │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Impediment Removal
IMPEDIMENT MANAGEMENT
IMPEDIMENT TYPES:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Team-Level (SM resolves directly): │
│ ├── Missing information from PO │
│ ├── Environment or tooling issues │
│ ├── Team member availability │
│ └── Cross-team coordination needs │
│ │
│ Organizational (SM escalates): │
│ ├── Resource constraints │
│ ├── Policy blockers │
│ ├── Budget needs │
│ └── Hiring/staffing gaps │
│ │
│ External (SM tracks and communicates): │
│ ├── Vendor dependencies │
│ ├── Customer delays │
│ └── Third-party integrations │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
IMPEDIMENT TRACKING:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Impediment Log: │
│ │
│ ID Impediment Owner Status │
│ ────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ I1 Staging env down @ops Resolved ✓ │
│ I2 Waiting on API docs @sm In Progress │
│ I3 License expired @sm Escalated │
│ I4 Design feedback @po Waiting │
│ │
│ Resolution SLA: │
│ ├── Blocking: Same day │
│ ├── Significant: 2-3 days │
│ └── Minor: End of sprint │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
ESCALATION PATH:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Try to resolve at team level first │
│ │
│ 2. If blocked > 24 hours, escalate: │
│ ├── Technical: Engineering Manager │
│ ├── Resource: Department Head │
│ ├── Process: Agile Coach / PMO │
│ └── External: Vendor Manager │
│ │
│ 3. Escalation format: │
│ ├── What is blocked │
│ ├── Impact on sprint/project │
│ ├── What we've tried │
│ └── What we need │
│ │
│ 4. Follow up until resolved │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Team Coaching
COACHING APPROACHES
COACHING VS DIRECTING:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ✗ Directing: │
│ "You should do it this way." │
│ │
│ ✓ Coaching: │
│ "What options have you considered?" │
│ "What do you think would happen if..." │
│ "What's blocking you from trying that?" │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
COACHING SITUATIONS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Team not estimating well: │
│ ├── Review actual vs estimated in retro │
│ ├── Facilitate discussion on why misses happen │
│ └── Help team calibrate with reference stories │
│ │
│ Team not collaborating: │
│ ├── Observe team dynamics │
│ ├── Introduce pairing or mob programming │
│ └── Address in retro with safety │
│ │
│ Team overcommitting: │
│ ├── Show velocity data │
│ ├── Ask: "What gives you confidence?" │
│ └── Celebrate sustainable pace │
│ │
│ Team avoiding conflict: │
│ ├── Model healthy disagreement │
│ ├── Use retro exercises that surface issues │
│ └── 1:1 conversations first │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
TEAM MATURITY STAGES:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Forming: │
│ ├── SM provides more structure │
│ ├── Clear expectations and norms │
│ └── Build relationships │
│ │
│ Storming: │
│ ├── SM facilitates conflict resolution │
│ ├── Reinforce team agreements │
│ └── Stay neutral │
│ │
│ Norming: │
│ ├── SM steps back more │
│ ├── Team handles more independently │
│ └── Focus on optimization │
│ │
│ Performing: │
│ ├── SM mostly removes impediments │
│ ├── Team self-facilitates │
│ └── Focus on organizational coaching │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Metrics and Improvement
SCRUM MASTER METRICS
HEALTH METRICS TO TRACK:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Velocity: │
│ ├── Track for planning, not performance │
│ ├── Look for stability, not increase │
│ └── Investigate significant changes │
│ │
│ Sprint Goal Achievement: │
│ ├── How often do we meet sprint goals? │
│ ├── Target: 80%+ of sprints │
│ └── Investigate pattern of misses │
│ │
│ Impediment Resolution Time: │
│ ├── How long are items blocked? │
│ ├── Target: < 24 hours for critical │
│ └── Track trends over time │
│ │
│ Team Happiness: │
│ ├── Regular pulse checks │
│ ├── Retro sentiment trends │
│ └── Exit interview themes │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
IMPROVEMENT EXPERIMENTS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Experiment: Reduce standup to 10 minutes │
│ │
│ Hypothesis: │
│ Shorter standup will increase focus and │
│ force us to be more concise. │
│ │
│ Duration: 2 sprints │
│ │
│ Success Metrics: │
│ ├── Standup consistently under 10 min │
│ ├── Blockers still surfaced │
│ └── Team prefers shorter format │
│ │
│ Result: (after experiment) │
│ Keep / Revert / Modify │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Protecting the Team
SHIELDING THE TEAM
PROTECT FROM:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Mid-Sprint Scope Changes: │
│ ├── Route requests through PO │
│ ├── "We can discuss for next sprint" │
│ └── Protect sprint commitment │
│ │
│ Distractions: │
│ ├── Filter requests that bypass backlog │
│ ├── Handle meeting overload │
│ └── Reduce context switching │
│ │
│ Unrealistic Expectations: │
│ ├── Use data to show what's possible │
│ ├── Educate stakeholders on capacity │
│ └── Support team in saying no │
│ │
│ Organizational Dysfunction: │
│ ├── Absorb politics so team doesn't have to │
│ ├── Translate management asks │
│ └── Be the buffer │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
HOW TO SAY NO:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Scenario: Stakeholder wants to add work │
│ │
│ Response: │
│ "I understand this is important. Here's our │
│ current sprint commitment. Adding this would │
│ mean [impact]. Let's discuss with the PO for │
│ next sprint prioritization." │
│ │
│ Keys: │
│ ├── Acknowledge importance │
│ ├── Explain impact │
│ ├── Redirect to process │
│ └── Offer alternative path │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Best Practices
- Serve the team, don't manage it
- Facilitate, don't dictate — ask questions
- Remove impediments proactively
- Create psychological safety for honest feedback
- Use data to drive improvement discussions
- Protect the sprint from scope creep
- Vary retrospective formats to keep fresh
- Coach the organization not just the team
Anti-Patterns
✗ Being a project manager in disguise
✗ Assigning work to team members
✗ Attending standup for status reports
✗ Not following up on retrospective actions
✗ Allowing constant scope changes
✗ Not addressing team dysfunction