3 Hard Truths About Becoming A Scrum Master
It might be for you! Here's how to know.
Reading time: 5 minutes
It was just supposed to be a coffee to catch up.
A good friend you used to work with just got started on a new career path, and they can’t wait to tell you all about it. You would be so good at this job too, they tell you. It’s so easy to get learn and get started! And the pay is amazing! You could pivot into tech!
With the energy and conviction of someone two weeks into selling Amway, your friend is trying to convince you to go get certified to become a Scrum Master.
They made it sound really nice. It’s like project management, but you don’t have to handle the budget. It’s like being on a software development team, but you don’t have to know how to program anything. It’s like being a secretary, but better. And the pay is amazing!
But something smells fishy. What’s the catch? Should you actually drop everything and rush out to become a Scrum Master?
Here are a few things your friend may not be telling you.
The Scrum Master role may be very different than you think
Whatever kind of job you do now, you've probably never seen a role quite like that of a Scrum Master.
It's often described as a kind of Project Management role, but Scrum Masters don't actually manage a project at all.
For one thing, Scrum is typically used to create products, rather than manage projects. What's the difference? Projects are temporary ventures, while product creation can go on and on indefinitely, as Scrum helps you to make the product a little bit better over and over again.
Even if it was actually Product Management, the truth of the matter is that as a Scrum Master, you're really not doing any of the management of the product. On a Scrum Team, management of who is doing what, meeting deadlines, and checking for quality is handled by the entire team. The Scrum Master's responsibility is in teaching the team how to do these things and helping them keep one another accountable for that management.
And while Project Managers are usually imbued with some amount of authority to direct work, or ensure that the work is getting done, as a Scrum Master you'll have no authority at all. A Scrum Team is entirely non-hierarchical, so you're not in charge of anyone. Scrum Masters must find a way to influence their team despite having no position to dictate what needs to be done.
Being a successful Scrum Master can be as much about your personality as your skillset
There are some jobs that anyone can do well. This may not be one of them.
Or maybe anyone could be a Scrum Master, but some people might not enjoy it because it requires doing some things that don't come naturally to them. In short, you really have to love people.
Part of the job is checking in regularly with your teammates to unearth any issues that might be cropping up in the team. If you're a naturally shy person, it might be uncomfortable for you to ask probing questions to help someone on your team understand what's making their work life hard. If you have a hard time letting silence go unfilled, you might be working against yourself when you notice your teammate getting uncomfortable after asking a difficult question.
Scrum Masters need a mindset that teamwork truly does make the dream work. Those who only half-heartedly believe in deep collaboration could be holding their team back from greatness by not pushing for experimentation in work methods that put many heads together at a time. You have to not just believe, but evangelize for those methods.
Successful Scrum Masters also need to come to terms with the idea that everyone else around us will be creating things of value, and it might feel like we are not. While you might not be able to create quantitative metrics that show what good you're doing as a Scrum Master, there is indeed a multiplying effect on the effectiveness, and sometimes the efficiency, of your team. Some of us feel more comfortable as individual contributors than as the team glue whose value can be hard to pin down with numbers.
Scrum Master is not an entry level job
Your coffee-drinking, highly caffeinated friend may be right that Scrum is amazing, being a Scrum Master is amazing, and the pay can be amazing, despite all the things that they don't yet understand about it.
But I'll place odds 10-to-1 that your friend hasn't been hired yet, and only just completed a certification course.
It's very easy to get certified with a CSM or PSM-1 certification, the base level to show that you have a foundational understanding of the Scrum Guide. But beyond that, it can be hard to actually be hired as a Scrum Master, because doing the job is about so much more than what can be taught in a 2-day class. Many job listings for “entry level” Scrum Masters are asking for 1-3 years of experience in the role.
So how do you get hired as a Scrum Master if there's no entry level jobs?
Many people have walked the path toward becoming a Scrum Master after experiencing Scrum with a team they were already working on. This usually means they started as a developer or a QA tester, or another position that might find itself in or near working Scrum Teams. They saw the role as it was carried out by an existing Scrum Master, or a need on their team that their skills and personality fit well.
This doesn't mean that you have to learn to code in order to be a Scrum Master - there are some other potential paths. I wrote about how to get hired when you have no experience last week. You can read that article right here:
In the end, your friend is a good friend. They want you to experience the excitement and potential of being a Scrum Master. Speaking as one myself, I can say that it's a very fulfilling career path.
But make sure you really understand what you're getting into before you dive in headfirst. There is no limit to the amount of money you can spend on certifications that increase your theoretical understanding of Scrum, yet may not put you any closer to your first Scrum Master job.
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Whenever you're ready, here's how I can help:
I've created a framework for Personal Agility called Scrumify. Click this link to read it.
Grab a copy of the Scrumify Workbook, a low-cost Scrum Master proxy to help you use the framework.
If you're trying to Scrumify something big in your life and want to work with me, I can be your Personal Scrum Master. Contact me here.
I occasionally host cohort programs for aspiring Scrum Masters looking for their first experience on a Scrum Team. Click here to sign up for the next one.
Scrum master is mindset more than a job. To succeed as scrum master, you need to love your team without selflessness like parents love their children
Awesome read Jeremy! I look forward to reading your weekly newsletters as I "Scrumify MY life!" Thank you.