How to become a Scrum Master

Posted On December 24, 2021

“Want to be a scrum master.

Know some of the common pitfalls of Scrum Masters and how to completely overcome or avoid them.

Imagine you went on a jungle safari or trekking trip with your friends and unfortunately you got separated from your group Scrum Master.

There is no one to guide you and you do not know your exact coordinates. The only information you have is that your area is north. What would you do? How to determine which direction is north?

The first thing that comes to your mind is to check your compass because you know that the compass always points to the correct north. It’s so easy isn’t it?

“What is easy to do is also easy not to do.”

Have you ever felt lost in the workplace? Do you often find it difficult to decide which direction to go? And when you find yourself lost, do you look to your inner compass and check your true answer?

Scrum mastery is a journey and it is very important to always keep an internal compass that guides you to the right north.

Author Bill George describes in his book that there are five radical leaders: traitors, rationalists, glory seekers, bachelors and shooting stars who easily lose sight of their true answer.

Understanding these 5 leadership risks can help a Scrum Master to become more aware, calibrate their inner compass, and begin the journey of becoming a true leader.

Leadership Risk 1 – Being Cheater:

Imposter scrum masters lack self-awareness and self-esteem. When a Scrum Master feels like a cheater, they have difficulty acting because of indecision and may experience paralyzing doubts.

Subsequent inaction can lead to poor results and external challenges. They become inhibited and care little about how they are perceived by others.

Leadership Risk 2 – Being a Rationale:

Scrum Masters who are not clear about their ethical values, principles and boundaries are vulnerable to the risks of rationalization.

Rationalists do not admit their mistakes for fear of being considered a failure. Because of their inability to take responsibility for setbacks and setbacks, they rationalize their problems instead of facing reality.

When things go wrong they blame outside forces and even sacrifice the long-term health of the team for their short-term gains.

Leadership Risk 3 – Being a Glory Seeker:

Glory-seeking Scrum Masters are the ones who are more concerned about their position and reputation than about building a team or continuously improving.

When the Scrum Master is unable to balance their internal and external motivations, they are unable to connect their motivations with their abilities.

They are always on the lookout for external motivations such as wealth, fame, glory, power and admiration.

Leadership Risk 4 – Being a Lonely:

A Scrum Master falls into the trap of being a loner when they avoid building close relationships with the Scrum team and others in their organization.

They are not looking for mentors and other scrum masters or a community of colleagues. I am the “lone wolf”.

Their biggest trap is their inability to form personal relationships and support structures, which results in their lack of support during difficult times.

When Scrum Masters become lonely, they become defensive and shy away from receiving feedback.

Without a mentor, lone Scrum Masters are prone to lose perspective and become rigid, which leads to their failure as a servant leader.

Leadership Danger 5 – Being a Shooting Star:

Scrum masters who fall into the trap of shooting stars do not have the foundation for an integrated life.

As a rising leader, a scrum master may be at risk of becoming a shooting star when he is moving so fast in his career that he doesn’t have time to learn from his mistakes.

They rarely get time for family, friendship, their communities or even for themselves. They compromise their sleep and exercise is constantly postponed. As they run faster and faster, their tension builds up.

Their sudden rise to leadership often leaves them overwhelmed with personal and professional problems.

It is quite possible for a Scrum Master to fall into one of these traps and lose track of his actual answer, but getting back on track is a source of strength. Real Leadership Isn’t About Perfection.

Ion, where you derailed, and learn from your empirical experience.

Here are some things Scrum Masters can do to calibrate their internal compass:

Self-awareness is at the heart of the compass. As a Scrum Master, where do you find your strengths and where do you find your passion?

Self-assessment of skills

Your ability to play the role of Scrum Master are central to building your inner compass.

As a Scrum Master, you are defined by the values and principles of Scrum, which are deeply rooted that guide your actions.

Values are not tested by what you say, but by how you behave under pressure. If you don’t respect the values, people will soon lose faith in your leadership.

As a Scrum Master, you are a key servant leading your head as well as your heart. This means a passion for the job and caring for the people you serve.

A Scrum Master proceeds with the respective relationships. Connected relationships allow you to build trust and commitment through openness and depth in your relationships.

Self-discipline enables a Scrum Master to set high standards for himself and hold others accountable for their actions and results.

However, when you fail, it is equally important to admit your mistakes and lead by example into the vulnerability of the Scrum team.

In short, Scrum Mastery is about empowering others along their journey as authentic leadership. It is about motivating people to reach their maximum potential.

It’s not about promoting yourself and your interests. It is about inspiring others to bring out the best.

What Does a Scrum Master Do?

Project management was once a simple term that included even simpler things: you plan a project in advance and then execute the plan.

Nowadays, especially in IT, but also in other industries, there is more to project management: terms like agile, scrum, daily standup, sprint, waterfall model, classic model and, and, are used here.

Scrum Master plays an important role in Agile Project Management. Today we see why the Scrum Master is so important.

What does a Scrum Master do? What does a Scrum Master earn? And – if you like all of this – how can you become a scrum master?

Definition: What is a Scrum Master?

The Scrum Master is an essential part of the “Scrum” agile project management method. This should allow the team to get organized and make changes quickly.

Hence the scrum master primarily helps in communication and controls the way information is exchanged with each other.

That’s why Scrum Masters play a very important role in companies pursuing agile project management.

The Scrum Master is the key piece that maintains communication between multiple teams at the same time. We’ll see what practical functions they actually are, but that’s in the next chapter.

How do you become a scrum master? Requirements and skills

Are you interested in the Scrum Master profession? But still not sure what training you need and what you should be able to do?

Apprenticeship and Study

However, many business and computer science courses cover the subject of project management in detail and also include topics on agile project management.

Scrum Masters must supervise multiple departments and areas at the same time and bring them together under one roof.

Scrum Masters need a lot of experience in their industry to understand all departments. So, if you later want to become a scrum master in IT, you should do some study in the field of software development eg.

Almost all Scrum Masters must first obtain Scrum Master certification. This is a testament to participating in a multi-day Scrum Master seminar.

In these seminars you will learn specifically what is important to you as a Scrum Master. Many Scrum Master job postings require such certifications.

There is therefore neither direct training nor any course for the Scrum Masters profession.

But it sure helps if you have an idea of the industry in question and project management. If you combine this with the Scrum Master certificate, you have a very good chance of finding a job as a Scrum Master.

Experience can already be gained in the field of Scrum Masters, for example through jobs or internships for eligible students. look at us;)

Skills and Abilities

In addition to a professional qualification, to be successful as a Scrum Master you need to have several skills:

Great communication
Good overview, but also an eye for detail
Assertiveness
very reliable
FLEXIBILITY
Leadership skills
Very nice event
Good knowledge of English

What are the duties of a Scrum Master?

The work of a Scrum Master is exciting because it is so varied. We have already said that the job of the Scrum Master is to ensure communication between departments in an “agile environment”.

Scrum Master’s work primarily involves sprint planning. Who should do what when? It requires a good overview, so a scrum master must be very well organized.

Teams need to know what to do: because if someone knocks on your door every few minutes and asks you what they should do now, you haven’t done a good job as a scrum master.

Agile project management is so popular these days due to the flexibility it offers. In classic project management, it is much more difficult to react to problems.

The scrum master should be able to carry out his plans in the shortest time possible and have everything under control in case of problems or changes to the plan.

Additional duties of a Scrum Master can be:

Conduct scrum meetings.
Help your team be more productive.
Analyze past problems and avoid them in the future.
Moderate struggle.
Avoid and report misunderstandings.
Maintain constant contact with managers, project leaders and product owners.
Enable and encourage independent work.
These are not easy tasks and require responsible behavior. If sprint planning is a mess and the product isn’t finished.

It’s the scrum master’s fault – it’s his job to make sure all team members work as smoothly as possible and that no one has to expect each other.

He should avoid “bottlenecks” and also protect the team from distractions and outside influences.

Similar professions: Project Manager, Product Owner, Product Manager

How much does a Scrum Master make?

The Scrum Master profession is highly regarded in companies and plays a vital role in product development and support. So an interesting salary is also given.

As a beginner, you can expect to cash in around € 38,514 per year. The average Scrum Master salary is € 63,078 gross per year.

On the other hand, 25% of the best Scrum Masters earn € 87,643 and more per year.

From the beginning of your Scrum Master to Senior Scrum Master career, you can expect a linear and rather sharp increase in your salary.

In our article on Scrum Master salaries you can find out how educational qualifications and professional experience affect salary and what other factors it depends on.

Potential industries for Scrum Master

Many employers who practice Agile Project Management and therefore also require Scrum Masters are active in IT.

These are often software companies developing their own products. For example, the gaming industry often relies on “agile development”.

In addition to software companies, there are also service providers and consultants who take care of their customers and advise and assist companies in agile project management.

But product manufacturers such as auto companies or dealers can also use Scrum Masters.

Wherever Agile Project Management and Scrum in any form are used, there is a need for experienced Scrum Masters. Your opportunities for a career as a Scrum Master are numerous and exciting.

Apply for a Scrum Master

Scrum Masters need experience because, ideally, they should know how to supervise all departments well.

So perhaps a young professional will not be directly appointed as a Scrum Master, even if she already has a Scrum Master certificate from him.

So, while applying for the Scrum Master position, you definitely need to have experience in the relevant fields.

It could be an internship in project management, for example, but you shouldn’t expect a position as a scrum master right after college.

So look for positions in project management, do internships, and expand your knowledge across different departments and industries.

As a Scrum Master, with a portfolio of successfully managed projects, you have a better chance of an application interview.

Scrum Master is the communication link between departments working according to the agile management method of the “Scrum” project. For example, the Scrum Master manages sprint planning.

There is no direct degree for a Scrum Master, but you must have experience in business, project management, or software development.

Your starting salary as a Scrum Master will be approximately € 40,000 per year gross. However, after a few years, you can expect around € 60,000 per year.