SCRUMstudy Scrumvideo on the roles and repsonsibilities of the Scrum Master

June 9, 2014

The Scrum Master is the “servant leader” of the Scrum Team who moderates and facilitates team interactions as team coach and motivator. The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring that the team has a productive work environment by guarding the team from external influences, removing any obstacles, and enforcing Scrum principles, aspects, and processes.

The Scrum Master has many responsibilities, and they change depending on which process is being conducted. For example, during the develop epics process, the Scrum Master facilitates creation of the epics and personas.

The table given below summarizes the Scrum Master’s responsibilities in the various Scrum processes.

Processes	Scrum Master Responsibilities
Idetify Scrum Master and Stakenholder(s)	Helps identify the Stakeholder(s) for the project
Form Scrum Team	Facilitates selection of the Scrum Team Facilitates creation of the Collaboration Plan and the Team Building Plan Ensures back-up resources are available for smooth project functioning
Develop Epic(s)	Facilitates creation of Epic(s) and Personas
Create Prioritized Product Backlog	Helps Product Owner in creation of the Prioritized Product Backlog and in definition of the Done Criteria
Conduct Release Planning	Coordinates creation of Release Planning Schedule Determines Length of Sprint
Create User Stories	Assists the Scrum Team in creating User Stories and their Acceptance Criteria
Approve, Estimate and Commit User Stories	Facilitates meetings of the Scrum Team to estimate and Create User Stories
Create Tasks	Facilitates the Scrum Team in creating the Task List for the next Sprint
Estimate Tasks	Assists the Scrum Team in estimating the effort required to complete the tasks agreed to for the Sprint
Create Sprint Backlog	Assists the Scrum Team in developing the Sprint Backlog and the Sprint Burndown Chart
Create Deliverables	Supports the Scrum Team in creating the Deliverables agreed to for the Sprint Helps update the Scrumboard and the Impediment Log
Conduct Daily Standup	Ensures that the Scrumboard and the Impediment Log remain updated
Groom Prioritized Product Backlog	Facilitates Prioritized Product Backlog Review Meetings
Convene Scrum of Scrums	Ensures that issues affecting the Scrum Team are discussed and resolved
Demonstrate and Validate Sprints	Facilitates presentation of completed Deliverables by the Scrum Team for the Product Owner’s approval
Retrospect Sprint	Ensures that ideal project environment exists for the Scrum Team in the succeeding Sprints
Retrospect Project	Represents the Scrum Core Team to provide lessons from the current project, if necessary

Responsibilities of the Scrum Master in Scrum Processes

Chief Scrum Master

Large projects require multiple Scrum Teams to work in parallel. Information gathered from one team may need to be appropriately communicated to other teams. The Chief Scrum Master is responsible for this activity.

Coordination across various Scrum Teams working on a project is typically done through the Scrum of Scrums (SoS) Meeting ). This is analogous to the Daily Standup Meeting and is facilitated by the Chief Scrum Master. The Chief Scrum Master is typically the individual responsible for addressing impediments that impact more than one Scrum Team.

Typically, any inter-team issues are addressed by the interested parties in a session immediately following the Scrum of Scrums. The Chief Scrum Master facilitates this session.