The Goal
- 1.
The product/idea that the team has chosen.
- 2.
Market research is done to validate the idea and any pivots done along the way.
- 3.
Product vision, its customers, competition and differentiating factors, go-to-market strategy (done in an incremental way).
- 4.
Any prototypes (optional).
- 5.
Which framework was selected and why? What are the expected benefits?
- 6.
Product backlog description and samples of user stories.
- 7.
Planning: Release plan, high-level Sprint planning, estimation techniques used.
- 8.
Risk analysis and mitigation techniques.
- 9.
Product pricing strategy. Basic budget analysis.
- 10.
Product pitch (summary).
The Format
- 1.
Presentation artifact: The default format is a slide deck (10–15 slides maximum, with unlimited appendices); however, any other format is allowed.
- 2.
Verbal presentation by each team of three to seven team members working together on this project incrementally during the course. The length of the presentation is ten minutes, followed by a five-minute Q&A from an instructor and the participants.
Appendices are expected to contain details related to the project, such as the product backlog, release plan, cost-benefit analysis, risk log, budget registry, pricing document, and any other relevant information. A sample product backlog appendix format is provided below::
The Grading Rubric
Individual score based on this student’s contribution to the team project, their presentation skills, coverage and understanding of Agile product and project management, and their contribution to the Q&A session at the end of the team’s presentation
Team score (which is the same for all members of each team) based on the overall cohesiveness, content, and presentation of the team project, team members’ understanding of Agile product and project management, and the Q&A session at the end of the team’s presentation
The individual grade is based on the overall content, understanding of the material, creativity, logic, and thoughtfulness of the presentation, style (verbal and nonverbal), and the timebox. Each of these is rated on a scale of 1–5. The coverage of Agile concepts is graded separately with a score of 1–5 and contributes to 50% of the overall student’s grade.
The team grade is based on how seamlessly each individual's presentation and content combine to create an effective overall description of an Agile delivery process and the product the team is presenting. The coverage of Agile concepts is graded separately with a score of 1–5 and contributes to 50% of the overall team grade.
This is a proposed rubric; however, each instructor should target it to their higher institution’s standards, templates, expectations, and grading techniques.
Agile Roles
There are a number of roles for Agile professionals at all levels. They are specific to the level of experience, type of responsibilities, and subject matter areas. There is no standard approach, but for each company, it is important to define titles and roles for Agile professionals in a consistent way and set up related expectations. It is also important to have the interview process, job descriptions, and hiring decisions aligned based on the Agile titles’ nomenclature.
There are two primary tracks: Agile project and product management. The structure and organizational hierarchy are presented in the following comprehensive table::
The titles presented in this table differ for each organization. Standards are still being established. This is one of the reasons why you need a comprehensive job description while making your choice of which Agile position to apply for. Many companies do not distinguish between the level of experience and seniority for Scrum Masters, so this role can be quite junior or fairly senior for different employers. Job description, including the number of required years of experience, is a good indication of the seniority of the role. In some companies, additional mechanisms are used to convey this information, such as levels (e.g., Scrum Master I, Scrum Master II, Scrum Master III).
What are the standard expectations for a Scrum Master? According to the Scrum Guide:
“The Scrum Master is accountable for establishing Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. They do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory and practice, both within the Scrum Team and the organization.
The Scrum Master is accountable for the Scrum Team’s effectiveness. They do this by enabling the Scrum Team to improve its practices within the Scrum framework.
Scrum Masters are true leaders who serve the Scrum Team and the larger organization.
Coaching the team members in self-management and cross-functionality;
Helping the Scrum Team focus on creating high-value Increments that meet the Definition of Done;
Causing the removal of impediments to the Scrum Team’s progress; and,
Ensuring that all Scrum events take place and are positive, productive, and kept within the timebox.
Helping find techniques for effective Product Goal definition and Product Backlog management;
Helping the Scrum Team understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items;
Helping establish empirical product planning for a complex environment; and,
Facilitating stakeholder collaboration as requested or needed.
Leading, training, and coaching the organization in its Scrum adoption;
Planning and advising Scrum implementations within the organization;
Helping employees and stakeholders understand and enact an empirical approach for complex work; and,
Removing barriers between stakeholders and Scrum Teams.”
(Source: Scrum Guide 2020 https://Scrumguides.org/docs/Scrumguide/v2020/2020-Scrum-Guide-US.pdf)
The number of concurrent teams differs by Scrum Master and depends on their experience. Usually, it varies between two and three. If a Scrum Master is responsible for more than three teams, they start acting in an Agile Coach capacity.
Sample Scrum Master Job Description
<Company> is looking for an experienced Scrum Master with 3–5 years of experience on globally distributed Scrum teams, who will support one to two teams in building software products that delight our customers. Excellent knowledge of the Scrum framework and Agile mindset is required, as well as the ability to facilitate change and support the team in producing meaningful outcomes. Strong communication and leadership skills are a must.
Lead the Scrum team in using Agile methodology and Scrum practices
Help the Product Owner and development team to achieve customer satisfaction
Lead the Scrum and development teams in self-organization
Remove impediments and coach the Scrum team on removing impediments
Help the Scrum and development teams to identify and fill in blanks in the Agile framework
Resolve conflicts and issues that occur
Help the Scrum team achieve higher levels of Scrum maturity
Support the product owner and provide education where needed
Prior experience on a Scrum team as a Scrum Master (3–5 years)
Ability to analyze and think quickly and to resolve conflict
Knowledgeable in techniques to fill in gaps in the Scrum
Ability to determine what is Scrum and what is not
Experience with successful Agile techniques
Ability to work with and lead a team
Strong communication, interpersonal, and mentoring skills
Ability to adapt to a changing environment
Self-motivation and the ability to stay focused in the middle of distraction
Source: Glassdoor. www.glassdoor.com/Job-Descriptions/Scrum-Master.htm
The goal of an Agile Coach is to teach the team “how to fish” rather than fish for them. This person leads by asking questions, challenging the performance to be better, and delivering a high-quality product with better outcomes. Usually, Agile Coaches have significant Agile/Scrum experience and a good understanding of trends and patterns in Agile adoption.
Agile Project Managers may be required to perform some traditional project management functions, such as budget management, dependency coordination, management reporting, and others. Many of them also act as Scrum Masters or Agile Coaches.
Agile Program Managers are usually responsible for a larger program, usually spanning dozens of teams and hundreds of people.
The Product track is significantly different. It focuses on “what” instead of “how” and is responsible for the prioritization of requirements, alignment with business needs, and stakeholder communications. At the end of the day, the Product Owner is responsible for product success. The following is the Scrum Guide definition of the Product Owner role:
“The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. How this is done may vary widely across organizations, Scrum Teams, and individuals.
Developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal;
Creating and clearly communicating Product Backlog items;
Ordering Product Backlog items; and,
Ensuring that the Product Backlog is transparent, visible, and understood.
The Product Owner may do the above work or may delegate the responsibility to others. Regardless, the Product Owner remains accountable.
For Product Owners to succeed, the entire organization must respect their decisions. These decisions are visible in the content and ordering of the Product Backlog and through the inspectable Increment at the Sprint Review.
The Product Owner is one person, not a committee. The Product Owner may represent the needs of many stakeholders in the Product Backlog. Those wanting to change the Product Backlog can do so by trying to convince the Product Owner.”
(Source: Scrum Guide 2020. https://Scrumguides.org/docs/Scrumguide/v2020/2020-Scrum-Guide-US.pdf)
It is important that the Product Owner is empowered to prioritize requirements and make product decisions. Otherwise, the Product Owner role becomes similar to a Business Analyst who captures the requirements provided by the stakeholders without ownership over outcomes.
As for the Product Manager, this role is customer and external facing. Product Managers own the business strategy behind a product, specify its functional requirements, and generally manage the launch of features. There are Product Managers in Agile organizations as well. A model product manager is Steve Jobs. This role has been described in detail in Marty Cagan’s books, Inspired and Empowered.
Sample Product Owner Job Description
<Company> is looking for an experienced Product Owner with 4–5 years of experience managing customer-facing products in a Scrum environment. Strong communication and leadership skills are a must.
Responsible for innovation and end-to-end launch of products
Collaborates with global commercial services partners and customers to codevelop a roadmap and drive products and features from concept to launch in a fast-paced environment
Works with cross-functional teams and various stakeholders, including analytics, design/user experience, engineering, and user enablement
Turns data insights into products with actionable outcomes to the ultimate customer
Works in an Agile environment and continuously reviews the business needs, refines priorities, outlines milestones and deliverables, and identifies opportunities and risks
Partners with stakeholders and customers across the organization to inform the product vision, strategy, features, and prioritization
Develops, owns, and executes product roadmap
Works with user-focused departments to define the self-service user experience, support, and monitoring for customers
Partners with sales departments to define the user experience for internal GCS users, including support and monitoring
Translates product roadmap features into well-defined product requirements, including features, user stories, and acceptance test criteria
Prioritizes and maintains the Sprint backlog for assigned products, balancing the requirements of stakeholders
Leads the product functional design process based on an intimate knowledge of the users and technology
Defines and executes the go-to-market plan, working to ensure that product management, marketing, and sales have what they need to be successful.
Develops and maintains appropriate tracking and reporting of product performance postlaunch to evaluate the future investment
Master's in Business Administration preferred
Minimum two years of experience as a product owner in the industry
Strong knowledge of Agile principles and processes
In-depth understanding of industry market conditions and trends
Outstanding verbal and written communication skills
Successful track record of developing products within deadlines
Excellent attention to detail
Sharp analytical and problem-solving skills
Creative and innovative thinking
Customer-centric mindset
A high degree of organization, individual initiative, and personal accountability
Bachelor’s degree and four years of product or project development experience
At least one year of experience in product management and/or product development
Proven track record of delivering data-driven solutions with a customer-first mindset
Established background in launching software or services in partnership with engineering teams and a high degree of proficiency in prototyping, iterative development, and understanding of Agile principles
Experience in successfully driving end-to-end delivery of data and intelligence solutions, including a wide variety of mechanisms, for example, dashboards, APIs, real-time alerts, etc.
Experience with procurement, expense management, and treasury businesses and processes
Source: Glassdoor (www.glassdoor.com/Job-Descriptions/Product-Owner.htm)
and Moster.com (https://hiring.moster.com/employer-resources/job-description-templates/product-owner-job-description-sample/)
Agile Career Progression
In the prior section, we described hierarchical levels for each profession. Once you join an organization in a specific role, it makes sense to find out almost immediately what the criteria are to grow to the next level. In larger corporate organizations, there are formal criteria for growing to the next level, and there is no reason to delay this growth.
At the same time, “ladder” (hierarchical) career progression nowadays is not a choice for every professional, especially in a collaborative Agile environment. Many Agile professionals prefer “lattice” (horizontal) career progression whether they get a chance to learn both project and product management skills within the same organization. The best way of defining your path is to reach out to mentors and career coaches without your work environment, who will provide targeted advice, in addition to formal promotion rules.
The best way to grow in an Agile role is to practice, learn, and share with other professionals. The Agile community is very welcoming, and knowledge sharing is encouraged. Meetup (https://www.meetup.com/) is a helpful source of free meetups, and other gatherings of Agile professionals in each geographic area or online provide a great way of building your Agile network. In May 2022, there were a total of 86 Agile meetups in the United States, including 21 in the New York Area, or two sessions every three days. The topics ranged from “Scrum Master Interview Prep” to “What you always wanted to know about enterprise agility.” There are 10–20 people in each meetup on average, so there is always an opportunity to ask questions and meet other Agile practitioners. Besides meetups, there are LinkedIn Forums and other communities of practice.
Finally, there are professional associations, such as Agile Alliance, Scrum Alliance, Agile Groups within the Project Management Institute (PMI), and numerous Agile and product management conferences. Agile Alliance holds an annual Agile Conference. Agile Alliance’s annual conference is dedicated to exploring, innovating, and advancing Agile values and principles and creating a space for people and ideas to flourish. The Agile20XX conference brings Agile communities together year after year to share experiences and make new connections. Join passionate agilists from around the world to learn about the latest practices, ideas, and strategies in Agile software development from the world’s leading experts, change agents, and innovators.
Besides large conferences, there are many regional and topic-specific Agile conferences, such as Agile DevOps, LeanAgileUS, Agile Open, Scrum Days, Scrum Gatherings, Path to Agility, Agile Coach Camp, Agile Play, XP Conference, Agile Testing Days, regional Agile conferences, and many others where you can build your network and learn new skills.
Agile Certification is a controversial topic. Since Agile is team and people oriented, certifications primarily attest to a person’s theoretical knowledge but do not guarantee that a certified person is a mature professional. However, many companies are considering Agile certifications a must when they hire Agile professionals.
- 1.
Am I interested in “what” (Product track) or “how” (Scrum Master track)?
- 2.
Am I interested in Scrum (timeboxed iterations) or how (continuous delivery)?
- 3.
Am I interested in working at the team level or the organizational level (scaled Agile)?
- 4.
Am I coming from a traditional project management background or environment?
- 1.
Product track vs. Scrum Master track
There are two most established certification providers on these tracks: Scrum Alliance and Scrum.org. The details are provided as follows:Product Track
Scrum Master Track
Scrum Alliance
There are three levels, from most basic to most experienced:
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO)
Certified Scrum Professional Product Owner (CSP-PO)
There are three levels, from most basic to most experienced:
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSM)
Certified Scrum Professional Scrum Master (CSP-SM)
Scrum.org
There are three levels, from most basic to most experienced:
Professional Scrum Master (PSM I, PSM II, PSM III)
There are three levels, from most basic to most experienced: Professional Product Owner (PSPO I, PSPO II, PSPO III)
Scrum Master certification is the most requested Agile certification in the world, and the CSM by Scrum Alliance is considered the most widely adopted Agile certification. CSM course covers the framework, principles, and values that make Scrum work. In addition, as a Scrum Alliance CSM, you can tap into a community network that extends far beyond the classroom through events, resources, education, and coaching. This certification has no prerequisites except for attending a two-day training and passing a basic multiple-choice test.
For those who would like to go deeper and diversify their Agile skills, the following certifications are available.
- 2.For those interested in Kanban, there is a set of certifications offered by Kanban University.(https://Kanban.university/#certifiedKanban) There are four levels of offers:
Foundation (Team Kanban Practitioner (TKP), Kanban System Design (KSD), and Kanban System Improvement for Kanban Management Professionals (KMP I and KMP II))
Trainer (for those interested in becoming an accredited Kanban Trainer and teaching others)
Advanced (coaching, leadership, maturity model at the organizational level)
Strategic (enterprise services planning to fit for purpose) for Kanban consultants
- 3.
For those interested in scaled Agile, classes differ depending on the scaled framework. The most popular framework is the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). Related certifications are provided by the Scaled Agile Academy, the most basic being the Certified SAFe Agilist. There are multiple specializations and levels of SAFe certifications, including Agile DevOps, Lean Portfolio Management, and many others. More information is provided at the Scaled Agile website: www.scaledAgile.com/certifications/about-safe-certification/
Other scaled Agile certifications include Scrum@Scale certification provided by Scrum Inc. (www.Scruminc.com/Scrum-at-scale-certification), Certified LeSS Practitioner (https://less.works/courses/less-practitioner), and others.
- 4.
If you are transitioning from the traditional project management into an Agile environment, no matter what your role is on the team, the recommended certification is PMI-ACP from the Project Management Institute (PMI) (www.pmi.org/certifications/Agile-acp). The PMI-ACP certification provides assurance that the certification holder has real-world experience managing Agile projects and is familiar with multiple Agile frameworks and methodologies, including Scrum, Kanban, Lean, and others.
- 1.
Agile certifications are costly; usually, the cost for basic certifications ranges from $500 to $1,200, so it is important to do careful research before investing in each of them.
- 2.
Agile certifications differ in terms of the complexity and level of assessments. Most of them have a prerequisite training course by a certified provider, and the advanced certifications usually have the basic ones as a prerequisite. Assessment tests also differ.
For example, the CSM certification test contains 50 multiple-choice questions, and candidates have one hour to complete it. It requires a two-day CSM course before the test can be taken. The passing score is 74%. The PMI-ACP certification exam has 120 multiple-choice questions, and you have three hours to complete it. It does not require attending a specific class; however, prerequisites include the following:Secondary degree.
21 contact hours of training in Agile practices.
12 months of general project experience within the last five years. Traditional PMP or PgMP certifications satisfy this requirement but are not required to apply for the PMI-ACP.
Eight months of Agile project experience within the last three years.
Do your research using each of the registered provider sites (not the private sites advertising specific certifications) to make your choice based on the provider, content, and certification type.
- 3.
Another important consideration is that there are usually fees and prerequisites to maintain each of the certifications. Scrum Alliance, PMI, and most other organizations require you to collect Professional Development Units (PDUs or SDUs) that show that you continue learning and practicing in the field and charge a renewal fee every one to three years. Usually, the fees are around $100–$200, but for the advanced certifications, these can go up to thousands of dollars annually. Make sure to check the provider site for renewal criteria before applying for certification.
- 4.
Membership in professional associations and access to their resources, communities of practice, as well as relevant discounts on professional publications and conferences are a big part of the professional certifications. For example, CSM certification includes a membership fee for Scrum Alliance. All certificate holders are listed on the Scrum Alliance website, participate in communities of practice available to members only, get discounts on participation in the Scrum Gathering conference globally, and take advantage of multiple perks provided by the organization. Similarly, other certifications provide an opportunity to take advantage of their resources.
To summarize, Agile certifications are highly valuable to anyone in an Agile environment – from a developer to a Scrum Master and to the CEO of the organization. Do your research, choose the right certification for you, prepare diligently, achieve certification, and take advantage of all the opportunities it provides to you.
Agile Job Interviews
I hope you found this course highly practical. Anyone who successfully completes this course should be ready to apply for an entry-level Scrum Master or product manager role. This final section of the book will help you start preparing for a Scrum Master interview and share multiple sources for feeling confident as you apply for your Agile roles.
Scrum Master is one of the most in-demand positions now and has been such for the last 10+ years. As Agile development becomes the mainstream development framework replacing traditional project management, the demand for Agile professionals of any level is continuously growing. In the following, we will address the interview process for the entry-level Scrum Master role as an example of preparing and succeeding in your interview process.
The interview preparation process consists of the following:
Getting an interview. To get an interview, ensure that your resume reflects your Agile knowledge and experience. List any professional certifications discussed before and training courses you have completed. Ensure that you list any adequate professional experience. If you do not have any, no worries: describe the project you’ve done in this class from an iterative delivery perspective. If you have developed working prototypes as part of this project, make them available online and provide a link to them. Describe the methodology you used and your role on the team. List any tools that you used, such as Jira and Trello. Any collaboration and productivity tools, such as Mural, Miro, Freehand, and similar ones, are also highly relevant.
If you do not have any experience besides this course, do not give up. Try “personal Kanban” and describe this experience in your resume. Personal Kanban refers to using the Kanban board and other Scrum practices, such as timeboxed iterations in your personal life. This allows for clear focus, deliberate actions, fast delivery, and purpose. Write a blog on LinkedIn about your experience and include this online publication in your resume. This all provides a solid foundation to prove your Agile mindset.
Step 1. Research the Company and Analyze the Fit
- 1.Research the company
Mission, vision, goals, culture, employee experience (in general and in a similar role)
State of agility, Agile frameworks, expectations, potential peers
- 2.Analyze the fit (and the gaps)
Memorize the job description.
Ensure full accuracy of your resume.
Re-create your own elevator pitch; be explicit about the gaps.
Rehearse in front of the mirror and with a friend.
Prepare the questions.
- 1.
What do you know about <company>? Why are you interested in working here?
- 2.
What is your Scrum Master experience? Why do you think you are a fit for this position?
- 3.
Are you aware of our company’s values? Do they resonate with you?
- 4.
Why are you making this career move? What are your long-term career objectives?
- 5.
What is your work experience? Why did you choose Agile as your profession?
- 6.
What are your professional strengths/weaknesses? What makes you happy/frustrates you?
- 7.
Do you prefer to work individually or as part of a team? Why?
- 8.
What questions do you have for the interviewer(s)?
- 1.Read the Scrum Guide (www.Scrumguides.org/Scrum-guide.html):
Definition of Scrum, Scrum values
Scrum roles (Product Owner, the development team, the Scrum Master)
Scrum events (Sprint, Spring Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective)
Scrum artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment)
Artifact transparency (Definition of Ready, Definition of Done)
- 2.Beyond Scrum Guide
Agile values and principles, Agile mindset, value, and impact of Scrum (https://Agilemanifesto.org/)
Other Agile frameworks (e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanban_(development))
Product development practices (sample: www.jpattonassociates.com/user-story-mapping/)
Scaling Agile (sample: www.scaledAgileframework.com, www.Scrumatscale.com/Scrum-at-scale-guide)
- 1.
What are Agile values and principles?
- 2.
What is Scrum? What are Scrum values? What other Agile frameworks are you aware of?
- 3.
Why Scrum? What value does it bring? How different is it from other Agile frameworks?
- 4.
What are Scrum roles? Who owns the product backlog? What is a cross-functional team?
- 5.
What is your experience working with a distributed team? What is your experience with a scaled Agile framework?
- 6.
What are Scrum events? Who can cancel a Sprint, and why? What are the Sprint planning techniques? What happens at a Sprint Review? What is the purpose of a Sprint Retrospective?
- 7.
What are Scrum artifacts? Which metrics do you track? What is the Definition of Ready and Definition of Done? What are the major challenges in implementing Scrum? When do you use Scrum vs. Kanban?
- 1.Prepare your story.
Enhance your elevator pitch and rehearse it multiple times.
Tell a story; do not list bullet points.
Be concise; make a compelling statement.
Select relevant information based on the job description.
- 2.Be clear about what you need to convey.
What are the one to three things you want the interviewer to take away?
What was your role in the event/approach/artifact you describe?
Be aware of your nonverbal communication.
Sample Interview Question/Answer
I. Good Example
Have you had a challenge as a Scrum Master, and how did you overcome it?
When I worked as a Scrum Master on the Claims team in a large health insurance company, we used Scaled Agile Framework and did our Program Increment (PI) planning as part of an eight-team Agile Release Train. First, I coached my team in getting an accurate long-term forecast based on an established velocity and a consistent story point estimation. However, there was still a challenge with my peer’s team - they were failing their forecast and were not able to deliver on the dependencies, thus slowing us down. I worked with their Scrum Master to help establish the predictability of their delivery by encouraging a thorough analysis of misestimated user stories they had in their backlog. As a result, our joint predictability rate went to over 90% across the release train.
Comment: As you can see, in this story, the Scrum Master emphasizes experience in working in a scaled Agile environment, exposure to other frameworks, and the ability to work with peers successfully to achieve a win-win solution.
II. Improvement Opportunity
How do you do planning in Scrum?
Sprint planning is an event in the Scrum framework where the team determines the product backlog items they will work on during that Sprint and discusses their initial plan for completing those product backlog items.
Teams may find it helpful to establish a Sprint goal and use that as the basis by which they determine which product backlog items they work on during that Sprint.
Comment: This is the correct answer “by the book.” However, it does not speak to your own experience, the challenges you had, or the lessons you learned. It does not provide any information about the toolbox you have as a Scrum Master that enables you to make your Sprint planning successful and predictable. It does not reflect why it is important to provide an accurate estimation.
Step 4. Demonstrate Your Soft Skills
- 1.Be flexible and authentic and at the same time
Show that you are a servant leader
Show your effective communication and facilitation skills, including conflict resolution
Prove that you are open to continuous improvement
- 2.Respond to the challenge.
How to handle a situational question/case study
How to handle role play
How to handle ethical questions
Sample Interview Question/Answer
I. Improvement Opportunity
Standup Situation
On your team, there is a tech lead. During the daily standup, every team member provides an update directly to the tech lead, and the tech lead is asking the follow-up questions. They do not communicate with each other; they are just doing the update to their lead. To make matters worse, team members are all quite junior; they respect the team lead, and they see nothing wrong with these dynamics. What would you do as a Scrum Master?
Answer: I will tell them that as described in the Scrum Guide, the Daily Scrum is a 15-minute timeboxed event for the development team to synchronize activities and create a plan for the next 24 hours. The Daily Scrum is held every day of the Sprint. At the Daily Scrum, the development team plans work for the next 24 hours.
II. How to Improve This Answer?
Standup Situation
On your team, there is a tech lead. During the daily standup, every team member provides an update directly to the tech lead, and the tech lead is asking follow-up questions. They do not communicate with each other; they are just doing the update to their lead. To make matters worse, team members are all quite junior; they respect the team lead, and they see nothing wrong with these dynamics. What would you do as a Scrum Master?
Answer: It is a common situation, especially when the tech lead is knowledgeable and respected by the team. When I face this situation, I start by understanding why they are acting this way: Is this something the tech lead is asking them to do or is it that they do not understand the goal for the Daily Scrum? First, I will speak with the tech lead one-on-one and explain that the Daily Scrum is for the Scrum team to synchronize activities with each other and create a plan for the next 24 hours. Once I get support from the tech lead, I will speak to the team and explain that this event is for them to align; it is not a status update to their tech lead. Once everyone is in consensus, I will use my facilitation skills to confirm that the team members are making their Daily Scrums collaborative, informative, and productive.
Compare answers I and II. As you can see, in the first version, Scrum Master is coming top-down at the team. Rather than coaching them in best practice, the Scrum Master is telling them what to do. The instruction is provided “by the books” without explaining why their approach is not effective and how they would benefit from the one suggested to them. This behavior does not create trust between the Scrum Master and the team and usually results in the team ignoring the Scrum Master instructions. In the second answer, the Scrum Master acts as a coach trying to understand the root cause of the unwanted behavior pattern and takes ownership of resolving the issue in a collaborative people-oriented way.
On the Day of the Interview
Ensure that you are fully prepared for the interview at least the day before: test the proposed online meeting platform for the online interview or, in case of an in-person interview, research your commute for a face-to-face one, refresh the information about the company and the group you are interviewing with, write down the names of the interviewers and check out their background on LinkedIn, memorize job description, print out your resume, and prepare the questions for your interviewers. Now you are all set for success!
Now you are well equipped for your Agile journey, no matter which capacity you choose for yourself. The sky is the limit! Keep in mind that the Agile body of knowledge is continuously evolving, and we all contribute to it. To stay informed, join Agile meetups on Meetup, Agile forums on LinkedIn, and professional associations, such as Scrum Alliance or Agile Alliance; connect with other Agile professionals; and continue to learn and grow while elevating others along your journey. At the end of the day, Agile is all about continuous improvement!