The Scrum Master’s Role to Ensure Effective Sprint Retrospectives
The Scrum Master at the Events, part 4
The Scrum Master at the Events, part 4
This article is part of a series of 4. All articles can be read as separate pieces.
Many people believe the Sprint Retrospective is the event where the Scrum Master can shine as a facilitator of change. I see their point. But it isn’t this straightforward. Facilitation is only a part of what a Scrum Master should do.
The Scrum Guide tells us about the accountabilities of the Scrum Master and their role to play in each event. But it is put in such a condensed way. There’s a lot beneath the surface. This article will help you with that.
My tips will not be a list of activities. Instead, I will give several important insights, coupled with desired outcomes.
Help to understand the purpose of the Scrum Master
Before doing anything that involves helping the team with the Sprint Retrospective, the team should understand the purpose of the Scrum Master and their accountability.
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. — Scrum Guide 2020
and:
[…] accountable for the Scrum Team’s effectiveness. They do this by enabling the Scrum Team to improve its practices, within the Scrum framework. — Scrum Guide 2020
There’s also a specific expectation involving the events:
[Scrum Masters are] “Ensuring that all Scrum events take place and are positive, productive, and kept within the timebox.” — Scrum Guide 2020
So, the Scrum Master helps others to understand Scrum and enables the team to improve its practices. They should ensure the events are effective, but not necessarily as facilitators of the Sprint Retrospective. That’s important to keep in mind!
Help to understand the purpose of Scrum
I just discussed that a Scrum Master should help everyone to understand Scrum’s theory and practice. I learned over the years these aren’t hollow words. Only when people know why they are working with Scrum, will they be able to understand the “rules of the game” of Scrum.
Just compare it with a game of football, also called soccer. You need to know that this game is about using your feet to get the ball in the goal of the opponent more often than they do this in your goal. You don’t become a great football player by understanding every rule there is. You become a great football player by practising and you don’t even need to know *all* the rules.
Only then, you will be able to explain the purpose of the rules, like why the lines on the pitch exist. Why there are two goals. Why the game has goalkeepers, etcetera.
Many believe that Scrum is a delivery framework. Others simply don’t know why it differs from traditional approaches. Both are setting teams up for failure.
Because the purpose of Scrum is to help “people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.” — Scrum Guide 2020. The Scrum events help to manage complexity. All events have a place to serve this purpose.
It’s the Scrum Master’s job to help the team understand the purpose of Scrum. This is the first thing a Scrum Master needs to have established within the team. And whenever they notice unclarity, it’s up to them to teach, mentor or coach.
Help to understand the purpose of the Sprint Retrospective
When the team knows the purpose of Scrum, the Scrum Master is set to help the team and its stakeholders to understand why the Sprint Retrospective exists. This may seem obvious. It is when the Scrum Team does some self-reflection. This is true, but that’s not the complete story.
For starters, the Scrum Team needs to consider the complexity of their environment. “In complex environments, what will happen is unknown.” — Scrum Guide 2020. This has consequences.
In complex environments, teams don’t know if how they collaborate will bring the expected results. That’s why Scrum Teams reflect each Sprint and adapt their way of working accordingly.
“The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective is to plan ways to increase quality and effectiveness.”- Scrum Guide 2020
The Scrum Team looks at all kinds of aspects in relation to their work:
“The Scrum Team inspects how the last Sprint went with regards to individuals, interactions, processes, tools, and their Definition of Done.” — Scrum Guide 2020
The team may have conducted an experiment to improve one of the above aspects. The Sprint Retrospective is the formal event to inspect the results of this experiment and draw lessons. Did it confirm the assumptions of the team? Or did it bring other results? And what can the team learn from this?
An often overlooked aspect of inspection is the Definition of Done (DoD):
“The Definition of Done is a formal description of the state of the Increment when it meets the quality measures required for the product.” — Scrum Guide 2020
The Scrum Team may want to bring changes to the DoD. They can do this any time (provided they adhere to the organizational rules), but the Sprint Retrospective is the formal event for this.
The Sprint Retrospective can be facilitated in all kinds of ways. This is up to the Scrum team’s facilitator of the event.
The result of the Sprint Retrospective is one or more improvements to the way the team does the work. These are often shaped as experiments, conducted as soon as possible.
Ensure Facilitation
Most Scrum Masters see facilitation as their main activity. Especially the facilitation of the Sprint Retrospective. It makes sense, as the Scrum Master is accountable for the effectiveness of the team and the use of Scrum. But, the Scrum Guide doesn’t mention the facilitation of events as a responsibility for the Scrum Master.
Does this mean that the Scrum Guide doesn’t refer to facilitation in any way? No, it is indirectly mentioned. But not as many would expect. The Scrum Master should be “ensuring that all Scrum events take place and are positive, productive, and kept within the timebox”. — Scrum Guide 2020
The Scrum Master must make certain that the Sprint Retrospective happens as intended. The entire Scrum Team is responsible for an effective event. Anyone could do or share the facilitation. But the Scrum Master checks if the team ticks all the boxes:
The event happens as the last event of every Sprint, preferably at the same time and place every Sprint;
They respect the timebox (3 hours for a monthly Sprint, often shorter for shorter Sprints);
Product Owner, Developers, and Scrum Master take their responsibilities;
The Scrum Values of commitment, courage, focus, openness and respect are upheld;
The event should be positive and productive;
There is an inspection of how the last Sprint went (individuals, interactions, processes, tools, and their Definition of Done);
Experiments that have been conducted act as input for the event;
The Definition of Done is regularly discussed;
The Scrum Team identifies the most helpful improvements to increase their effectiveness;
The most impactful improvements are addressed soonest.
Every environment is different, as is every team. So how to best ensure the above is up to the Scrum Master and the Scrum Team to decide. Which leaves a lot of options for them to find their best way.
It can very well be that the Scrum Team doesn’t have people other than the Scrum Master to properly address all aspects of the Sprint Retrospective. The Scrum Master can then be the facilitator.
Wrap up
The Scrum Master is a leader, coach, mentor, and trainer first. It is their job to ensure the team works effectively with Scrum. This all starts with a firm understanding of the framework. When the team knows why Scrum exists, how it applies to them and what the rules have to do with it, the rest will follow.
I am very much opposed to the idea of just starting with the Scrum mechanics without knowing why, with the assumption that knowledge comes by doing. Too many Scrum Teams have followed this path. Without the proper knowledge, events can easily be misunderstood. And then they become a chore, a waste or even counter-productive.
Also, every Scrum Team is different and will use Scrum in a different way. Scrum is a framework after all, not a process. The team needs to find the best way of working with Scrum, which will also evolve over time.
This is why almost every tip in this article is about the WHY. And less about the HOW.
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