Continuing my discussion about Scrum Masters from last week, I wanted to talk a little about “good” Scrum Masters. This came to my mind after conducting some interviews for my company for the position of Scrum Master of one of our more complex teams.
When I’m looking at a potential Scrum Master candidate, there are a few things I examine:
- Has the candidate actually done Scrum before? You laugh, but you’d be surprised how many people get in the door for the interview and then admit that they’ve only read about Scrum or done something only tangentially related like Agile Unified Process (AUP).
- Does the candidate understand the basic terminology of Scrum, such as “sprint”, “backlog”, and “velocity”?
- Does the candidate have experience with varying iteration lengths other than the standard 30-day sprint? Understanding the dynamics and contrast of running one- and two-week sprints is important.
- Has the candidate taught Scrum to others?
- Has the candidate dealt with problematic Product Owners, stakeholders, and team members before? If so, what were his or her tactics for reducing conflict and facilitating productivity and success?
- What has the candidate done to increase the morale of a team?
- What has the candidate done to coach a team to be self-empowering and self-managing?
- Has the candidate experienced failure with Scrum? If so, what did he or she learn from it?
- Has the candidate experienced success with Scrum? If so, what did he or she learn from it?
- What are the candidate’s feelings on team members fulfilling multiple roles, such as the Scrum Master also being a team member?
This series of questions allows me to gauge several facets of the potential Scrum Master. Namely:
- Does he or she understand Scrum both academically and practically?
- Has he or she encountered an extensive number of hurdles surrounding Scrum and handled them effectively?
- Is he or she willing to take a leadership role in coaching the team on Scrum and ensuring their success?
- Can he or she communicate effectively with team members, stakeholders, and Product Owners?
- Is he or she capable of handling failure as well as success?
Of course, that’s not taking into account the candidate’s particular temperament and ability to fit in with the corporate culture or any technical expertise they may bring to the table, but it does give me a good idea of their ability and scope as a ScrumMaster.
posted on October 3rd, 2008 at 9:00 am
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