Ask HN: What is being a "Scrum Master" like? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What is being a "Scrum Master" like?

3 pointsMrGilbert5 comments

Hi crowd!

After 13 years in software development, and more than two decades of working with code, I'm currently considering changing my direction. I get no joy any longer from staring at code eight hours a day. I noticed that I like everything that revolves around team dynamics, though. How people interact with each other. And how communication could work out. How to improve it. Mediate, if necessary. However, I still also love thinking about the product itself.

On the horizon, a scrum master position is appearing. After a brief discussion, it's apparent that my current employer will support me. Currently, it's only about trying things out.

But I wonder what makes being a scrum master a full-time job. Of course I've seen several scrum masters in the past decade. Are there any people here, that made the transition from being a developer to becoming a scrum master? What are your experiences?

Thank you, and please keep it civil in the comments.

A lot of the answer here is going to depend on the organization and person.

Coming from a software development background, my sense is that you'll likely have a greater appreciation for the importance of keeping developers focused on writing code and removing as much overhead as possible when it comes to them participating in Scrum events like daily stand-ups, refinement and estimation, and sprint planning.

In my experience, this is where a lot of Scrum Masters get it wrong. Facilitating Scrum in a way that creates more overhead for the dev team isn't likely going to be met with a lot of support from the team, and over time will likely lead to frustration and negative sentiment. Finding that balance is going to be an essential to your success.

For what its worth, I haven't seen a lot of devs personally make this transition, but I think your perspective as a former developer could really help set you up for success in this type of role, and improve the odds your team will be successful with Scrum. Just my 2 cents, hope it helps!

Thanks a lot for your feedback, I really appreciate it! I prepared my first retro today, and I'm quite excited. Let’s see how it goes. :)

Expect a different title track, different comp ranges(it's likely in the project management job family, go compare on bls.gov), and likely a manager without experience in your new practice. If you're the first/only, you're also looking at making sure folks understands your role, and how to value your efforts.

I haven't seen folks make the change in formal role. I have seen folks take on the role, and I've taken it on myself (not my fave) with moderate success to make things happen.

Biggest advice: support the people in producing good outcomes, any processes should serve that. But the people create the outcomes, the process is a disposable tool.

Yeah, that is really important to me: It's the people, not the process that matters. However, if things get heated, it's good to have something to fall back to and start over.

It depends on the interest rate.

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