One of the hardest parts for Project Managers who transition into a Scrum Master role is the lack of recognition for a job well done. The second hardest part is the lack of authority they command in comparison to the Project Management role.

Recognition

If you are someone who craves recognition for your work, you are probably not going to enjoy the role of a Scrum Master. A scrum master derives huge meaning, pleasure, and fulfillment from the role, but it does not often include public recognition of a job well done.

Why?

Because a Scrum Master works toward creating self-organising teams that take responsibility and personal accountability for their work. The Scrum Master works with the team to create an environment where the team can excel and individuals within the team can shine.

In short, a high-performing Agile team that consistently achieves their sprint goals and objectives is the sign of a great scrum master but the recognition for achieving that falls onto the development team and product owner.

Authority

In a project management role, the project manager assigns work and a schedule for that work to be completed. If the work isn’t done, the project manager would deal with the consequences of those actions and in turn, assign consequences.

In Scrum, the Scrum Master has no authority. They carry a huge degree of influence. If work isn’t done, the Scrum Master would be working with the team to identify impediments and obstacles, the things that have prevented the team from achieving their goals.

But they would not be assigning consequences.

They would work with the team to identify the consequences of those actions and help individuals within that team to overcome the obstacles and impediments preventing them from achieving their sprint goals and objectives.

It requires resilience, patience, and empathy.

People Puzzles

If you are someone who loves people puzzles, you are going to love being a Scrum Master. If you take great pleasure in helping others achieve their goals, coaching others to achieve the absolute best performances they are capable of and helping others to win in their roles you are going to love being a Scrum Master.

If you love team dynamics and are intrigued by how a group of intelligent, creative, and collaborative individuals can work together to produce something akin to magic. This is for you.

If you love the process of creativity, the power of production, and the magic inherent in doing something that has never been done before, the Scrum Master role is a perfect fit for you.

If you love working in organisations where people swarm to overcome obstacles and work together to create solutions to complex problems, you are in for an absolute treat. This role is perfect for you.

Experiment

In short, the best way to know whether the Scrum Master role is a great fit for you is simply to do it.

Whilst experienced Scrum Masters bring a process to each engagement with a Scrum team, often the team is so unique that the experience of being a Scrum Master is indescribable to others.

Unique applications, challenging environments, and the complexity of solving problems that have never been solved before whilst creating products, features and services that have never been created before creates an environment that is so unique, you will not know if it works for you until you’ve worked in it.

In project management, a project manager is expected to know all the answers upfront. A scrum master, along with the scrum team, by contrast create and discover answers. It is a journey rather than a destination.

An adventure that is filled with heaps of short-term, medium-term, and long-term rewards.

A project manager may only receive feedback from a project within months or even years into the process whereas a Scrum Master is getting daily feedback combined with significant feedback from the sprint retrospectives and reviews at the end of each sprint.

A sprint commonly lasts a week to 2 weeks so there is a lot of feedback, information, and engagement on a regular basis. A lot to sink your teeth into and find opportunities to help the team excel regardless of the obstacles and impediments they may face.

It is also worth speaking to other Scrum Masters and getting a feel for what they most love and adore about their roles. It is a super rewarding role and carries a great deal of personal and professional fulfilment when you are focused on Scrum values and principles.

If you are interested in becoming a Scrum Master, visit our Certified Scrum Master or Advanced Certified Scrum Master course pages.

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