Management Style for Scrum Masters
At that point, I was confused by the question and said “a Scrum Master is not a manager, but a servant to a team. For that reason, I don’t have any specific management style”.
That question got stuck in my head, and I started thinking about it more and more. And actually, now I think a Scrum Master should have a management style. Even though a Scrum Master has no authority over the team, she still needs some management skills. For example, a huge part of a Scrum Master’s role is to facilitate scrum ceremonies or any kind of discussions. To do that, a Scrum Master should be able to manage/lead a conversation in some way.
That question got stuck in my head, and I started thinking about it more and more. And actually, now I think a Scrum Master should have a management style. Even though a Scrum Master has no authority over the team, she still needs some management skills. For example, a huge part of a Scrum Master’s role is to facilitate scrum ceremonies or any kind of discussions. To do that, a Scrum Master should be able to manage/lead a conversation in some way.
So what is the best management style to use if you are not a manager?
I believe it’s COACHING.
What is coaching?
Coaching means helping a team find solutions by just simply asking questions.
No need for advice or recommendations (that’s more of a mentoring style). All you need to do is to ask questions and keep your team focused. Any team can come up with the solution themselves if they understand a problem and see value in fixing it.
Speak LESS. Listen MORE.
Ask open-ended rather than yes/no questions.
What’s very important is that the team feels it’s their decision and they know how to make it happen. That's essentially GROW.
What model of coaching to use?
There are various ways or models of coaching. I personally like GROW model.
When I tried GROW model, I was amazed by how a simple question can help people to find solutions. We all tend to give advice, tell others what they should do. But very often people who are experiencing a problem are the best ones to decide how to solve it.
What are the steps for GROW model?
G stands for Goal: Make sure that your team defines what goal they are trying to reach. It’s essential that it’s clear to everyone. There should be no assumptions or guesses. We all perceive information in different ways so expectations should be clear. You can even write the goal down, so everyone gets to see it.
Possible questions to ask:
What is the goal/expected outcome?
What makes it important?
How will we know we have reached it?
R stands for Reality: Discuss with the team what’s happening now. It’s essential to get enough information. During this conversation, the team may find that an initially defined goal is not a goal afterward at all and there are more important issues to fix. Dig deep. You can use 5 why’s method for that.
What is coaching?
Coaching means helping a team find solutions by just simply asking questions.
No need for advice or recommendations (that’s more of a mentoring style). All you need to do is to ask questions and keep your team focused. Any team can come up with the solution themselves if they understand a problem and see value in fixing it.
Speak LESS. Listen MORE.
Ask open-ended rather than yes/no questions.
What’s very important is that the team feels it’s their decision and they know how to make it happen. That's essentially GROW.
What model of coaching to use?
There are various ways or models of coaching. I personally like GROW model.
When I tried GROW model, I was amazed by how a simple question can help people to find solutions. We all tend to give advice, tell others what they should do. But very often people who are experiencing a problem are the best ones to decide how to solve it.
What are the steps for GROW model?
G stands for Goal: Make sure that your team defines what goal they are trying to reach. It’s essential that it’s clear to everyone. There should be no assumptions or guesses. We all perceive information in different ways so expectations should be clear. You can even write the goal down, so everyone gets to see it.
Possible questions to ask:
What is the goal/expected outcome?
What makes it important?
How will we know we have reached it?
R stands for Reality: Discuss with the team what’s happening now. It’s essential to get enough information. During this conversation, the team may find that an initially defined goal is not a goal afterward at all and there are more important issues to fix. Dig deep. You can use 5 why’s method for that.
Possible questions to ask:
What is happening now? What is the real problem?
What are the obstacles?
What will happen if we don't achieve the goal?
What’s holding us back?
How much of this situation is within our control?
O stands for Options: ask for options which your team thinks can help achieve the defined goal. Remember, it’s best when options come from the team, not YOU unless you are the one who will implement them. All you can do is ask for options and how exactly they will help.
Possible questions to ask:
What can we do?
What else might we try? Anything else?
How will these options help us?
What have you already tried? What was the result of the actions already taken?
W stands for Will: it’s time to decide what option your team is actually willing to take. You may hear a lot of “we could do that,” “we should do this,” but it’s important to understand what exactly the team will commit to; i.e., turn a specific option into a task or a story.
Possible questions to ask:
What would be the next step?
By when will it be done?
Who will do what?
How will we know it's successful?
Who to coach?
You can coach teams, a few team members or even one person depending on a topic or goals to be achieved.
And as the last note, you won’t believe how much a simple question such as “how does it make you feel?” or “what makes it so important?” can change the whole dynamic of the conversation. It may uncover a lot of things which no one has ever thought of so far.
If you haven’t done coaching yet, try and hope you will get amazed by results the same way I did.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Romana, this is a great blog! I love the way you presented the information in a very clear format, including questions one might ask at each stage of the GROW model. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Charlotte
DeleteThanks for writing this, very cool to see feedback on other methods. This approach certainly promotes healthy fundamentals to keep the team going in the right direction. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dan!
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