The Team's Secretary Scrum Master
What is it?
The Scrum Master takes on administrative or management tasks that the Development Team should self-manage, such as updating artifacts, scheduling meetings, or taking notes.
Common symptoms (how does it manifest?)
- SM takes notes in meetings and distributes them.
- SM manages tools (Jira, Trello) on behalf of the team.
- Team expects the SM to resolve simple impediments they could self-manage.
- SM speaks on behalf of the team in external meetings.
Impact and consequences (why is it a problem?)
- Team does not develop self-organization or responsibility.
- SM becomes a bottleneck.
- Team dependency on the SM is perpetuated.
- SM spends time on administrative tasks instead of facilitating improvement.
Frequent root causes (why does it happen?)
- Misinterpretation of the SM as a traditional "team lead".
- Immature team or team accustomed to being managed.
- SM needs to feel useful or in control.
- Lack of trust in the team's ability to self-organize.