My keynote at AgileNCR2016 at Gurgaon, 9 Dec. In this talk, I explore the very basis of the role of scrum master, what happens when that jobs is done, and what should you do next? Comments, objections and feedback welcome!

1. Fire Your
Scrum Master
Why, When & How?
(And Not Because Of What You Think Firing Means!)
Tathagat Varma
http://thoughtleadership.in

2. Caveat
•This Is Meant To Be
An Exploratory Talk
•Because Possibilities
Are More Valuable In
The Long Run…

3. Scrum Guide, 2016
The Scrum Team consists of a Product Owner, the Development
Team, and a Scrum Master. Scrum Teams are self-organizing and
cross-func?onal. Self-organizing teams choose how best to
accomplish their work, rather than being directed by others outside
the team. Cross-func?onal teams have all competencies needed to
accomplish the work without depending on others not part of the
team. The team model in Scrum is designed to op?mize flexibility,
crea?vity, and produc?vity.
Scrum Teams deliver products itera?vely and incrementally,
maximizing opportuni?es for feedback. Incremental deliveries of
“Done” product ensure a poten?ally useful version of working
product is always available.

4. So What Does
A Scrum Team
Deliver?

5. “Working
Software”

6. Scrum Guide, 2016
The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring Scrum is
understood and enacted. Scrum Masters do this by
ensuring that the Scrum Team adheres to Scrum theory,
prac:ces, and rules.
The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the Scrum Team.
The Scrum Master helps those outside the Scrum Team
understand which of their interac:ons with the Scrum
Team are helpful and which aren’t. The Scrum Master
helps everyone change these interac:ons to maximize the
value created by the Scrum Team.

7. And What
Does A
Scrum Master
Deliver?

8. “Self-
Organizing
Team”

9. So, Once The
Team Is Capable
Of Self-
Organizing, What
Should The Scrum
Master Do?

10. “Get
Fired!”

11. Not Your Grandpa’s
Style Of Firing…
Firing because
You Have Done
Your Job
Well!

12. Scrum
Master Is A
Role, Right?

13. But What’s
Happening
Instead?

14. Creating
Scrummaster
Jobs!

15. Sample
This…

16. Types of Scrummaster
Jobs On LinkedIn…
Confused Type
Engineer Type
Manager Type
Career Type

17. Confused Type

18. Engineer Type

19. Manager Type

20. Career Type

21. So, The Goal Is…
Self-
Organization.
Right?
(So, How Does A Team Self-Organize When
There Is Always a Scrum Master???)

22. Let’s
Consider One
Possible
Way…

23. Stage 1: Team Comes
Together
F
C
E
G
A
B
D
• Identify the key
goals. Perform
SWOT, etc.
• Agree on what does
the team need the
Scrum master to do!
• Every team is
different, and so
must the Scrum
Master be!

24. Stage 2: Team elects
Its Scrum Master!
F
E
G
A
B
D
Candidate Votes
A 0
B 1
C 4
D 2
E 0
F 0
G 0
CC

25. Stage 3: Scrum Master
As Expert And Coach
F
C
E
G A
B
D
• Training in Scrum
• Directing /
coaching the
team on the
process, as
needed
• Removing
impediments

26. Stage 4: Scrummaster
as Facilitator
F
C
E
G A
B
D
• Encourage team
members to take
lead and directly
work with each
other
• Gradually,
remove himself /
herself from the
loop

27. Stage 5: The Whole Team
Is A “Scrum Master”!
F
E
G A
B
D
• When the team
has learnt to self-
organise, take a
back seat
• The real test is
when the team
continues its
normal functioning
by itself!
CC

28. Self-Organization
Self-organization, also called spontaneous
order (in the social sciences), is a process
where some form of overall order arises
from local interactions between parts of an
initially disordered system.
The process is spontaneous, not needing
control by any external agent. It is often
triggered by random fluctuations, amplified
by positive feedback. The resulting
organization is wholly decentralized,
distributed over all the components of the
system. As such, the organization is typically
robust and able to survive or self-repair
substantial perturbation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-organization

29. On Paper, A
Team Might
Never Be 100%
Self-Organising,
But By Not
Letting Go, They
May Never…

30. In Fact, The Only
Real Way To
Know Might Be
To “Inspect And
Adapt”…

31. Recap
• As Teams Mature, The Role of Scrum
Master Would Expectedly Reduce
• An Ideal Scenario Is When The Team
“Fires” Its Scrum Master
• The “Fired” Scrum Master Goes
Back To His/Her Chosen Team Role
• When The Team Encounters
Significant New Challenges, It
Might Elect A New Scrum Master

33. References
• https://www.quora.com/Agile-Software-Development-Is-
it-possible-to-run-scrum-without-a-scrum-master-If-yes-in-
what-scenarios
• https://www.scrum.org/Forums/aft/570
• https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/
questions/99381/is-a-scrum-master-needed-on-a-high-
performing-team
• http://alistair.cockburn.us/Shu+Ha+Ri
• https://www.leadingagile.com/2015/10/a-day-without-a-
scrummaster/
• https://ikbenagile.nl/goodbye-scrum-master/