A Day In The Life Of A ScrumMaster

The daily life of a Scrum Master[1] is anything but mundane. Play along with one Scrum Master as she facilitates, coaches, and runs interference all in the name of becoming a Well-Formed Team™[2].

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1.  Arrive at the office 1/2 hour in advance of the Team, coffee up, tidy the Team’s workspace and remove distractions.

2.  Facilitate 15 minute Daily Standup[3] to Plan the Day.

  • Where are we right now?
  • Where do we want to be?
  • So, what should we do to day to get there?

3.  Help the Team remove an Impediment[4] that was surfaced during Standup by 2 pair-programming developers.

4.  Remind the PO[5] to help the Team Extract Stories[6] from the devOps Chore[7] Epic[8].

5.  Set up a training session for the DevLead to teach new developers the best practices of TDD (Test Driven Development).

6.  Select activity and focus points for upcoming Sprint Retrospective[9].

7.  Meet with PO to review top-prioritized Stories in the Backlog[10].

8.  Have lunch with the devOPS SME[11] to discuss Swarming[12] availability for next Sprint[13].

9.  Update the Information Radiator to show the latest information on the current Buildup[14].

10.  Grab an afternoon coffee with PO and discuss how to recognize and deal with Technical Debt[15] that built up during the rush feature Release[16].

11.  Run interference when a Stakeholder[17] comes into the Team room and insists the Team work on a Story not in the current Sprint.

12.  Develop a blog outline about coaching Team dynamics.

13.  Stop by a Team Swarm on a new Story’s Doneness Criteria[18] and have the PO move a finished Story to Done[19].

14.  Meet with 2 of the Stakeholders to clarify Stories that need to be captured for the Fridge[20].

15.  Hit the local Scrum User Group Happy Hour.

Learn more about what it’s like to be a Scrum Master with tips like How To Kick Impediments to the Curb, Servant Leadership And Scrum Mastering, and The 7 Essential Roles To Be the Best ScrumMaster

As Always, Stay Agile.

Notes and Sources

1-20 “Scrum Master,” “Well-Formed Team,” “Daily Standup,” “Impediment.” “PO,” “Extract Stories,” “Chore,” “Epic,” “Sprint Retrospective,” “Backlog,” “SME,” “Swarming,” “Sprint,” “Buildup,” “Technical Debt,” “Release,” “Stakeholder,” “Doneness Criteria,” “Done,” “Fridge.” Accessed March 9, 2019. https://scrumdictionary.com.

This blog was updated on 3/20/19.


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