Job Description

Job Description: Scrum Master is needed to perform the following duties:
Facilitating daily stand-up meetings
-> In Scrum, on each day of a sprint, the team holds a daily scrum meeting called the "daily scrum." Meetings are typically held in the same location and at the same time each day. Ideally, a daily scrum meeting is held in the morning, as it helps set the context for the coming day's work. These scrum meetings are strictly time-boxed to 15 minutes. This keeps the discussion brisk but relevant. The daily scrum meeting is not used as a problem-solving or issue resolution meeting. Issues that are raised are taken offline and usually dealt with by the relevant subgroup immediately after the meeting. During the daily scrum, each team member answers the following three questions: What did you do yesterday? What will you do today? Are there any impediments in your way? By focusing on what each person accomplished yesterday and will accomplish today, the team gains an excellent understanding of what work has been done and what work remains.
Responsible to run Scrum of Scrums
-> A technique to scale Scrum up to large groups, consisting of dividing the groups into Agile teams of 5-10. Each daily scrum within a sub-team ends by designating one member as "ambassador" to participate in a daily meeting with ambassadors from other teams, called the Scrum of Scrums. Depending on the context, ambassadors may be technical contributors, or each team's Scrum Master, or even managers of each team. The Scrum of Scrums proceeds otherwise as a normal daily meeting, with ambassadors reporting completions, next steps and impediments on behalf of the teams they represent. Resolution of impediments is expected to focus on the challenges of coordination between the teams; solutions may entail agreeing to interfaces between teams, negotiating responsibility boundaries, etc. The Scrum of Scrum will track these items via a backlog of its own, where each item contributes to improving between-team coordination.
-> Involve in continuous sprint planning and monitoring
The Iteration or Sprint Planning meeting is for team members to plan and agree on the stories or backlog items they are confident they can complete during the sprint and identify the detailed tasks and tests for delivery and acceptance. Iteration lengths typically range between 1 and 4 weeks. The team holds a planning meeting at the beginning of each iteration to break down each of the features scheduled for the iteration into specific technical tasks. Iteration or agile sprint planning meetings generally last from 2-4 hours any more than that and you may be spending too much time in unnecessary planning; less time than that and you may not be doing enough planning and collaborating. Sprint planning is a time boxed working session that lasts roughly 1 hour for every week of a sprint. In sprint planning, the entire team agrees to complete a set of product backlog items. This agreement defines the sprint backlog and is based on the teams velocity or capacity and the length of the sprint.Sprint planning is a collaborative effort involving a ScrumMaster, who facilitates the meeting, a Product Owner, who clarifies the details of the product backlog items and their respective acceptance criteria, and the Entire Agile Team, who define the work and effort necessary to meet their sprint commitment. The Planning Steps are below: Remind the team of the big picture or goal Discuss any new information that may impact the plan Present the velocity to be used for this release. Confirm team capacity. Confirm any currently known issues and concerns and record as appropriate. Review the definition of DONE and make any appropriate updates based on technology, skill, or team member changes since the last sprint. Present proposed product backlog items to consider for the sprint backlog. Determine the needs, sign up for work, and estimate the work owned. Product Owner answers clarifying questions and elaborates acceptance criteria. Confirm any new issues and concerns raised during meeting and record. Confirm any assumptions or dependencies discovered during planning and record. ScrumMaster calls for a group consensus on the plan.
Provide Issue/Impediment SolutionAs the Scrum Master, work together with the team to determine which impediments it may resolve itself and what support it needs. Over time, the team should become capable of removing more and more impediments on its own. Don't simply delegate all impediments to the team, however. Many of them will be too hard for the team to resolve on its own. Impediments can slow down or even halt the progress of an otherwise well-functioning Scrum team. Let's take a look at the most common challenges that crop up on teams and what steps you can take to resolve them.o Problems: If the impediment backlog lives in the mysterious black book of the ScrumMaster, you have a problem. If your impediment backlog does not change you have a problem. If your impediment backlog is empty, you have a problem. If you have an impediment backlog with a growing number of active impediments, you have a problem. If the ScrumMaster resolves all impediments himself you have a problem.
- Make the impediments visible - Write the impediments on a flipchart or index cards and attach them to a wall in the team room near the task board. Make sure that everybody can see the impediments, especially the team during the Daily Scrum. Some of the impediments are really hard to solve. Hiding these will make it very easy to ignore the impediments while making them visible creates pressure to resolve the impediments. Putting impediments near the task board creates a nice opportunity for you as the ScrumMaster to give information during the Daily Scrum, like I resolved impediment X. What do you think is now the impediment with the highest priority? I will pick that one. That way, it becomes very clear if the ScrumMaster neglects to continuously remove impediments.
- Search for impediments - There is no such thing as a team without impediments -- every team could perform faster. If you as the ScrumMaster aren't aware of impediments you are not doing your job. Inexperienced Scrum teams may not mention impediments by themselves so you must actively search for them. For example: Whenever there is no movement on the task board during the Daily Scrum, it is likely that there is an impediment. If there are more tasks in progress on the task board than developers on the team, it is likely that there is an impediment. Ask the team about these things and you will discover the impediment. Question the team about what things that would help them accomplish their tasks faster. Remind team members that these are also impediments to achieving the highest possible performance.
- Limit the number of impediments -There are several strategies you can use to limit impediments. One is to limit the time; another is to limit the number of impediments. To limit time, use a strict rule, like: An impediment may only exist for a maximum of 24 hours. After that time it must either be resolved or trashed. A trashed impediment may only come back in the next Sprint but not the current one. To limit the number, set a maximum limit of open impediments (e.g. 4). When writing impediments on index cards and attaching them to the wall you could limit the space for the cards so it's simply not possible to attach more impediments to the wall. When you have reached the maximum of open impediments and a new impediment is discovered, you'll have to decide if the new impediment is more important than the existing ones. If this is the case, remove an existing card and put the new one in its place. Of course, new impediments typically occur much faster than you can remove them. That results in an ever-growing list of open impediments and after a short period of time you have a very long list of impediments. That blocks focus, makes prioritization hard, and creates a bad mood. Dont manage impediments, resolve them! Dont be afraid to miss important impediments: they will be raised again later.
- Differentiate between local and global impediments - Differentiate between impediments that slow down the team and those that block progress on stories. The first category of impediments could be called global impediments and the second category could be called local impediments (or blockers). Use tip number three to address global impediments. For local impediments, attach red sticky notes to the stories on the task board. Don't be afraid to use as many sticky notes as you need. Be aware, however, that tip number three has a pitfall: There may be impediments that block stories. Trashing these impediments would cause problems since the blocks wont vanish. Tip number three covers global impediments but the local ones, so put as many local impediments on the task board as you discover.
- Help the team to resolve impediments As the ScrumMaster, dont resolve all impediments by yourself. Work together with the team to determine which impediments it may resolve itself and what support it needs. Over time, the team should become capable of removing more and more impediments on its own. Don't simply delegate all impediments to the team, however. Many of them will be too hard for the team to resolve on its own
Run Agile ceremonies like Sprint planning, daily Scrum meetings, backlog grooming, Sprint review and Sprint retrospectives; The sprint planning happens just before the sprint begins and usually lasts one to two hours. Coming into the meeting, the product owner will have a prioritized list of the product backlog items. The product owner discusses each item or user story with the development team, and the group collectively estimates the effort involved. The development team will then make a sprint forecast, normally based on the teams velocity, outlining how much work the team can complete from the product backlog. That body of work then becomes the sprint backlog. The daily stand-up meeting is designed to quickly inform everyone of whats going on across the team. It is not supposed to be a detailed status meeting. The tone should be light and fun, but informative. Have each team member answer the following questions: What did I complete yesterday? What will I work on today? Am I blocked by anything? The daily stand-up occurs once a day, normally in the morning and requires the development team, Scrum Master, and Product Owner to attend. It is advised that the duration is no more than 15 minutes, hence the purpose of standing up to keep the meeting short. At the end of the sprint, each team gets to demo or showcase their newly developed features or just generally what they worked on during the sprint. This is the time for the team to celebrate their accomplishments demonstrate work finished within the iteration, and get immediate feedback from project stakeholders. The duration can vary on the number of items to showcase per team. The work is usually showcased to participants of the respective team, namely the development team, Scrum Master, and Product Owner as well as other teams and project stakeholders. And finally, on to the sprint retrospective which occurs at the end of the sprint, typically after the sprint demo and lasts about one hour. Participants are the development team, Scrum Master, and Product Owner. Sprint retrospectives shouldnt be just for making complaints without taking action. Retrospectives are a means to identify whats working so the team can continue to focus on those areas and also whats not working so the team can discuss and collaborate to find creative solutions to the problemsCoaching scrum team throughout the sprints on agile principles, methodologies and best practices;
The Scrum Master coaches the Scrum Team in fulfilling their roles and effective use of the Scrum framework. The Scrum Master also coaches the organization in its Scrum adoption. Coaching enhances our ability to learn, make changes, and achieve desired goals. Coaching is a thought-provoking and creative process that enables people to make conscious decisions and empowers them to become leaders in their own lives. Understand what matters most to people. Focus on what people want. Remember that this is not about you. Remove judgment. Dont be afraid to challenge people. Work on yourself to better serve others. Help the team to understand the difference between Waterfall model and agile development model. Agile methodologies all started based on four core principles as outlined in the Agile Manifesto. These methodologies are rooted in adaptive planning, early delivery and continuous improvement, all with an eye toward being able to respond to change quickly and easily. AGILE methodology is a practice that promotes continuous iteration of development and testing throughout the software development lifecycle of the project. Both development and testing activities are concurrent unlike the Waterfall model. The agile software development emphasizes on four core values. Individual and team interactions over processes and tools. Working software over comprehensive documentation. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation. Responding to change over following a plan
Manage Agile metrics like (Sprint burn down, burn up, velocity, sprint backlog) on RTC and present to the team and management on regular basis; During the building of an iteration, while the developers are focused on creating the features they have committed to delivering, the project manager is responsible for understanding the progress that the team is making and keeping the stakeholders informed of the project's progress. Iteration Status Chart - is an example of a chart that project managers can use to communicate iteration status to the customer & stakeholder community. Burn-Down Chart - The project manager starts at the upper left-hand corner of the chart, before any development work is completed and as features are completed or burned down, the project manager tracks that progress with a simple line chart. Applying Earned Value Management - requires initial baselines, such as number of planned iterations, number of planned story points in a release, and planned budget for the release. Also needed are the total number of story points completed, number of iterations completed, actual cost, and the number of story points added or deleted from the release plan.
Work closely with team in estimates (planning poker and affinity); Preparation of the estimates is one of the important parts before we start the Sprint. Discussion with the development team on the estimates of time lines, budget required to complete the Sprint on time. This right estimation will help us complete the Sprint on time without any issues/concerns. Planning Poker session shortly after an initial product backlog is written. This session (which may be spread over multiple days) is used to create initial estimates useful in scoping or sizing the project. Because product backlog items (usually in the form of user stories) will continue to be added throughout the project, most teams will find it helpful to conduct subsequent agile estimating and planning sessions once per iteration. Usually this is done a few days before the end of the iteration and immediately following a daily standup, since the whole team is together at that time anyway.
Responsible for handling project delivery as a delivery manager; Delivery managers focus on completing projects, controlling business processes, and making a company effective. The focus on delivering a finished product or service may require them to prioritize a team's tasks based on improvements that need to be made to the product. Working in technical fields supervise projects using agile project management techniques. Improvement for them means measuring the information technology services offered by a company and changing delivery processes to boost customer satisfaction. First, we work with product managers to define the plan for software development. Then, they support technical leaders as they innovate new ways to deliver software products to customers. Finally, we may on-board new customer accounts. Below are the responsibilities as a delivery manager: Creating development standards. Hiring skilled team members for a project. Completing data analyses to ensure the project is on schedule. Developing a lasting relationship with clients. Deliver projects and products using the appropriate agile project management methodology, learning & iterating frequently Work with the Product Manager to define the roadmap for any given product and translate this into user stories Lead the collaborative, dynamic planning process prioritizing the work that needs to be done against the capacity and capability of the team Matrix-managing a multidisciplinary team Ensure all products are built to an appropriate level of quality for the stage (alpha/beta/production) Actively participating in the Delivery Manager community, sharing and re-applying skills and knowledge and bringing in best practice. Develop and maintain a detailed project plan;
Whether we call it a project plan or a project timeline, it is absolutely imperative that we develop and maintain a document that clearly outlines the project milestones and major activities required to implement the project. The document includes the date each milestone or major activity is to be completed, and the owner of each. The project plan also needs to be created at the beginning of the project, and a baseline version approved by the team as soon as possible.
Although we will probably not know all of the major activities required to implement the project in the beginning, it is important that we create a draft of the activities we think may need to be tracked via a formal document.
We take some time and really think through what we know about the objective of the project. Look at some historical data from similar projects. We can even have a few informal meetings with knowledgeable individuals we can use as a sounding board to make sure you aren't completely off base.
With the prepared draft we will be able to speak with subject matter experts (SMEs) and stakeholders to flesh out the project plan. If we don't make some level of effort to develop a rough draft, we may give a bad impression which will make it harder for you to obtain the support of the persons you need to implement the project.
After we have fleshed out your draft with your core team, and some other SMEs that may not be a part of your team, you should give the document a baseline status. Your timeline / project plan should not undergo many edits, if any, after it achieves baseline status.
We should document the actual date of the project activities are completed. If the actual completion date differs from the baseline date at any time, we can still have documented the date it was supposed to be completed for historical purposes.
A few key items to include in the timeline are: A unique ID that your team can reference when giving an update The name of the task When the task should start When the task should finish The actual date the task was completed Any tasks that need to happen before other tasks can begin The owner of the task Percent complete of each task
The Project Sponsor you represent may decide to track or maintain more than what has been outlined above in your project plan. This is absolutely fine. It is completely possible to run a project without a project plan or timeline; it's just not very smart. So, document milestones and important tasks, keep up with the status, and we can be that much closer to a well-managed project.
Act as a facilitator for all agile ceremonies;
The role of a Scrum Master is one of many stances and diversity. As Scrum Master is aware of them and knows when and how to apply them, depending on situation and context. Everything with the purpose of helping people understand and apply the Scrum framework better. The Scrum Master serves as a facilitator for both the Product Owner and the Development Team. In this blog post Ill describe the definition of a facilitator, the misunderstanding and the characteristics of a great facilitator.
Manage and control project budget;
Every project boils down to money. If we had a bigger budget, we could probably get more people to do your project more quickly and deliver more. Thats why no project plan is complete until you come up with a budget. But no matter whether the project is big or small, and no matter how many resources and activities are in it, the process for figuring out the bottom line is always the same.
It is important to come up with detailed estimates for all the project costs. Once this is compiled, we cab add up the cost estimates into a budget plan. It is now possible to track the project according to that budget while the work is ongoing.
Often, when we come into a project, there is already an expectation of how much it will cost or how much time it will take. When we make an estimate early in the project without knowing much about it, that estimate is called a rough order-of-magnitude estimate (or a ballpark estimate). This estimate will become more refined as time goes on and you learn more about the project. Here are some tools and techniques for estimating cost:
Determination of resource cost rates: People who will be working on the project all work at a specific rate. Any materials we use to build the project (e.g., wood or wiring) will be charged at a rate too. Determining resource costs means figuring out what the rate for labor and materials will be.
Vendor bid analysis: Sometimes we will need to work with an external contractor to get your project done. We might even have more than one contractor bid on the job. This tool is about evaluating those bids and choosing the one you will accept.
Reserve analysis: We need to set aside some money for cost overruns. If we know that your project has a risk of something expensive happening, it is better to have some cash available to deal with it. Reserve analysis means putting some cash away in case of overruns.
Cost of quality: We will need to figure the cost of all your quality-related activities into the overall budget. Since its cheaper to find bugs earlier in the project than later, there are always quality costs associated with everything your project produces. Cost of quality is just a way of tracking the cost of those activities. It is the amount of money it takes to do the project right.
Once we apply all the tools in this process, you will arrive at an estimate for how much your project will cost. Its important to keep all of your supporting estimate information. That way, you know the assumptions made when you were coming up with the numbers. Now we are ready to build your budget plan.
o Manage and lead the project team; A highly motivated, problem-solving team is a key reason for every project success. These teams are committed to completing their assignments on time and within budget so the project goal is met. The proven techniques for leading teams to success include:
Selecting Team Members: In the selection process, were trying to get the best people for your project team. But were also gathering information about their work habits and personality so you can craft the right assignment for them.
Tier 1: Small projects: We are usually familiar with the potential team members work performance and quality standards when we all work in the same department. During the project planning phase, we need to ask the boss for the people we want on your team. Thats when the boss is focused on the project and can give you hints about the correct assignment for each person.
Tier 2: Cross-functional projects: When you have to borrow your team members from other departments or organizations, it is more difficult to make sure you get productive team members. If possible, we should interview potential team members to assess their work ethic, problem solving ability and quality standards.
Tier 3: Strategic projects: On large projects for the organization or for the clients, we may not be able to select the team members. If personal interviews are possible, we can gather information about potential team members experience and work standards. We will use that information to design the right assignments for each person. If interviews arent possible, you will have to make an on-the-spot judgement about the right assignment for each team member. Leading Remote Project Teams.
Designing Appropriate Assignments: You must design the assignments so they fit the capabilities and personality type of each team member. You want to give larger/longer assignments to people who have solid technical experience and are skilled problem solvers. They will appreciate the assignments challenge. You should give shorter assignments to people who are inexperienced and/or less capable. This will let you easily track their progress and help them when its necessary.
Tier 1: Small projects: You usually have flexibility about the duration of assignments. For trainee-level team members or less capable people, you want assignments that are 1 to 3 days long. For the average team member, 5-day assignments are usually the right size. For experienced professionals, you should design assignments that are 2 weeks or longer to give them a challenge and independence.
Tier 2: Cross-functional projects: With people borrowed from other departments, it is often acceptable to talk with their boss about the right-size assignment and the level of challenge you should give them. If thats not possible, then you will adjust the complexity and length of the assignment as they work on the task and you learn their capabilities.
Tier 3: Strategic projects: On larger projects with people who are accountable for major deliverables, you need to engage them in the design of their assignments. You must avoid micromanagement of these experienced people who are very capable. On the other hand, you should give rookies assignments that are within their capabilities in terms of time and complexity. Team Micromanagement.
Work Packages: You must clearly describe, in measurable terms, the deliverable(s) the team member should produce. And you must document their availability, as approved by their boss.
Tier 1: Small projects: This level of documentation is often skipped on small projects with three or four team members working on a project within a department. On the other hand, giving a simple work pack to each team member avoids confusion about your expectations for their deliverable.
Tier 2: Cross-functional projects & Tier 3: Strategic projects: For larger projects, you should document a work package for each assignment. It will make the assignment clear and document the deliverable you expect the borrowed person to produce. The work package also provides a standard information base for estimating the tasks hours of work and identifying their risks. It is best to document the work estimate and give a copy to the borrowed team members superior. Team Building Techniques
Estimating Task Work and Duration: A project management best practice is to estimate the required hours of work so you can measure progress during the assignment. All projects: Regardless of the size of the project, you should engage the team members in the process of estimating the amount of work their assignment will take. The work package is the basis for the estimating effort. You should always estimate the amount of work (50 hours, for example). You should never estimate just the duration (Oct. 21 through Nov. 7, for example). Estimating the amount of work required for the task provides you with the ability to more accurately track progress and spot problems. Their team members availability to do the work (halftime or 2 days a week, for example) is also documented. Team Building You should also discuss the assignments potential risks with the team member and what can be done about them. This helps you avoid, eliminate or mitigate those risks. Finally, the work package should list the tasks required deliverable, the approach to take on the task and the inputs the team member requires to finish their task.
Status Reporting: Team members should report status on their tasks every week. This allows you to find problems early so you and the team have an opportunity to fix them before the task or project is late or over budget. All Projects: Data can come to you by phone, e-mails, a form, template or on sticky notes. The important thing is that each week you get the hours of work competed, as of that date, and the estimated hours required to complete the task. No narrative is necessary. You should make status reporting easy so people will do it. It is a best practice to give all team members updated status data on the entire project.
Giving Feedback: We must give feedback to team members on a timely basis. People want to be praised for a job well done. Remember that public praise is the most effective. People also need to be told when their performance does not meet your expectations. This should be done in private and include what they can do to improve. You must deliver feedback in a way that encourages people to tell you about problems early, when you and the team can define a solution or a work around. Constructive Feedback. It is extremely ineffective for you to get angry with team members who report bad news. This action (or reaction) causes team members to hide problems. Then you are doomed to find out about problems when its too late to fix them.


Field of study: Bachelors degree is required in Computer Science or Computer Engineering or Information Technology or Computer Information Systems OR education + experience which is equivalent to Bachelors degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering or Information Technology or Computer Information Systems.
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