Okay, so you have landed the role of
a Scrum Master.
Congratulations.
Now, as a Brand New Scrum Master
what do you think is your
primary responsibility?
If your answer is your team's productivity,
growth and performance,
then you are on the right track.
Here's my next question.
As a Brand New Scrum Master,
what is the most essential
and crucial ingredient
that you're going to need to be able
to help your team
become more Productive and High Performing?
Now, I'm not going to drag it for long
because we all know that the answer is
Trust and Respect.
This is the single most essential ingredient
in the recipe to becoming High Performing.
Hey, friends,
welcome back to the channel.
If you're new here,
my name is Vibhor.
I am an Executive Agile and Leadership Coach
based in Toronto, Canada
and in this video we will talk about
5 strategies that you can use to
earn your team's Respect and Trust.
You can find time stamps
in the video description.
If you're watching this on YouTube,
so do feel free to skip around if you
feel like it. But for now let's Get Started
So if you just assumed the role of
a Scrum Master or joined a new team
as an experienced Scrum Master
Then I think it goes without saying that
the first thing you need to do is win
the trust in respect of your new team.
But why is it crucial to earn your team's
Respect and Trust?
And the simple answer is without respect,
You just can't make your team follow your lead.
As a Scrum Master
you are in charge of steering you team
in the direction of becoming more productive
and high performing.
Now here's a reality check.
Without respect and trust,
your suggestions will not be taken seriously
and all your process improvement decisions
towards making you team more productive will
be discarded the moment you leave the room.
So how to know if there is an
absence of trust and respect?
You can look for these four signs.
Number one.
Your team talks you down.
We treat a leaders in a certain way,
which is highlighted by our tone of
speaking and our body language,
Leaving space for a bit of a friendly humor,
If your team is showing signs of ,
unprofessionalism
then it's a matter of concern.
Second is when they hide the problems with
you, which typically means that they
don't trust you with their issues,
you are still an outsider.
That is, when they talk behind your back.
If they're not honest to you or if they
are being insincere,
it's usually a sign that your team does
not respected you,
Fourth and the most common
and easy to spot sign
is when they don't pay attention when
you talk to them.
If they usually do not look into your
eyes when you talk to them,
then it's time to raise the red flag.
Now, as a new Scrum Master or even as
an Agile Coach or any other leader,
for that matter,
I am pretty sure you must have noticed,
at least of one of these signs in
the behaviour of your team members in
the early stages of your interaction.
that,
If you have
then, do not feel disheartened.
This is almost always the case at the
beginning of any new relationship.
It is therefore essential to know that
respect and trust are not given.
Respect and trust are earned
and here are 5 ways to
help you do just that.
Number one
get a good introduction.
When you first start with the new team,
ask a senior leader to introduce you
to your team members,
highlighting the work
that you have done before
This will serve as an evidence to
support your claim to be a Star Scrum Master
providing your team with a persona that
they can use to gauge what to expect from
you as a leader.
Number two, SHOW RESPECT
Now it goes without saying the first rule
to get respect is to give respect first.
Treat all of your team members fairly
and express the value you have for them.
Listen to them when they come to you
and never talk them down.
In short,
treat them the way you want to be treated
yourself.
Number three. BE ASSERTIVE
Now in an Agile environment.
All decisions are team decisions,
but do not mistake it for blindly supporting
your team in the things that you can foresee
as wrong.
If your team is new to Agile,
they need to be disciplined to realise the
benefits in the long run.
So be firm and assertive when proposing
suggestions for improvements and do
so with reasons grounded in logic and
try not to give in to complaints.
Respect your decisions before expecting
others to respect them.
Number four. BE CONSISTENT
Now, as a Scrum Master
There are several leadership styles you
can follow.
There is no single right way to lead
as a Srum Master
for example.
Depending upon your team,
you might prefer to be more hands off,
than hands on,
in my case,
because I have a programming background.
I used to be more hands on,
but it doesn't matter.
What matters is that you are consistent with
your approach.
Suddenly becoming hands on when you're
mostly hands off may give your team the
wrong idea that you are controlling them
or do not trust them.
or worst yet, do not respect their boundaries,
so be consistent.
Number five. SHARE YOUR PERSONAL STORIES
as a Scrum Master or an Agile Coach,
there is a good chance that you possess
expertise in areas other than Scrum and Agile.
Now suppose you have been in
some expert positions before,
like a programmer a QA specialist
or a Business Analyst.
Don't be afraid to share your personal stories
in those areas.
But Hey,
remember to just treat them as stories to
help you team glean information from
them. {Blooper}
{Blooper}
do not force your team to accept your ideas.
Making your team learn from those stories will
not only help you establish your credibility,
but will also earn you the much needed
respect that you are yearning for.
So there you have it.
These are five strategies that you can
use to earn Respect while starting a
new relationship with the team.
Remember,
earning your team's respect is not
about being infallible, or perfect.
The best overall tool of acquiring respect
is your character.
You take thoughtful actions that you know
in your heart are right and those actions
get noticed.
But before you go,
if you have any questions regarding this
topic that you want to be answered,
please write them down in the comments and
I will attempt to provide you with an
answer in the next video.
If you like this video,
please do not forget to give it a
thumbs up.
Also, please don't forget to provide your
valuable feedback in the comments.
I'll see you in the next video