What's up everybody. Welcome back to my channel. Joshua Partogi here.
In today's video I'd like to talk about the differences between Agile Coach and Scrum
Master. Ooooh this is going to be very controversial.
But if you'd like to hear my opinion on this topic, don't go anywhere. Stay tuned.
Last year I had an experience working with an external Agile Coach and she didn't allow
me to work at the enterprise level to coach the management
and the whole organisation because she said as a Scrum Master I should only work at the
team level. I was really surprised and at the same time
I was dissapointed an Agile Coach would say that.
There are a lot of misconceptions in the market regarding the Scrum Master role when compared
to the Agile Coach role. We can see some of these opinions on Youtube
also. So in today's video I'd like to bust some
of these myths regarding the Scrum Master role when compared
to the Agile Coach role. Now it's really hard to compare the Agile
Coach role to the Scrum Master role because unlike Scrum
that has one definition and that is called the Scrum Guide, there isn't one definition
regarding the Agile Coach role. When we search the internet, people on the
internet sphere will form their own opinion regarding the Agile Coach role,
and often times these opinions are really biased, it really depends on who is talking.
So to prevent further confusion, in today's video I won't form my own opinion regarding
the Agile Coach role. Now when comparing Agile Coach role to Scrum
Master role, after reading the opinions on the internet regarding
Agile Coach role, I have found it's like Cola drinks. There are no differences. The only
difference are the labels and the company that made it.
The first myth I found in the market is, people think that the Scrum Master only know Scrum
while Agile Coach know more than just Scrum.
There is a common misperception that if you call yourself as a Scrum Master you're limiting
yourself to just Scrum and you only use Scrum.
The term Scrum Master was inspired by the term Zen Master. Zen is one of the school
of Buddhism. Just like Zen, what's matter most in Scrum
is the values and principles. Scrum is more about empiricism rather than
the mechanics. So mastering Scrum is literally about mastering empiricism.
Mastering empiricism, is a lifelong learning. When we read Scrum Guide, Scrum is not a process,
technique, or definitive method. Scrum is a framework within which you can employ various
processes and techniques. Specific tactics for using the Scrum framework
vary and are described elsewhere. So as a framework, you can say that Scrum
is just like a container or a bucket where you can put in other complementary agile practices
like Kanban, eXtreme Programming, DevOps, Lean UX, etc.
So from here we can learn that the two co-founders of Scrum, Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland,
acknowledged that Scrum by itself is not enough.
The Scrum Master should work with the organisation using Scrum as an empirical process control
to self-discover what are the most appropriate agile practices
for their context. The second myth I found on the market is,
people think that the Scrum Master is a team level only role
and only makes changes at the team level while Agile Coach is an enterprise level role and
makes changes at the enterprise level.
Many Scrum Masters starts working at the team level but awesome Scrum Masters do not stop
at the team level only. The idea of Scrum is, improvements should
start from where people are actually doing the work and that is at the team level.
As time progresses and the organisation evolves, the Scrum Master improves his/her effectiveness
in making changes in the company and starts spreading
his/her services throughout the company. Optimising the Scrum team performance only
is suboptimal because the Scrum team does not work in isolation
and need to work with other departments within the company.
The Scrum Master should optimise the delivery of value holistically within the company.
In Ken Schwaber’s book the Enterprise Scrum, he talks about using Scrum at the enterprise
level. So that is why when we read Scrum Guide, besides
serving the Product Owner and the Development Team, the Scrum Master should also serve the
whole organisation. I have made a video on the Scrum Master accountability
within the company. If you are interested to learn more about the Scrum Master accountability,
click the link up here to watch the video. The third myth I found in the market is, people
think that the Scrum Master only have technical skills
and does not have the coaching skills to coach at the enterprise level and coach the management
while Agile Coach have the necessary coaching skills
to coach at the enterprise level and to coach the management.
As Scrum Masters need to mentor and teach everyone in the company to improve the company's
agility, Scrum Masters definitely need to know more
than just facilitating that Daily Scrum every morning.
When we read Scrum Guide, the word coaching is mentioned several times as one of the services
the Scrum Master provides to the whole company. That means the Scrum Master should know about
coaching just like an Agile Coach. Many Scrum Masters came from technical background
but it doesn’t mean the Scrum Master should stop there.
Scrum Masters are expected to add coaching skills into his/her tool-belt to be able to
bring organisation change more effectively. Besides coaching skills, the Scrum Master
should also have teaching and facilitation skills.
The Scrum Master also use mentoring and servant leadership stance to bring change within the
company. I have made a video on Scrum Master stances
and when to use it, if you haven't watched it already, click the link up here to watch
the video. Semantically by dictionary a master is the
highest form of expertise. Even though a lot of companies want to create a career path
but putting a master below a coach or putting a master as an entry level job, is very confusing.
So that is all from me today folks, I hope you have a different perspective about Agile
Coach and Scrum Master after watching this video.
If you like today's video, don't forget to smash that like button. And don't forget to
subscribe to my channel so you won't miss any of my video in the future.
Bye.