As an experienced psychologist and Scrum Master, I understand the challenges that team leads face in agile environments. Finding the balance between agility and leadership is no easy task. In this post, I want to share some food for thought on how you as a Scrum Master can become a Servant Leader to effectively lead your agile team.
Scrum Master as Servant Leader
8 Tips for servant leaders
1. Understand the needs of your team in order to serve them
Agile Teams are like organic units, each with their own unique needs. As a Scrum Master, it is critical to understand and address these needs. For example, a team juggling a tight schedule can benefit from short daily stand-ups to recognize and address obstacles in a timely manner.
2. Promote self-organization
A key principle of agile methods is the self-organization of teams. As a Scrum Master, you are the catalyst of this process. Give your team the space to make decisions and take responsibility. An example could be that you, as the Scrum Master, encourage team members to present their own suggestions for process improvement during the sprint retrospective. Some teams can do this on their own – but not all.
What you must not do: Become the team's "kindergarten teacher".
3. Communication as the key
The agile philosophy emphasizes the importance of open communication. As a servant leader, it's your job to create an environment where team members can talk openly about challenges. Ensure that meetings are efficient and purposeful so that all team members can share their thoughts and ideas.
4. Agiles Project management as a guide
Scrum and other agile methods serve as a framework for agile project management. Use these structures to create clarity and transparency. Explain to your team how the agile manifesto serves as a guide for their daily work and how it influences their decisions.
5. Continuous reflection and adaptation
Agile project management requires continuous reflection and adaptation. As a Scrum Master, you should embody these principles. Encourage regular retrospectives in which the team can review its working methods. This enables continuous improvement and optimization of the agile process.
6. Communicate clear objectives
Good practices are important – nevertheless, there are usually financial framework conditions that simply have to be adhered to. In this respect, setting realistic but ambitious targets is also part of servant leadership.
7 What is the vision?
One of the best ways to motivate sustainably: An attractive vision. Transactional leadership (a concept that correlates with servant leadership) particularly emphasizes the ability to communicate vision and the "why".
8. Data-driven coaching
Leadership is often something "soft", but does it have to be? No, because there is always a sense of whether progress is being made. And there are correlates with "feelings" – namely, for example, the results of surveys and retrospectives.
This introduction brings us to Echometer.
Scrum Master as Servant Leader
Servant leader at the touch of a button
The headline is of course completely exaggerated, but it gets to the point: good tools can help you become a servant leader. For example, agile retrospectives combined with agile Health Checks are very useful for talking about the right topics and making progress measurable. This is exactly where Echometer helps.
Echometer is a digital tool that helps agile team leads with agile retrospectives and team Health Checks. Whether remote, hybrid or on-site: it makes team coaching measurable and professionalizes your work while saving you a lot of work. Just take a look at our website to find out more: www.echometerapp.com.
"As a psychologist, I have to say: servant leadership is a nice construct, but in the end it always boils down to good leadership - and has to be adapted to the employees."
Scrum Master as Servant Leader
Conclusion - Scrum Master and Servant Leader
Finally, another quick hint: If you would like to know how it feels to develop your team with our tool: You can start an agile retrospective below without logging in, in this case the "Keep, Stop, Start" workshop.
Alternatively, simply forward our website to the responsible colleagues: www.echometerapp.com.
