Scrum Master in new teams: 7 helpful tips

As a trained psychologist and experienced Scrum Master, I understand the challenges you may face as an agile team lead in a new team. In this article, we will look at some helpful tips on how to successfully operate as a Scrum Master in a newly formed agile team. I will try to answer the question of how you can successfully manage the dynamics in a new team.

What’s half the battle in a healthy team? Mutual trust, respect - knowing: Everyone comes to work as a human being and means well. 

You can achieve precisely this effect by ensuring that the team gets to know each other.

Trust through getting to know each other: Getting to know each other is the foundation for a successful team. Organize informal meetings or team-building activities to foster personal connections. A deep understanding of team members simplifies day-to-day collaboration and creates a supportive environment that will significantly increase the effectiveness of agile processes in the short and long term.

Recognize and use individual strengths: Take time to identify the individual strengths of each team member and inform the team about them. Promote a culture in which everyone can focus on their strengths in order to strengthen the team as a whole. The best way to do this is for team members to try to involve colleagues with corresponding strengths in solutions in the right places.

Understanding diversity as enrichment: There is always diversity or diversity of personalities. Recognize diversity in the team as an enrichment. Ultimately, diversity means different perspectives in order to recognize reality more clearly and thus become more innovative. 

Meeting Icebreaker to get to know each other: Meeting icebreakers are a great way to bring team members closer together. Start with casual activities that encourage conversation and create a positive atmosphere. This not only strengthens team spirit, but also facilitates collaboration by breaking down barriers and encouraging open communication. In case you need inspiration: Here are 21 icebreakers for agile teams, for example for your retrospectives .

With that, you already have some tips for Scrum Masters or Agile Coaches in new teams - but let’s go a little deeper.

Establish agile processes step by step: The gradual establishment of agile processes is crucial. Start with the basic principles and add more elements as needed. This step-by-step approach allows the team to gradually get used to agile ways of working and creates room for adjustments while the effectiveness of the processes is evaluated.

Ideally, agile ceremonies should be introduced when specific tensions arise within the team that can be resolved by a particular ceremony. By specifically introducing agile practices when they are most needed, not only does acceptance grow, but also appreciation for agile methods. In this way, agile ceremonies are not only perceived as formal procedures, but as effective tools for solving concrete team challenges. This prevents “Zombie Scrum” from the start.

Visualization for clarity and focus: Use visual aids such as Task Boards to clearly visualize team progress. Involve team members (if possible) in the selection of digital tools. A classic example would be the introduction of a shared digital board where all team members can track the progress of their tasks, such as Jira or Confluence.

Promote continuous learning and adaptation: Agile project management thrives on continuous learning and adaptation. Encourage your team to learn from experiences and constantly improve - especially in the beginning when a lot is happening. Implementing retrospectives after each agile sprint should be one of the first steps to reflect together on successes and challenges and make appropriate adjustments.

Promote self-organization: Strengthen the team’s self-organization by clearly assigning responsibilities and trusting team members. Ideally, a Scrum Master will eventually make themselves unnecessary, they will become obsolete - you can communicate this as a vision for the team.

Agile Getting to know methods slowlyOrganize workshops to create a common understanding of agile principles and Scrum roles. Use dynamic methods to actively involve team members. An example could be an interactive workshop in which the agile manifesto is discussed together and the team members work out the meaning for their daily work.

With this foundation, you should already have a good idea of what to do in new teams as a Scrum Master or Agile Coach. I have one last, very powerful tip for you.

A good tool can make your work as an agile team lead much easier, such as Echometer - by structuring your coaching measures, saving time preparing meetings and making your coaching activities measurable from the start. 

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.

Yes, especially at the beginning of agile teams, it helps if you have fun together as a team and get to know each other from a human side.

Christian Heidemeyer, Psychologist & Scrum Master

As a Scrum Master or Agile Coach in a new team, it is crucial to create trust, promote common understanding and strengthen self-organization. Through transparent communication, active workshops and continuous learning, you can lay the foundations for the success of your agile team. Remember that the agile manifesto teaches us to respond flexibly to change and continuously improve – a mindset that is invaluable for the challenges of new teams.

Lastly, one more note: If you would like to try out how it feels to develop your team with our tool: You can start an agile retrospective without logging in below, in this case the “Keep, Stop, Start” workshop. 

Alternatively, simply forward our website to the responsible colleagues: www.echometerapp.com.