The Scrum Master as Servant Leader: 8 Tips & Thoughts

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.

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

An essential principle of agile methods is the self-organization of teams. As a Scrum Master, you are the catalyst for this process. Give your team the space to make decisions and take responsibility. An example might be that as a Scrum Master during the sprint retrospective, you encourage team members to present their own suggestions for process improvement. Some teams can do this on their own - but not all. 

What you must not do: Become the team’s “kindergartner.”

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.

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6. Communicate clear objectives 

Good practices are important - nevertheless, there are usually financial frameworks that simply have to be adhered to. In this respect, a realistic but ambitious goal 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 visions 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 there is progress. And there are correlates with “feelings” - namely, for example, the results of surveys and also retrospectives.

This introduction brings us to Echometer.

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 must be adapted to the employees.

Christian Heidemeyer, Psychologist & Scrum Master

Becoming a Scrum Master as a Servant Leader requires continuous attention and adaptation. By implementing these thought starters, you will not only create a successful agile environment, but also an inspiring leadership that brings out the best in every team member.

Finally, again the note: If you would like to try out how it feels to further 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.