Often, I am asked – who in the team is “allowed“ to wear the Scrum Master hat or play this role.
Such questions always hit me with the realization that several teams still think of the Agile methodology as a process that is governed with a set of rules – in the sense that there are strict rules to be followed, or else the world will come to an end.
So my response to this question, always starts with these pet words: “there are no rules to this game, as long as the underlying principles are not forgotten….”
Anyways, back to the question, and here is my usual response:
Any team member (one of the actual players in the team, other than the Product Owner) is an eligible candidate to wear this hat or play the role of the Scrum Master. I see this person as an Agile evangelist, who understands and believes in the core principles on which the Agile methodology is based. Of-course, good facilitation and communication skills always help in better performing this role. There is a whole set of responsibilities that come with this role, and I will be discussing them in one of my future posts.
Thanks for reading!!