As a Scrum Master, how do you show that you are achieving results? Surely you want to show that you add value, otherwise they might as well not have hired you. But how do you do that? Or maybe you are curious about the results of the Scrum Master in your department. In this article we give tips and examples for measuring the results of the work of a Scrum Master.

Tangible results

It’s a lot easier to be able to show something tangible as a result of your work. Something you made, like a closet or a report you wrote. An architect shows drawings and a developer demonstrates a program. When it comes to a police officer, it gets a little trickier. But what about a Scrum Master? How does the Scrum Master make the result of his or her work tangible?

Sharing moments of success

Scrum Masters work with groups and their dynamics. Changes often go unnoticed. People outside the team are not concerned with the dynamics within the team and people within the team are part of the change so they don’t notice it. Added to this is the fact that change happens slowly. That is why it is so important to keep sharing success moments!

Defining the measuring instrument

What are you going to measure? To answer that question, you first have to know what you want to achieve. You must be able to find the tension between what you want to achieve and your current situation. What does your team want to accomplish from the current situation? What does the organization want to achieve? Once you know this, you can determine a measurement tool. As with Test Driven Development, determine the measurement tool before you deploy the change.

Setting a goal

There are several things you can look at, it just depends on what you think is important. Are you looking at the quality of the products your team produces or are you looking at the quantity? How do you measure these units? Maybe you think it is important that people stay with an organization for a long time to retain knowledge. This is different for every organization and it is important to first determine what is most important in your organization.

Asking questions

One way to find out what results you have achieved as a Scrum Master is to ask the Product Owner and stakeholders questions. Are they satisfied with the results? If they are not satisfied, first ask when they will be. You can then discuss the results at a later time. Take this example of a Product Owner who thought he looked too much like a team leader. He wanted to see team members pick up tasks themselves, even when he was absent for a while. Transparency in the work gave him the insight that the team was indeed working in his absence. This gave him confidence and the Product Owner dared to take another step forward in handing over the responsibilities. In short, openness and asking questions is essential!

We are very curious about your experiences with this topic and what methods you have used or want to use in making results tangible. Please let Martijn know via martijn@trailblazers.nl!