PSM II: 6 Stances of Scrum Master vs. Barry Overreem's 8 Stances

Hi Arne, 



The PSM II training as it stands now is created by Barry Overeem and Christiaan Verwijs. So there some overlap. From what I remember (I did the PSM class quite a while ago), the stances in the training are based on the book Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Adkins (recommended read if you want to develop as a Scrum Master). These stances are more focussed on the team and how to guide them towards greatness. The stances from the whitepaper are more focussed towards the entire organization, like the stance of a change agent. 

if Scrum Master is a role, and Mananger is a role then ... Scrum Manager? 

A Scrum Master is combined out of more roles. Or at least bits of 'em. It has some bits of all the stances. Little bit of management, coaching, teaching, etc etc. If you compare this to, for instance, an Agile Coach, the big difference is that an Agile Coach is more disconnect. They come, coach on whatever is being requested and then usually disappear again. While the Scrum Master stays, also does this, but continues to coach the organization, team, and so on until the end of the product development. This doesn't mean the Scrum Master is with the team the same amount of time consistantly, as the SM coaches the Scrum Team to become self-organizing. If they become mature enough, the SM may be able to fade to the background a bit more and start coaching a different team.



I spoke with Gunther Verheyen the other day about self-organization. He had an interesting view on the self-organizing capabilites of a team, that can evolve into self-management and even self-directing. Nice topic to look into, once relevant. 



Hope this answers your question.

Hi Arne & Sander,

Interesting topic! Christiaan Verwijs and I took "The 8 Stances of a Scrum Master" as a starting point when designing the PSM II class. However, originally the entire class was built around these stances. This is something we've changed before the official launch. The foundation became the Scrum principles and values. The stances are intertwined in all the exercises. Basically, every exercise is related to "given <example case> how does this impact the Scrum principles and values and what stance would be appropriate? This approach triggers lots of great conversations.

You're right. The servant leader isn't a stance anymore. As a Scrum Master, you are always a servant-leader. Regardless of the stance, you take. 

We removed the Scrum Master as a Manager. Not because it's wrong, but because it caused too much confusion and didn't trigger good conversations. How I've explained it in the white paper is still correct. The Scrum Master manages the process, impediments, boundaries of self-organization etc. But the Product Owner managed the product and the Development Team manages themselves in how to build it. There still is an important exercise in the PSM II class which is about the Scrum Master as a Manager. During this exercise we have this conversation. But indeed, we removed it as a separate stance. 

By making these changes, we intend to offer the clearest explanation of the Scrum Master role, connect is the best to the PSM II assessment, and offer students an awesome learning experience.

PS: these stances are not connected to Lyssa Adkins... although there might be some similarities. 

I hope this answers your questions.

Have a great day!

Barry