Skip to main content

Who can become good SM? A person with Development background or QA (Testing) background?

Last post 01:38 pm August 28, 2019 by Curtis Slough
4 replies
04:21 pm August 27, 2019

04:25 pm August 27, 2019

@SUMIT AGRAWAL, In my opinion, it would be anyone who can exhibit servant-leadership and has coaching skills. The technical skills aren't mandatory however, it would be a huge plus.


10:03 pm August 27, 2019

I agree with @Steve Vb.  Technical skills really have no bearing on it.  I recently worked with a fantastic Agile Coach/Scrum Master.  Her background was as an online Community Manager and she had just enough technical experience to understand how computer software worked.  But what made her so fantastic was her servant-leader mentality. She was even coaching some of the sales and marketing organization on how to be more agile in their work.

There are times that technical background could hinder a new Scrum Master because unless they can truly step back from the work being done in order to focus entirely on the team dynamics.


11:52 am August 28, 2019

Her background was as an online Community Manager and she had just enough technical experience to understand how computer software worked.  But what made her so fantastic was her servant-leader mentality.

I once recommended that a Business Analyst become Scrum Master for the same reason. When I first broached the possibility with her, she was surprised, as she did not consider herself to be SM material. It was also contrary to the organization's expectations for a BA to take the SM role. However, her demonstration of servant leadership was clear, being above and beyond, and so that was the recommendation I made.


01:38 pm August 28, 2019

Technical skills have absolutely zero bearing on whether a person will be a good SM. Personality, drive, how they interact with others, and most importantly, do they willingly and automatically serve others. 


By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.