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Can the client (customer) technical representative be Scrum Master?

Last post 12:40 pm February 25, 2014 by Ian Mitchell
1 reply
11:32 am February 25, 2014

Is it possible and "Scrum-Compliant" to have a customer's tech figure as Scrum Master, leading standup daily meeting with Dev. Team?

I think answer is "no" but I met such a configuration and I became doubtful...


12:40 pm February 25, 2014

> Is it possible and "Scrum-Compliant" to have a customer's tech figure as Scrum Master...

There's nothing to stop a client from resourcing a team with its own people, either in whole or in part. What matters is that the duties associated with each Scrum role are not compromised by a conflict of interest.

> ...leading standup daily meeting with Dev. Team?

The Scrum Master should coach a team on Scrum practices and facilitate them if required. If a Scrum Master "leads" a daily standup then it suggests the team is insufficiently self-organizing.

> I think answer is "no" but I met such a configuration and I became doubtful...

If you think the answer is no, perhaps you suspect a conflict of interest in that particular configuration? Is the Scrum Master a servant leader to the team in this case, or has this responsibility been impeded by other interests?


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