Scrum and the Business
How much of the business do you think it's important for the Scrum Master to know?
With the premise that the product owner is the bussiness expert he's in charge of the business part of the product...
I'm in charge of 3 squad in my company, and it's really hard for me to know the business of all... But I do take cara of the framework part, but the squad demand me to know more of the business to adapt the framework and to help in the decision making... Sincerily I'd prefer to not dive into business part...
How dou you guys manage this in your company?
I think the SM needs to know enough in order to be able to make Scrum effective within the organization. You have to be able to understand obstacles that are brought up, you have to understand the bigger picture if you want to be successful at coaching your team on the small things they work on. You don't have to be an expert but you need to know enough to be effective.
the squad demand me to know more of the business to adapt the framework and to help in the decision making
That would ring warning bells with me, in so far as:
- there may be a danger of trying to change Scrum rather than the organization
- the ability to form a self-organizing team might be compromised
What do you mean by the statement that you are in 'charge'? As a Scrum Master, should you be in charge of the team, the developers or a product?
One of the stances of a Scrum Master is to have some knowledge of the business domain you work on, but you are not expected to be an expert by any means.
How much of the business do you think it's important for the Scrum Master to know?
Just enough for you to sniff out some signs before the problem happens.
Just enough to help you understand the obstacles the team encounters.
Just enough for you to understand how to provide advice and assistance to Product Owners.
I'm not quite sure about your actual situation, so I can't give you very specific advice.
Sometimes the company wants you to know a little bit more about the business side, perhaps the Product Owner or stakeholder feels that there is something wrong with your communication.
Or the team believes that there are problems with the Product Owner, and they want you to know more about the business side to help them communicate.
In any case, it is recommended that you communicate with your team in an open way to understand what they really think.
Of the three roles of scrum, scrum Master is most in need of patience and communication skills, rather than playing the role of a blood coach or a traffic policeman.