Back to Forum

Freelance Scrum masters

Last post 08:50 am January 13, 2015 by Ludwig Harsch
5 replies
Anonymous
07:15 pm December 2, 2014

Hi all,
Sometimes I think about the future of Scrum masters. Especially when you are an external consultants or freelancer.
In my opinion, when time progresses, most companies will have internal Scrum masters. Therefore I’m wondering of the sustainability of let’s say a Freelance Scrum master.

Any thoughts??

Anke Maerz
01:45 am December 3, 2014

Hi Pablo,

I think it's similar to developers: Many companies who need software have internal developers. Yet, there are lots of freelance developers or external developers in charge for specific one-time tasks or to bridge some transition period or ...

I don't see a reason why it shouldn't be the same with Scrum Masters. Although, maybe, the tasks of a Scrum Master focus more on agile coaching than on teaching and installing the mere Scrum principles.

Anonymous
02:42 am December 3, 2014

Lets be clear that I believe that being a Scrum master is hard work and I believe not everyone can be good Scrum masters.

But in my opinion I do think that the threshold of becoming a Scrum master (either (good or bad) is much easier than lets say a Developer. In some teams they even rotate this role. (bad idea)

I just got the feeling that if someone (me) decide the go freelacing, perhaps being a Scrum master isn't the most sustainable service to provide, but I could be wrong of course.

Andre Noubissi
02:26 pm December 3, 2014

I think this is an issue you have everywhere and it is not only related to the scrum master task, like it was already mentioned above, it happens also with developers, designers, DBA and so on. The only thing is that as far as you are good enough in what you are doing, you will always find a job i think. As long as you act as a scrum master, you should do your job as good as you can, so that people will feel comfortable with recommending your services.
Since we are today living in a fast changing world, we also need to be always ready to learn and adapt to changes. Might be the scrum master of today can be a good product owner tomorrow...

Karl Peschke
07:24 am December 4, 2014

Every 4th offer or so, I stumble over one requiring SCRUM knowledge or at least agile methods to get into the IT project I want to win.
So market demand is really there, I can say.

Ludwig Harsch
08:50 am January 13, 2015

To add another aspect: The Scrum Master leads change processes in enterprises.
In my experience it is extremely hard for an internal (employee) to drive this change process, especially if this person will lose responsibilities due to the changes.
The only successful transitions I have experienced so far were driven by external coaches / Scrum Masters.

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.