Today, because of COVID-19, seamless communication, despite distance, is important to finding a successful solution for the customer. Things have been changing since the pandemic began, including people’s needs and priorities, causing businesses, startups and entrepreneurs to start innovating and reinventing themselves to find a solution that can satisfy today’s consumers. However, for some collaborators, having to work remotely can be a barrier that makes it difficult to develop a product or service in an agile way. Because of this, the Scrum Master role is more important than ever and Jose Duarte, an entrepreneur and Scrum Master from Costa Rica, provides tips to be an effective Scrum Master in a post-COVID-19 world.
The Scrum Master is responsible for accompanying a group during the realization of an agile project acting as facilitator and problem solver. In COVID-19 times, the Scrum Master’s work becomes important as it must lead and support each team member, helping them adapt to changes through a fluid communication environment, with the aim of generating a high-value product or service. Under this panorama, there are three tips that the Scrum Master must consider to lead his team – achieving productivity, speed and building a successful solution that can be useful to the customer.
With quarantine as a result of COVID-19, digital tools are a good ally for remote work; therefore, the Scrum Master must rely on technology, using collaborative boards, video conferencing, digital information repositories, among others. Explains Duarte, “Proper use of technology is important and will allow the team to adapt to the new way of working, facilitating collaboration, interaction and communication. This environment will help employees commit to their role and be able to carry out their tasks together without any obstacles in between, fulfilling the objectives set.”
At the current juncture, the Scrum Master must think of remote environments, where he or she can be present and support teams so that there is constant face-to-face communication with the equipment despite the distance, so that they can develop emerging or novel practices for the development of the solution. It is also ideal for the scrum master to mentor or coach directly to the team or a member, if needed, so that they can be focused and focused on the goal. Proper leadership is necessary to be a professional Scrum Master in the new environment.
Today, the scrum master should be more predisposed to inspect your process and quickly correct it with experiments that help improve your equipment. Asserts Duarte, “Conditions have changed, so Scrum Masters must be prepared to adapt quickly. Inspection involves obtaining data and information to help you know the condition of the equipment. For example, they have to know if lead times increased, what happened to cycle times and how many items went into production and are being used. They must also know the customer’s rating. Constantly being able to inspect and adapt in a virtual setting is difficult, but fundamental.”
The companies that already had the telework model in place are the ones that have suffered the least because they had technology, methodology and processes more or less established for the good development of work from home. Those that have been able to adapt, lacking time for a well-planned and phased transition, have been forced to implement in record time equipment, connections, technology, working methodology and training. Above all, they’ve had to rethink the way they manage business operations and people.
All this reflection brings to mind the principles of the Agile Manifesto, published in the 90s and which now has total validity and more sense than ever to be implemented in organizations. If we look at our day-to-day in recent weeks, we have made significant progress focusing on people, taking projects forward and modifying them according to circumstances, and listening to and collaborating with brands.
Concludes Duarte, “If you had to explain this in two words it would certainly be agility and performance, and what would stand out for your current application would, of course, be your values and principles.”