Influence without authority

As a Scrum Master, on the one hand I have been held (directly or indirectly) responsible for what the team commits to and delivers, while on the other hand - I don't really have any authority over the team. This situation is very common and not for the faint of heart!

Here are some of my thoughts on how to deal with and possibly make the best out of the situation.

Coach

Coach the team to under commit and over deliver. Try to get your team in a state where they are consistently meeting or exceeding their commitments. This helps build predictability and team credibility with the stakeholders. More credibility usually means more independence. 

For example - when you have a team that meets their commitments consistently, you can push back using objective data points. If your team finishes ~40 story points worth of work each sprint, you have data to back your position that the team will not be able to make the 400 points that you may be pushed into doing in this 1 sprint.

If the team gets into a position where they will not be able to meet the commitments they have made, communicate the information as early as possible. If you communicate early, you have a chance of getting help - either in the form reconsideration of the minimum viable product; or in other ways that the team deems fit.  

Failing early is almost always better failing late.

Create environment where the team holds itself accountable

I talked a little bit in my post on Scrum – metrics what you should measure. I mentioned 2 sets of data points there – team velocity and percentage of commitments met.

In each retrospective, I encourage displaying these data points to the team and asking them – what is wrong with the picture. This helps create an environment where the team holds itself accountable. Retrospectives are also a good place to display the sprint burn down chart and asking the team what is wrong with that picture.

Another good question for the team in each and every retrospective is – how did you add value to the product in the last sprint? This discussion around this question can also help the product owner get feedback on the minimum viable product.

Rather than answers or justifications, try to get the team to ask the right questions.

Establish cadence

If your team produces working software at the end of every sprint, you get minimum viable increments in the hands of the users early and often. If you establish a cadence where you are delivering working increments often, there is less chance of feeling pressure about something being behind schedule. 

With a reasonably working cadence, folks tend to lean automatically towards prioritizing the backlog. If your cadence is not predictable, people can ask for more features early. 

With predictable cadence, people know that the team is actively working on the product and will deliver on their requirements sooner or later.

Manage Up

It helps if your higher ups know and understand the values in Agile and Scrum. However, if you are in a position where your organization doesn’t fully appreciate the benefits of Scrum, you need to coach / influence them. 

I recommend starting out by trying to get support for increased release frequency. This is not a terribly hard sell, because you are saying that you will deliver more releases to customers. This automatically creates more opportunities for your team to deliver on more minimum viable increments. 

If you can successfully and predictably start with 1-2 releases, it is easy to start demonstrating the advantages of having a cadence. With a predictable cadence, you can say – feature 'ABC' is prioritized for the next release, which should be very soon - maybe in a couple of sprints.

Servant Leadership

It helps if you adopt the attitude of serving your team, serving your product owner and serving your organization. Steadily building trust with the team and with your boss creates an environment where they will shield you when you need them to.  

I loved this TED talk in this context.

Learn to deal with the pressure

It is important to know that is part of the job you have signed up for. If you are struggling, ask for help. Talk to other Scrum Masters in your organization. Be transparent with the team and your higher ups. Share the joys of success and pain of failure with your team.

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