In Lesson 9, the matter of leading agile teams is discussed generically in terms of the concept of servant-leadership. Its also covered specifically with regard to how the concept is exemplified in the Scrum Master role. Any organization which fully implements agile and creates self-managed teams has to deal with the matter of finding people to properly lead them. If Scrum is to be used, someone must successfully fulfill the role of Scrum Master. Remember, the role includes serving the product owner, the development team and the sponsoring organization. It requires mastery of Scrum, a great deal of soft skills and most of all, servant-leadership.
The module content describes the Scrum Master role in detail and notes its key aspects. It raises the question of what kind of resources in an organization should be appointed as Scrum Masters. It highlights multiple options, including that of the traditional project manager. This two-part exercise is intended to help students understand the issues which must be considered when selecting a Scrum Master and focuses on whether traditional project managers can be expected to fill that role capably.
Part 1
In this team-based in-class discussion, each team will discuss the suitability of assigning the Scrum Master role to project managers who have exclusively used traditional management approaches and predictive life cycles to complete their projects. Your discussion should address these question:
What are the advantages or opportunities for the project?
What are the disadvantages or threats to the project?
What adjustments might a project manager need to make in order to succeed in a Scrum Master role?
Each team is expected to use the worksheet at the end of this document to record your answers to these questions and upload a copy to the resource folder created for this session.
Part 2
Each student will prepare and submit a one to two page paper using the assignment template which will provide the students own answer to the question of whether project managers would make good Scrum Masters. Students may rely on the answers compiled during the team discussion but are also free to offer additional points based on their own investigation or experience.
You may relate any similar situations which you may have encountered in your own career, any previous course youve taken, or even integrate sources selected from a trade journal, newspaper or magazine article, book or web-based source. As always, you should describe assumptions and any background information about such situations in your paper. If you do reference a third-party source, please be sure to list its name and provide a link to it if it is available on the Internet or in the Bobst Librarys digital archives.
There is no single right answer to this question. Your grade will be based on the depth and clarity of your analysis of the question posed in the assignment as well as how well you express your own opinion and justify it.
Submit this assignment in the designated area in NYU Classes by 11:55 PM on April 25th.
Each written assignment for this course must be word processed, have a 12-point font size, be double spaced and submitted on the scheduled due date. Reports and/or papers that are submitted after the due date will be automatically reduced in score by 20% before they are read. All written reports must be submitted with a cover sheet, using the template provided for the course. Failure to include a cover sheet will result in an automatic reduction in points. The cover sheet must include student name, course name, course ID number, the assignment name given above and the date of submission.
The Project Manager as Scrum Master Discussion Worksheet
What might be the advantages or opportunities for the project?
What might be the disadvantages or threats to the project?
What adjustments might a project manager need to make in order to succeed in a Scrum Master role?
