Two months ago, my 91 year-old grandmother asked me what I did for a living. On the surface, it seems like an easy question to answer, but it wasn’t. I struggled. The role of the scrum master was difficult to put into words, especially with someone unfamiliar with the complex world of software development. Since then, I’ve put some thought into how I would describe my function for one simple reason:
If I’m adept at navigating personalities and if I can help teams solve complicated problems, I should be able to explain what I do for a living.
I asked anyone I could find how they would describe the role of the scrum master. My teams helped, my network on LinkedIn helped, and the other scrum masters in my organization also helped. These discussions are summed up below, and the next time someone asks me what I do for a living, I’ll be ready.