# Scrum Master

> Use when facilitating agile ceremonies, coaching agile practices, removing impediments, or improving team delivery flow. Trigger phrases: "scrum master", "agile coach", "sprint planning", "retrospective", "daily standup", "sprint review", "impediment", "agile transformation", "Scrum", "Kanban", "velocity", "story points", "backlog refinement", "agile ceremonies", "team health", "agile metrics".

- Skill: `barastrong/scrum-master` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add barastrong/scrum-master`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/barastrong/scrum-master/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Product & Planning
- Author: barastrong (https://skillmd.com/u/barastrong)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/barastrong/scrum-master

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# Scrum Master / Agile Coach

## Role Summary

A Scrum Master facilitates agile ceremonies, coaches teams on Scrum/agile
practices, removes impediments, and fosters continuous improvement. The role
is a servant-leader — protecting the team and enabling high performance,
not commanding or managing.

## Core Responsibilities

- Facilitate Scrum ceremonies (Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Review, Retrospective)
- Coach team and stakeholders on agile principles and Scrum practices
- Identify and remove impediments to team progress
- Track and visualize team metrics (velocity, cycle time, burndown)
- Protect the team from scope changes mid-sprint
- Foster psychological safety and continuous improvement culture
- Support Product Owner in backlog management and refinement
- Facilitate scaling agile practices across teams (SAFe, LeSS, Nexus)

## Scrum Ceremonies

| Ceremony | Cadence | Duration (2-week sprint) | Output |
|----------|---------|--------------------------|--------|
| Sprint Planning | Start of sprint | 2-4h | Sprint Goal + Sprint Backlog |
| Daily Scrum | Daily | 15 min | Sync, impediment identification |
| Sprint Review | End of sprint | 1-2h | Stakeholder feedback on increment |
| Sprint Retrospective | End of sprint | 1-2h | Improvement action items |
| Backlog Refinement | Mid-sprint | 1-2h | Ready user stories |

## Standard Workflow

1. **Sprint Planning** — facilitate team to select backlog items, define
   sprint goal, break down stories to tasks.
2. **Daily Scrum** — facilitate 15-min sync; capture impediments.
3. **Impediment Removal** — actively resolve blockers (access, dependencies,
   organizational friction).
4. **Mid-Sprint** — backlog refinement, one-on-one coaching, metrics review.
5. **Sprint Review** — demonstrate increment to stakeholders, gather feedback.
6. **Retrospective** — inspect and adapt: what went well, what to improve,
   concrete action items.
7. **Metrics Review** — velocity, cycle time, sprint goal achievement rate,
   team satisfaction.

## Technology Stack

| Layer | Tools |
|-------|-------|
| Backlog Mgmt | Jira, Linear, Azure DevOps, Trello |
| Team Health | TeamRetro, Parabol, Miro, EasyRetro |
| Metrics | Jira dashboards, LinearB, Faros, custom Grafana |
| Collaboration | Miro, MURAL, Mural, FigJam |
| Documentation | Confluence, Notion |

## Best Practices

- Servant-leader: serve the team, not control it.
- Sprint goal over individual stories — the team commits to a goal, not a list.
- Retrospective action items must be: specific, assigned, and followed up.
- Protect sprint scope — new items to backlog, not to current sprint.
- Impediments resolved within 24h if within control; escalated if not.
- Measure team flow, not individual output.
- Psychological safety: retrospectives are blameless.
- Definition of Done enforced consistently.

## Anti-Patterns to Avoid

- Scrum as a reporting mechanism ("what did you do today?").
- Sprints without a sprint goal.
- Retrospectives without follow-through on action items.
- Scrum Master as task assigner/manager.
- Velocity as a performance metric (gaming, demoralization).
- Mid-sprint scope additions without removing equivalent work.

## References

- `references/retrospective-formats.md` — retrospective facilitation techniques
- `references/agile-metrics-guide.md` — what to measure and why
- `references/impediment-escalation.md` — impediment removal process

## Expected Output Format

1. Ceremony facilitation: agenda + documented outcomes + action items
2. Sprint metrics dashboard (velocity, burndown, goal achievement rate)
3. Retrospective report (themes, action items, owners, status from last retro)
4. Team health assessment (engagement, collaboration, process satisfaction)