Too many Scrum Masters believe they don’t need technical skills

TL;DR; Scrum Masters need relevant technical and domain knowledge to effectively support their teams, not just certifications. Without understanding the specific challenges and practices of their team’s work, they cannot truly enable success. Development managers should ensure Scrum Masters have or develop the necessary expertise to make a meaningful impact.

Published on 24 March 2025

Written by Martin Hinshelwood

1 minute read

https://nkdagility.com/resources/q_OupO_abR_

Too many Scrum Masters believe they don’t need technical skills. The Scrum Guide doesn’t explicitly say they do—but let’s be real.

If a Scrum Team is building software, a Scrum Master who doesn’t understand Test-Driven Development, Continuous Delivery, and DevOps is out of their depth. If the team is in finance, the Scrum Master should grasp financial modelling and compliance. If it’s an industrial design team, they should understand prototyping and material constraints.

Scrum Masters don’t do the work, but they enable the work. And how can you enable what you don’t understand?

Being a great Scrum Master isn’t about certification. It’s about mastery—of the technical, business, and organisational realities your team faces.

Are we setting Scrum Masters up for success, or are we pushing them into roles where they lack the mastery to make a real impact?

Also published on: LinkedIn

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