a·gen·tic a·gil·i·ty

Why Scrum Masters Need Technical Expertise to Guide Teams

TL;DR; Scrum Masters are most effective when they have hands-on experience and technical understanding relevant to their team’s work, such as development practices or domain-specific knowledge. This expertise helps them guide teams toward improvement without doing the work themselves. Development managers should ensure Scrum Masters have sufficient technical background to enable, not just facilitate, their teams.

Published on
1 minute read
Image
https://nkdagility.com/resources/_0eaUkX1o1q
Subscribe

Would you trust a coach who doesn’t understand your sport?

Then why do we think a Scrum Master can be effective without understanding the technical work of their team?

Technical mastery doesn’t mean Scrum Masters need to be coders, but they do have to have worked as developers. But it does mean they need to understand what “good” looks like.

For software teams, that means knowing:

For finance teams, it means understanding:

Scrum Masters don’t do the work, but they need technical expertise in the work to help teams get better.

Where do we draw the line between enabling and doing?

Also published on: LinkedIn
Smart Classifications

Each classification [Concepts, Categories, & Tags] was assigned using AI-powered semantic analysis and scored across relevance, depth, and alignment. Final decisions? Still human. Always traceable. Hover to see how it applies.

Subscribe

Connect with Martin Hinshelwood

If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.

Our Happy Clients​

We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.​

Alignment Healthcare Logo

Alignment Healthcare

Milliman Logo

Milliman

CR2

Kongsberg Maritime Logo

Kongsberg Maritime

Qualco Logo

Qualco

Akaditi Logo

Akaditi

DFDS Logo

DFDS

Epic Games Logo

Epic Games

Genus Breeding Ltd Logo

Genus Breeding Ltd

SuperControl Logo

SuperControl

ALS Life Sciences Logo

ALS Life Sciences

Boeing Logo

Boeing

Illumina Logo

Illumina

Lockheed Martin Logo

Lockheed Martin

Sage Logo

Sage

Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company) Logo

Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company)

Workday Logo

Workday

Emerson Process Management Logo

Emerson Process Management

Washington Department of Transport Logo

Washington Department of Transport

Department of Work and Pensions (UK) Logo

Department of Work and Pensions (UK)

Ghana Police Service Logo

Ghana Police Service

Washington Department of Enterprise Services Logo

Washington Department of Enterprise Services

New Hampshire Supreme Court Logo

New Hampshire Supreme Court

Royal Air Force Logo

Royal Air Force

Alignment Healthcare Logo

Alignment Healthcare

Graham & Brown Logo

Graham & Brown

Freadom Logo

Freadom

SuperControl Logo

SuperControl

Milliman Logo

Milliman

Lean SA Logo

Lean SA