On many occasions, working with agile teams has amplified existing organizational, technical, and cultural challenges in many organizations. Starting to change always requires the acceptance that there is a problem that needs attention. The following article addresses some of the most prevailing impediments to achieving agility by revisiting several agile laws that are particularly relevant to any team’s effectiveness in solving customer problems.
Fewer Jobs for Scrum Masters, and now we see the universal Scrum GPT entering the competition: Will Scrum Masters change from essential practitioners to a niche role?
The job market is currently challenging for many agile practitioners, particularly Scrum Masters. Many are looking for new opportunities, while an increasing number of organizations consider the benefits they contribute to a team’s overall success. This is not just reflected in fewer job offerings for Scrum Masters; we also observe the demand for training significantly reduced.
To make the situation worse, AI has improved significantly over the last 12 months, too. Back in November 2023, OpenAI released GPTs, a hyper-customizable version of their GPT-4-based chatbot. (Please note that you need to have access to OpenAI’s paid version of ChatGPT to use GPTs.)
Besides the exciting market opportunity for many people with specific knowledge, data, or content, the question is what implication this new technology will have on the job market for agile practitioners when their roles are partly based on “knowledge” now available from a machine?
In this article, I uncover indicators that a Scrum Master’s or Agile Coach’s journey is coming to a close; they are sunsetting Scrum Masters.
These indicators include, for example, management’s deviation from first principles, reduced support for your change initiatives, an emerging preference for short-term fixes over long-term agile strategies, a shift back to top-down control, decreased communication involvement, exclusion from management discussions, neglected input, waning reliance from the team, being left out of new communication channels, and lessened requests for meeting facilitation.
Consequently, recognizing and addressing these signs is critical to maintaining integrity and effectiveness.
Finally, please do not fool yourself; sometimes, it is also time to move on.
Are you ready to transform your Scrum practices and elevate your agile journey? Dive into my exclusive, free email course based on the acclaimed “Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide” book. This course is a treasure trove of insights, offering a sneak peek into the crucial anti-patterns that could hinder your team’s success.
This course illuminates the common pitfalls in Scrum roles — from the Scrum Master to the Product Owner and stakeholders — and Scrum events. You’ll gain an understanding of the subtle missteps, team dynamics, and resulting patterns.
In this fascinating talk, Maarten introduced the concept of humble planning and why it’s crucial for succeeding with an Agile way of working and building products of exceptional value. During his talk, he covered concepts like friction, the three gaps model of Bungay, intent, intent-based leadership, humble planning, sprint goals, the fog of beforehand, and the fog of speculation. It is a must-see for all agile practitioners!
📺 Watch the video now: Humble Planning — Maarten Dalmijn at the 57. Hands-on Agile Meetup.
Having just completed the Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide book, I will turn my focus to 2024 with new projects that build on the foundation laid by the book. I plan to dedicate the upcoming year to empowering agile practitioners through various new tools, workshops, and community events. The tools to help you excel will enhance your skill sets and equip you to thrive amidst professional challenges.
Join your peers for a journey of interactive learning and community engagement in 2024!
