The Scrum Master

The Scrum Master is accountable for establishing Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide, by helping everyone understand Scrum theory and practice, both within the Scrum Team and the organization. The Scrum Master is also accountable for the Scrum Team's effectiveness, by enabling the team to improve its practices within the framework. Scrum Masters are true leaders who serve the Scrum Team and the larger organization.

The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team by coaching members in self-management and cross-functionality, helping them focus on creating high-value Increments that meet the Definition of Done, causing the removal of impediments to the team's progress, and ensuring that all Scrum events take place and are positive, productive and kept within the timebox. The Scrum Master serves the Product Owner by helping find techniques for defining the Product Goal and managing the Product Backlog, helping the team understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items, helping establish empirical product planning for a complex environment, and facilitating stakeholder collaboration as requested or needed. The Scrum Master serves the organization by leading, training and coaching it in its Scrum adoption, planning and advising Scrum implementations, helping employees and stakeholders understand and enact an empirical approach, and removing barriers between stakeholders and Scrum Teams.

Study focus: the wording "causing the removal of impediments" matters — the Scrum Master does not have to remove every impediment personally, and often the best move is to help the team solve it themselves. The Scrum Master is not a project manager, a team lead or a meeting secretary.