Does a Scrum Master need technical or functional background?

Do you expect your Scrum Master to understand Java coding standards? Should the Scrum Master have a deep understanding of differences between the four products the customer is building?

There are people supporting the idea of Scrum Masters with strong knowledge in technology/programming skills. I feel that, knowing a specific subject whether it is technical or functional is never going to hurt. However, in the context of being a Scrum Master, I strongly believe that it is not a mandatory skill.

As long as the Scrum Master appreciates the value of technical practices and importance of having a good technical debt in the project, one can always take help from a technical/functional coach or expert to implement the practices.

Fundamentally, I see that following skills are essential to succeed as a Scrum Master

1. Ability to identify the technical or functional experts within the team (or the lack of)
2. Finding ways to get the help for the team
3. Skill to remove the impediments/blockers
4. Appreciate the value of good technical practices
5. Asking the right set of questions to get the answers
6. Empowering the teams to succeed and build self organizing teams

Let us take a look at an example. Consider a scenario where in a developer shares a blocker saying

The message to TIBCO server is failing.

The Scrum Master(SM) need not know how to fix TIBCO server issue. As long as SM asks the right questions, the impediments could be removed and one could succeed in any project.

A SM could ask following questions in the context of above TIBCO server issue (not in any specific order)

1. Is this a new one or the one occurred in the past?
2. Who are the TIBCO skilled experts in the team to be invited to investigate this issue?
3. Do you really think it is TIBCO BE server issue or something else?

Working as a Technical Architect for Tekslate Since 3 Years. Having a Passion of Learning New Technologies and as well as Blogging.