Faciliting

[Sam Dsoca]

Hi All,

A general question. One of the duties I believe(Please validate)  of a scrum master is meeting facilitation.

Facilitation as per wiki is planning and executing a meeting.

I some times feel I do not have great skills in this area. Specially technical meetings(Some of them at the start of a new project) where I have to facilitate and summarize by taking notes etc.

Is it a must that Scrum Master has to be good in the area of facilitation?

Thanks

Sam

[Ram Srinivasan]

Yes, facilitation is one of the key competencies for a good scrum master.

Skills needed by a facilitator - as defined by International Association of Facilitators - http://www.iaf-world.org/Libraries/Certification_documents/Competencies.sflb.ashx

Helpful resources (which keep getting updated) - https://delicious.com/ramvasan/facilitation

Hope this helps.

Ram

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[John Miller]

Ram gives a great resource. 

Just in case: Please do not confuse facilitation with meeting administration (e.g. Note taking).

Plus, the SM does not "have to" facilitate, although, usually does. 

And, if you are weak in an area, perhaps hold a strengths based retro. Perhaps someone loves to take notes (if one must do so), and would be happy to grab that from you. 

Thank You,

John Miller

Agile Classrooms

Clarity.Choice.Collaboration

AgileClassrooms.com

[Mark Levison]

You facilitate by helping the team gain the value they need out of the meeting. By and large you're not a contributor but help keep things moving. You help establish meeting ground rules and an agenda. You model the behaviours you expect of others yourself. You help others be more effective, yet you have no control. Where you can you let the meeting happen on its own. You're not afraid of since.

You might want to read Jean Tabaka's book Collaboration Explained.

Some random thoughts via my phone
Mark

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[Ram Srinivasan]

Plus, the SM does not "have to" facilitate, although, usually does. 

yes, that is correct. Thanks for emphasizing that John 

[Aaron Sanders]

Really? then I've been getting that wrong.  I see that the Core Scrum guide does state he *may* facilitate. I think he should.

The root of facilitate is facil, which means to make easy. So I think of the ScrumMaster as a facilitator, making Scrum easy for the team to follow. Easy to deliver product. Easy to go through conflict. Easy to commit to a Sprint plan. And so-on.

[John Miller]

Aaron,

As you point out, the key word is "may" not "must" or "required".

You thinking he "should" makes a lot of sense, and, is common for a SM to do so.

But, there is nothing stating they he actually "should, as in "obligated".

It is highly beneficial for a SM to have facilitation skills, that I can agree with.

Defining a word by going back to its root word are fun and enlightening, but, it does not articulate what a Facilitator is.

Ram gave a a great reference from the IAF that defines just that.

But, perhaps this is all splitting hairs...

John Miller | Chief Empowerment Officer | Agile Classrooms  

Deepening Learning | Enriching Relationships | Broadening the Future.

Phone: (602) 753-6468

Email: agiles...@gmail.com

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[Glenn]

Perhaps more hair splitting but there are times when a SM should facilitate. There are also times when the SM purposefully should not facilitate. If the SM's mindset is growing the team then they will know when those times are. I guess knowing the difference between when you should and should not is what "may" is all about :)

Another wonderful facilitation book is Sam Kaner's Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making.

Glenn

On Thursday, 5 February 2015 19:10:21 UTC-5, John Miller - Agile Schools wrote:

[Savvy]

SAM, to my understanding, yes, an SM should have good facilitation skills which goes beyond being a Scribe.

A Good facilitator smartly hands off Agenda items to right resources to talk. However, an SM should have, at least to a minimum, a good understanding on items being discussed so that you can extend your support in case additional offsite meetings are needed.

In case of technical meetings, you may not have low level details to talk on a particular point. However, you can work with team on the Agenda and ask respective team members to provide more insights. This will serve as 2-way benefit. 1) You are learning , and 2) you are actually saving time be inviting right people so that meetings won't go in loops.

My two cents.

Thanks,

Savvy

[Dan Rawsthorne]

and, keep in mind that the SM facilitates a team, not meetings.

Dan Rawsthorne, PhD, PMP, CST
3Back.com
1-855-32-3BACK x323
Author of:
    Exploring Scrum: the Fundamentals
    Exploring Scrum: Patterns that Make Scrum Work

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[Aaron Sanders]

by going to the root of the word I was pointing out, which both of you do much better, that facilitate doesn't mean run a meeting, or be an administrator

when I am making it easy for a group to become a team and control their own destiny, I feel that I am on the right track.