Determining how many teams a scrum master can handle depends on several factors, but experience plays a crucial role.
Generally, a scrum master with 2 to 5 years of experience can serve two teams effectively.
For those with more extensive experience, juggling more than two teams shouldn’t be a problem. However, if you’re new to the agile world, it’s best to start with just one team.
Handling multiple teams as a scrum master is challenging. It requires not just experience but strong leadership skills.
As a scrum master, your primary job is to coach and support the team. You need to help them work and deliver in an agile manner.
Before deciding how many teams you can serve, assess the teams’ needs and characteristics.
Imagine coaching and supporting two teams with zero knowledge of the scrum framework or the agile world simultaneously. It can be overwhelming. I wouldn’t advise anyone to do it.
What determines the number of teams a Scrum Master can handle?
1. Team size
The Scrum Guide suggests an ideal team size. It is designed to ensure effective collaboration and communication while maintaining flexibility and agility.
However, not all organizations adhere strictly to this recommendation. Some may have larger teams, while others might combine roles and responsibilities, resulting in smaller team.
Knowing the team size is crucial before taking on multiple teams. Larger scrum teams tend to require more effort and attention for several reasons.
2. Experience and skill level of the scrum master
As mentioned earlier, your level of experience plays a big role. Your developed skills also affect the number of teams you can handle as a scrum master.
For an entry-level scrum master, one team is just fine. A mid-level scrum master can handle two teams. A Senior scrum master can efficiently manage two or more teams.
Handling more than one scrum team is not easy. However, with good years of experience, you should be okay with two teams or more.
3. Maturity of the teams
The maturity level of the teams is another critical factor. Teams with no prior Scrum knowledge demand more effort.
Even a mid-level scrum master might struggle with two immature teams. Conversely, mature teams make the scrum master’s job easier.
Assess the teams’ maturity before deciding to manage multiple teams. You don’t want to serve multiple teams that are not anywhere on the maturity scale.
How many teams can a scrum master handle?
In conclusion, the number of teams a scrum master can handle depends on several factors. These include the size and maturity of the team.
Most importantly, it depends on the years of experience and skills of the scrum master.
If you’re a beginner with less than 2 years of experience, it’s advisable to stick to one team.
Trying to handle two teams could become overwhelming. And from my experience, you can’t do much as a scrum master if you’re overwhelmed.
It’s worth saying that to achieve a good result with scrum, focus is essential. Focusing on one team at a time is more effective and produces results faster.
Therefore, if possible, regardless, you want to stick to a team at a time.
Here’s my post on whether the daily scrum is mandatory for a Scrum Master.
I hope you found this post helpful.
