Using the Magic Wand Question When Joining a Scrum Team
Getting the team to tell you where they need you most
Becoming the Scrum Master for an existing Scrum Team can be tough. You are an outsider but need the team to trust you to be successful.
Many books and articles describe ways to help a new Scrum Team get up and running. However, from my experience, it is more common to join a team that has followed Scrum for a while. During my career as a Scrum Master, I have joined seven teams already practicing some level of Scrum.
The key to early success with an existing Scrum team is identifying ways to show you are there to help.
For the first Sprint, I ask the team to do everything exactly as before I joined. I don’t help facilitate any of their events or discussions at this point. This time is my opportunity to see how the team has been working up till now. I want to see how well they communicate for planning their work, executing on it, and dealing with conflict that may arise during the process.
You cannot spend much time just in observation mode. More than a single sprint will cause the team to wonder why you are even there.
During this observation Sprint, I start having conversations with the team. Depending on the dynamics in the team, these conversations will be one-on-one or in small groups by role. I need everyone’s perspective in these conversations. If anyone appears to be holding back in the team events, then one-on-one is best.
These conversations are your chance to start checking your observations. Does the team bring up the same issues you are noticing? If they do, use the opportunity to be curious and explore how those issues evolved. If they bring up other issues, be sure to capture those because the team is telling you where they want your help.
In each conversation, I close with the magic wand question —
“If I had a magic wand that could change anything, what would that be? What would the next day look like because of that change?”
Since that is my last question, they have already talked about the surface issues impacting them. While those are important issues, the magic wand question allows them to go deeper into the big problems they might not know how to solve or situations they believe cannot change. This question helps uncover what those underlying problems are. It shows where my biggest wins as a Scrum Master can be for this team.
To turn those conversations into a success, compare what they told you with what you have observed firsthand. What are the things the team can solve on their own? What issues are beyond the team where they need help? These areas are where you start taking action and building their trust.
Look for ways to resolve those magic wand problems while balancing the small wins they brought up in the conversations. Addressing both will show that you are taking action on what you heard. Show that you are there to help with their issues and not to push changes on them.
Use these early wins to build the capital you need as a Scrum Master to continue helping the team grow and move forward. Show them early that you are there to help. Show them that you are getting input directly from them on where help is needed.
Once the team has seen how you are helping them, they will be willing to trust you when you are ready to take on the most difficult challenges — the ones they don’t see for themselves.
First published in Serious Scrum on Medium.com