The Scrum Master role was created to address challenges that Agile Teams had when working in Products and Projects where the urgent always overcame the important. Traditionally Teams are on a relentless drive to deliver the next Feature resulting in an inability to improve the way they work. Further Teams often have to respond to the current crisis-de-jour resulting in an inability to meet planned commitments. The Scrum Master role is thus:

• Sheep dog: Protecting the Team from outside interference,
• Coach: Coaching the Team to improve, and
• Facilitator: To assist the Team in making decisions, etc.

Without a Scrum Master organizations often have a number of problems:

• Teams do not become effective at working together
• Teams do not take the time to improve their work practice
• Teams do not understand what kinds of opportunities are “out there” to improve
• Interruptions to the work happens as stakeholders (managers, support, etc.) go directly to Team members to get their issue addressed
• Teams do not appear to meet commitments they have made, as the interruptions and lack of priority result in churn

• Do We Really Need a Full-time Product Owner or Scrum Master
• What Does a Scrum Master Do All Day?