SAFe Scrum Master Roles and Responsibilities

Scrum is recognized as one of the best frameworks for any organization for product success. But is it really enough to become a truly agile organization? No! It requires much more than rote implementations of processes and methods. A SAFe Scrum Master plays a crucial role in guaranteeing product success by stepping up to complex demands and meeting aggressive deadlines. He is the person who develops the best team and assists them in using Scrum in the best possible way to build a great product.

Before discussing the responsibilities of a SAFe Scrum Master, let's define SAFe and the significant differences between a Scrum Master and a SAFe Scrum Master.

Get introduced to SAFe and a SAFe Scrum Master's responsibilities

SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) helps scale enterprise-level Agile practices. According to scaledagile.com, it has been designed to deliver value efficiently and continuously on an anticipated and regular schedule. 

With its evolving nature now, this Scaled Agile framework has become one of the most appreciated frameworks across the IT industry. The best part is this incredible model has the power to cater to complex environments and many different-sized organizations. They can utilize its different configurations depending on the organization's needs.

The contrast between a Scrum Master and a SAFe Scrum Master's responsibilities

Let's start with the roles and responsibilities of a SAFe Scrum Master. A SAFe Scrum Master is a servant leader who instructs and mentors the team to achieve their goals. This leader also makes sure that they accomplish their given target on time. Interacting with different groups like Portfolio Management and Product Management teams to ensure alignment and executing programs brilliantly also comes under their responsibilities. 

On the other hand, according to the Scrum Guide, Scrum Masters are responsible for establishing Scrum. They don't necessarily need to use or add any external tools.

In short, while the SAFe Scrum Master's roles and responsibilities demand the advancement of a team along with taking the accountabilities of a Scrum Master and running SAFe activities to ensure constant development at all layers, a Scrum Master concentrates on the development of the team and timely deliveries by mitigating risks and other impediments only.

Responsibilities of a SAFe Scrum Master

1. Finding new ways of improvements

In this fast-paced competitive world, a SAFe Scrum Master makes sure that the Scrum team performs at the highest level. While he always helps them learn from their own mistakes and take full responsibility and ownership of their commitment and activities, he also works as a team protector. With unique problem-solving methods and protecting each Scrum team member from distractions like stakeholder requests, he is the one who finds new constructive ways of progress constantly.

2. Accomplishing goals continuously

If a SAFe Scrum Master heads a team, the team always comes up with excellent positive output. That's because a SAFe Scrum Master ensures the team adds value and augments productivity. A predictable team always works better than an unpredictable one because the SAFe Scrum Master anticipates their planning and knows their execution capabilities. They also help the team organise the PI and other important ART events. 

3. A lean-agile leader

A SAFe Scrum Master is a Lean-Agile leader with a Lean-Agile mindset. They help everyone within the Scrum framework embrace the core values of SAFe principles and utilize, apply, and enforce them accordingly.

4. Facilitating team meetings

The responsibilities of a SAFe Scrum Master also include programming, designing, and enabling team retrospective meetings according to the Scrum framework. From Daily Standup meetings to Sprint Planning meetings, consistent iteration reviews among Product Owners, stakeholders, and the team are also efficiently handled by the SAFe Scrum Master.

5. Supporting the Product Owner

A Product Owner gets the full support and guidance of the SAFe Scrum Master while building the team, managing the blockage, and a healthy team dynamic.

6. Exercising SAFe quality practices 

A team faces many blocking issues that are beyond their control as the impediments are beyond their authority. The SAFe Scrum Master comes to the rescue to support the team by eradicating all these issues and accomplishing the iteration's goals. With their exceptional guidance, the team constantly upgrades their deliverable qualities. An efficient Agile team always maintains the technical discipline and craftsmanship with the help of the SAFe Scrum Master.

7. Achieving train responsibilities

The SAFe Scrum Master ensures the organization's ultimate goal is met by managing inter-team collaboration and assisting the team in operating competently on the train. 

8. Building a high-performing Agile team

Building a high-performing team by resolving all the challenges and interpersonal conflicts and identifying different growth opportunities is not an easy job. While the SAFe Scrum Master's responsibilities demand exceptional support for the team's actions to develop alliance and communication with other external groups, sometimes people devalue the role as they are not directly involved in producing the product. 

9. Responsibilities of team coordination

The SAFe Scrum Master represents the team in the SoS or the Scrum of Scrums. They also make sure that the team snitches all the opportunities by engaging in them. It'll ultimately improve the program's effectiveness. Maintaining the user experience, shared services, relationship with the system team, and architecture is crucial. Helping them in all these aspects is the responsibility of a SAFe Scrum Master.

10. Supporting SAFe adoption

SAFe adoption in an organization includes:

Coaching non Agile teams and stakeholders.

Executing the Scrum Master community of practice.

Interacting with the Agile team.

Supporting the SPCs of an organization.

11. Ensuring organizational effectiveness

Working on the value stream's overall development by collaborating with other Scrum Masters and stakeholders to direct the team towards the desired direction ensures organizational effectiveness.

How to serve a SAFe Scrum Master's roles and responsibilities for a leading organization?

This is very simple. If you want to be the next SAFe Scrum Master, you have to attend a training from a leading institute. With in-depth understanding of each topic and hands-on experience, you will be able to create your desired high-performing team. 

With the merit of this certification, you'll undoubtedly stand out in the crowd by displaying your capabilities to reputed organizations and helping them achieve their desired goals. Now you must be wondering how to get this certification. Well, the candidates must attend an exam and pass it to complete the course and receive the certificate.

The SAFe Scrum Master is a full-time or part-time role, depending on the context, your responsibilities, and the size of the team. You should be capable of guiding multiple groups at a time in a particular organization. Additionally, the SAFe Scrum Master must have collaboration skills, leadership skills, and emotional intelligence to implement Scrum across the organization. That's because a SAFe Scrum Master's roles and responsibilities cover both working with the team and building the overall organization. 

Conclusion:

A SAFe Scrum Master plays a pivotal role in scaling Agile practices across an enterprise, ensuring continuous delivery of value on a regular schedule. Their responsibilities extend beyond those of a traditional Scrum Master, encompassing team leadership, program execution, and alignment with portfolio management. They drive team productivity and quality by fostering a Lean-Agile mindset, facilitating team meetings, and supporting product owners. SAFe Scrum Masters also focus on inter-team collaboration, organizational effectiveness, and ongoing improvements. To excel in this role, one must undergo comprehensive training and certification. Simpliaxis offers SAFe® 6.0 Scrum Master (SSM) Certification Training.