Agile Coach vs. Scrum Master
Many authors like to make a distinction between agile coaches and scrum masters. In social media or on medium it is often defined that Scrum Masters focus on the team and Agile Coaches on the organization and the agile transformation.
In this article, I would like to address this argument and clarify my view on these topics.
The Scrum Master is a clearly defined role in the Scrum framework. It describes exactly which core tasks the Scrum Master has and what he focuses on.
Here is the excerpt from the Scrum Guide 2020:
“The Scrum Master is accountable for establishing Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. They do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory and practice, both within the Scrum Team and the organization.”
So it is clearly stated in the Guide that the Scrum Master is responsible for the agile transformation (in the form of implementing the Scrum framework and its practices) within the team as well as in the organization.
The discussion could end here. The Scrum Master is the “Agile Coach” of the organization.
But now numerous arguments are raised by “Agile Coach proponents” in this situation:
1. Scrum is only a framework and agility comes too short.
2. The Scrum master does not carry out an agile transformation.
3. The…
