Scrum innovated the role of the scrum master in software engineering. The scrum master is envisioned in agile literature as the “ servant leader ” who serves the team in a multitude of different ways, which include promoting scrum, facilitating the team’s functioning, and removing obstacles. However, empirical studies focusing on the role of the scrum master in practice are scarce. To address this gap, a Grounded Theory study with a mixed methods approach was carried out which included semi-structured interviews with 39 software practitioners and a questionnaire with 47 respondents. In this study, we present and describe the scrum master’s role in agile projects in terms of (a) the grounded theory of the role of the scrum master which involves everyday activities of facilitating, mentoring, negotiating, process adapting, coordinating, and protecting ; (b) the varying involvement of the scrum master in selected agile practices carried out by the team; and (c) a positive association between the presence of the scrum master and the frequency with which agile practices are carried out by the team. This study presents for the first time a multifaceted study of the multiple dimensions of the scrum master role and will enable practitioners to better manage expectations of this role in practice.

中文翻译：

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引领敏捷：敏捷项目中 Scrum Master 的角色

Scrum 革新了 Scrum Master 在软件工程中的角色。在敏捷文献中，Scrum Master 被设想为“仆人式领导者”，他以多种不同的方式为团队服务，包括促进 Scrum、促进团队运作和消除障碍。然而，关注 Scrum Master 在实践中的作用的实证研究很少。为了弥补这一差距，我们进行了一项采用混合方法的扎根理论研究，其中包括对 39 名软件从业者的半结构化访谈和对 47 名受访者的问卷调查。在本研究中，我们从 (a) Scrum Master 角色的基础理论的角度介绍和描述了 Scrum Master 在敏捷项目中的角色，该角色涉及促进、指导、谈判、流程适应、协调、和保护；(b) Scrum 主管在团队执行的选定敏捷实践中的不同参与；(c) Scrum Master 的存在与团队执行敏捷实践的频率之间存在正相关。本研究首次对 Scrum Master 角色的多个维度进行了多方面的研究，这将使从业者能够在实践中更好地管理对该角色的期望。