The Scrum Master promotes the removal of impediments

Impediments threaten the work in the realization of the Sprint Goal as they can significantly hamper or obstruct the work of the Developers. The Scrum Master is responsible for resolving these impediments, either by removing them himself or mobilizing the people and resources necessary to do so.

An impediment typically occurs on a task that the Developers have already begun and thus generates a hold on one or more of the most important items at that time. For this reason, once identified by the Developers, the impediment is immediately flagged to the Scrum Master, who in turn takes quick and effective actions to remove it. It is important that the solutions adopted act directly on the possible root causes of the impediment, rather than palliative actions.

The Scrum Master encourages the Developers to identify any impending impediments. In this way, when one or more Developers anticipate an impediment, the Scrum Master immediately works to help prevent it from occurring.

However, that said, Developers should be able to distinguish between day-to-day problems/issues and impediments to their work, on which the Scrum Master needs to act. Solving problems is within the reach and action context of the Developers. For this reason, they are handled by the Developers themselves, although they can count on the help of the Scrum Master if needed.

About the nature of impediments and their resolution

Depending on their nature, impediments can be classified as organizational, basic, administrative, or service level (PIMENTEL, 2009):

Organizational – these occur when the very structure or functioning of the organization imposes impediments on the Developers. They can occur in at least three different situations:

• The Developers need, but do not get, help or intervention from another person, team, or area of the organization. In such cases, the Scrum Master uses the access and influence he has built and is building in the organization to seek as quickly as possible the necessary support for the Developers to conduct their work, and monitor whether that support has actually been obtained.

  An example of this type of impediment is when a Developer’s work equipment is defective, but the support team does not resolve the problem in a timely manner.

• Another person, team or area of the organization intervenes in the work of Developers and demands their help, diverting their focus from the Sprint Goal. The Scrum Master has the important role of protecting the Developers from external interferences that can jeopardize the Sprint Goal. In general, the most effective way to ensure this protection in hierarchical environments is through the use of politics and teaching Scrum and its benefits.

  This type of impediment occurs, for example, when a member of the organization in a higher hierarchical position directly approaches a Developer to perform some task external to the development of the product.

• Political or bureaucratic issues present in the organization that obstruct the work of the Developers. As a change agent, the Scrum Master works to modify organizational practices to favor the Developers’ efficiency and effectiveness in their work. For example, he can unite with Scrum Masters from other teams to lobby for the necessary changes in the organization.

  An example of this type of impediment is the adoption of cumbersome methods or practices that conflict with the Agile Values and Principles, such as those that generate an excessive volume of documentation.

Basic – these are impediments that occur due to the lack of one or more elements essential to carrying out the work at a given time. The Scrum Master works to ensure that the Developers have access to the necessary means to do their tasks.

Examples of this type of impediment include the lack of tools or equipment needed to carry out the work, the lack of a suitable environment or essential elements in that environment (such as chairs or tables, for example) and even the impossibility of access to the necessary data or information.

Administrative – Impediments arising from administrative occurrences, such as absenteeism (delays, leaves, days off, absences for various reasons, etc.), layoffs and restrictions on working hours. These issues are often linked to areas in which the Scrum Master operates, such as organizational policies or intra-team problems that can generate demotivation.

Service level – Impediments arising from problems in sustaining some service in operation are identified here. The Scrum Master works to create transparency regarding the problem and monitors its resolution with the team that is responsible for solving it, it often being necessary to encourage the involvement of the Developers in this work.

Examples of this type of impediment for software development work include errors in production environments and problems with the application server, the integration server or various support tools.