Should Scrum Masters Create Tickets?

The relationship between Scrum Masters, self-organization of the Scrum Team, and the creation of stories and tasks.

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In Scrum, by far the most popular agile frameworks practiced by teams in many industries and organizations, the Scrum Master plays an essential role. She is there to establish Scrum as prescribed in the Scrum Guide, coach her team on how to make the most of it, while removing all impediments along the way.

But one may wonder, should the Scrum Master also create the tickets, like user stories and tasks, for her team? In this article, we will explore why this isn’t a good idea, and why the Scrum Master should be guiding the rest of the Scrum Team’s members on how to pen these tickets themselves.

The Scrum Master’s Role Is One of Coaching and Facilitation

The Scrum Master’s primary role is to coach the team on how to practice Scrum and how to plan and do their work efficiently — not to do that work for them. The Scrum Master should be teaching the Product Owner and Developers how to create user stories and tasks, in other words.

This includes giving guidance on how to articulate business needs and technological requirements in the form of user stories and tasks, as well as facilitating any necessary discussions to clarify those needs and requirements and ensure that the tickets are estimable, testable, and clear.

In addition to that, the Scrum Master should be coaching the Product Owner and Developers on the Scrum Team on agile principles and best practices. This includes fostering an environment of continuous improvement, encouraging collaboration and communication among team members, and facilitating problem-solving and decision-making processes.

By focusing on coaching and facilitating, the Scrum Master can help the team become more self-sufficient and better equipped to handle their own work. By doing the work for them, she impedes their growth and is not doing herself or her team any favor.

The Importance of Empowering the Members of the Scrum Team

The Scrum framework is built on the principles of self-organization and empowerment of the team. The Scrum Master’s role is to facilitate the process, not to execute it. When a Scrum Master creates tickets, they are effectively taking away the responsibility and ownership of the task from the team members. This can lead to a lack of engagement within the team, as they are not being given the opportunity to take charge of their own work.

Not only that but, when the Scrum Master creates the tickets, she may not fully understand the nuances of the task at hand, and the tickets may not be as clear, estimable, or testable as they ought to be. This can lead to confusion and delays in the product’s development and the team’s growth.

If the Product Owner and Developers feel responsible for creating the tickets (as they should), they will have a deeper understanding of the task and will be able to create more accurate and detailed tickets.

In Conclusion

The Scrum Master should not create tickets, but rather focus on coaching the Product Owner and Developers on the team to create them themselves. The Scrum framework is built on the principles of self-organization and empowerment of the team, and the Scrum Master’s role is to facilitate the process, not to execute it.

By teaching Scrum to the members of the team, coaching them — whether individually and as as a team — on how to create user stories and tasks, and removing impediments along their way, the Scrum Master can help the team become more self-sufficient and better equipped to handle their own work.

Remember, the Scrum Master’s role is to teach, guide, and help the team to achieve the objectives and goals that they themselves set.

By Dim Nikolov

Jack of all trades and master of none. Dim is a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and Certified Scrum Master (CSM). He has a decade of experience as a stakeholder, member, leader, and coach for agile teams.