Scrum Master: I couldn’t have done it all without help from an agile coach

In connection with a large-scale agile SAP implementation project at a large Danish food company, Tom Bloch worked as a Scrum Master on the biggest of the seven teams. In addition to working with Lasse Sørensen from Plan A Projects, Bloch also appreciated being able to delegate some of his Scrum Master tasks to Lasse.

“As I was responsible for the biggest of the many teams involved in this project, it was difficult to find time to follow up on things with each and every team member, which you have to do in an agile project. Lasse had some spare time, so he offered to help out, which has been really helpful,” said Bloch, who was attached to the project via IBM.

WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIND TIME FOR EVERYTHING WITHOUT HELP

“It was especially the hardcore Scrum-related tasks he took care of, because that was where he could be most helpful in relation to the project. For example, he made sure to follow up on individual team members’ tasks and would then report back to me. It allowed me to better take care of the things that had to do with the business and process itself, and we were able to report on progress to the senior project management team so they could see whether we were making our targets. I would not have been able to find time for all of that without Lasse’s help,” Bloch added.

AGILE EXPERT

In addition to having him supporting his team, Tom Bloch also worked with Lasse Sørensen in his role as an agile coach for all 75 project staff, of whom only two had any prior experience with agile projects.

As Bloch explained: “Lasse is a great agile coach. He’s been the agile expert on this project and taught us all about the methodology. It certainly hasn’t been easy all the way through, as not everyone was equally excited about working with an agile approach, but he’s taken it all with a smile. More than anything, he’s taught us the methodology, and we’ve been able to consult with him throughout the process if we needed any help. There are lots of concepts you have to learn and relate to when you have never worked on an agile project before, but Lasse handled that extraordinarily well!”

GOOD TO BE ABLE TO JOKE WITH ONE ANOTHER

Concerning Lasse Sørensen’s contribution, Tom Bloch highlighted his specialist knowledge and positive energy: “Lasse has a huge amount of expert knowledge, but his best quality is probably his infectious enthusiasm. When things get a little stressful, it’s good to be able to laugh and joke with each other. He’s been great at that!”

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