On defining success as a Scrum Master, Junaid starts with a Peter Drucker quote: “You cannot improve something you cannot measure.” He proposes several practical self-assessment metrics:
First, the Agile Team Maturity Index — a spider graph that shows where the team stands across multiple criteria, making gaps visible and actionable.
Second, track retrospective action items. Create tiger teams for specific issues, run small iterative experiments, and measure in the next retrospective whether the trend is improving.
Third, watch for shared sprint goals. Junaid once saw a team with nine sprint goals for a two-week sprint — those weren’t goals, they were individual tasks. A real sprint goal should be something multiple team members work together to achieve.
Fourth, self-organizing teams. If the team falls apart when the Scrum Master is absent for a sprint, there’s a problem. Coach teams to self-organize, and their ability to function independently becomes a success metric.
Fifth, communication patterns. Too many emails flying around can signal hidden conflicts or trust barriers. If communication happens through the right channels — dailies, direct interactions — you’re likely in good shape.
Sixth, Scrum event health. If events get canceled too frequently, the team may be reverting to traditional ways of working.
Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: What Went Well, Not So Well, What Could Be Improved?
Junaid’s favorite retrospective format? The vanilla: what went well, what could have gone better, what to do better next. He’s tried many formats — the Three L’s (liked, learned, lacked), the Three Little Pigs, the sailboat retrospective — but the core principle is always the same. His practical advice: stick with a consistent format so the team gets better at the process itself rather than constantly adjusting to new concepts.
One addition he insists on for any format: an appreciation component. In the rush to analyze processes and outcomes, teams often skip acknowledging how another team member, PO, or Scrum Master helped during the sprint. That appreciation builds trust, respect, and openness that feeds into subsequent sprints.
Transform Your Agile Teams with Hard-Earned Lessons from Super-Experienced Scrum Masters
Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches – Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM’s that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!
About Junaid Shaikh
Junaid Shaikh is an energetic Agile Coach with a natural flair for Agile and Scrum, shaped by recent experiences at software giants like Ericsson and hardware leaders ABB. In his work, he champions collaboration, curiosity, and continuous improvement. Beyond coaching, he brings the same passion to cricket, table tennis, carrom, and his newest sporting obsession — padel.
You can link with Junaid Shaikh on LinkedIn.
Pascal is an Agile & Professional Coach that wants to make a positive impact to the people working with. Coaching in Finnish, German and English language. Focus areas are human factors, outcomes, effectiveness, flow, decision making, clarity and constant improvement.
Ramya is an Enterprise Agile Coach from India who focuses on organizational growth and agility through human-centric coaching. She co-hosts two podcasts: 