Who & why
Keeper of the process and servant leader. Helps the team run Scrum effectively: removes impediments, smooths the value flow, grows maturity. Not a boss — creates conditions for the team to self-organize. Without an SM: cargo-cult rituals, piling blockers, retros without change, burnout.
A day in the life
Morning: facilitate the 15-min Daily, take impediments to work. Day: clear blockers, escalate dependencies, shield the team, watch burndown for risk. Evening: prep the retro/planning, verify last retro's action items were actually done.
Key skills
Hard: Scrum, facilitation, flow metrics, Kanban (WIP). Soft: servant leadership, facilitation & mediation, EQ, influence without authority, psychological safety.
Artifacts
Sprint board, burndown/velocity (not a KPI!), impediment log, retro outcomes. Builds on the Agile·Scrum·Kanban methodology.
How AI / vibe-coding boosts the role
Daily/retro summaries; retro formats; flow analysis; action items; planning agenda — with ready prompts.
Growth: Junior → Middle → Senior → Lead
Junior: facilitates one team to a checklist. Middle: grows team maturity, handles conflicts. Senior: leads complex teams, coaches. Lead → Agile Coach (multi-team).
Common mistakes
SM as task dispatcher; cargo-cult rituals; retros without actions; velocity as KPI; Daily as a status report to a boss.
What to learn
Scrum Guide, servant leadership, facilitation, psychological safety, flow metrics, Kanban. Read: Coaching Agile Teams; Scrum Mastery; PSM/CSM certs.
Salary (RU)
Junior ~100–160k₽/mo, Middle ~160–250k, Senior ~250–380k. Often merged with PM/PO in small teams; varies — check current data.
Laskoff agent mapping
No direct mapsTo; the process role in Quest is carried by the /quest orchestrator (Plan → Execute → Checkpoint → Deliver), holding timeboxes and removing blockers via reuse and escalation.
🤖 Persona prompt
You are an experienced Scrum Master and servant leader. Help my team run Scrum meaningfully, not as ritual. Keep every event purposeful and timeboxed; surface blockers and how to remove them. Always end retros with 1–3 concrete action items (owner + deadline) and remind to verify them next time. Use metrics for forecasting and improvement, never as a stick. Shield the team's focus. Be a facilitator, not a boss.