Host (4:29)

Absolutely. And gratitude is so important because very often we see things are going well and we don't say it out loud. We don't create the positive energy that comes from saying things out loud. And gratitude, practice and appreciation. Practice brings that up, makes that obvious and creates positive energy within the team.

Somya Mehra (4:52)

And it also has one, I would say, not a direct kind of impact, an indirect kind of impact. Whenever you have a talk with somebody who is leaving the company, they always tell you, like, now I'm leaving the company and people are telling good things about me and I feel bad that I'm not now leaving the company. So if you have this more often and you give them this gratitude so they will feel like, okay, I'm valued. So the thinking of, am I valuable? What I'm doing in this company, I should go somewhere else where I'm more valuable. That kind of thoughts are, you know, are blocked by having this kind of conversation every now and then within the team members.

Vasko (5:37)

Absolutely.

Host (5:38)

That's a great point. One that we don't talk often enough. Right. Because people don't leave all the time. So we don't talk about it. But it's a very important point.

Somya Mehra (5:48)

Yeah.

Host (5:48)

So Samya, we do this retros because we want to help the team succeed. And of course we want ourselves to succeed. So the big question though is what does success mean for us as Scrum masters? What's your take on that question, Samya?

Somya Mehra (6:07)

I've been asked this question many times, especially from the Scrum Masters who are coming from a tech role. Because in tech role you have tangible things to prove your success and they Are like what? Like, for them, they see Scrum Master, somebody who is just, you know, carrying out the events and then they are vanished. So then for them it's like, what's your success? And I always tell them that a Scrum Master success is very intangible. You can't measure it with your work or something, but it's very personal also. So when somebody asks me what a successful Scrum Master look, or if I consider myself I'm successful as a Scrum Master for a team or not, I would say, like, if my team is having three, four things in common, like, they respect each other, they trust each other, that, okay, if I'm giving, if somebody has taken the work, they'll be able to deliver it. They respect each other. Like, there is no fear of, like, being judgmental about somebody if somebody is asking you a question. There is a psychological safety within the team that you can ask anything about anything to anyone at any time and you are not going to get a rude answer like, oh, such a stupid question or anything like that. So if you have made this kind of things in your team, then you will see, like, you won't ask people to collaborate, they will collaborate on their own because these pillars are set up and when the collaboration is flowing well, you as a Scrum Master has succeeded. And yeah, so for me, I think these are the key things. Rather than going for velocity or efficiency, how efficient, or how many story points your team is closing in a sprint, you should go for these kind of qualities that are there in your teams or not.

Host (8:14)

When you think about your own way of assessing your success, right? Like, how do you bring this reflection, this definition you just share with us, how do you bring that to your daily work?

Somya Mehra (8:27)

I will give you one more example of it. Like, there was a situation in my team where we had a new. Like the current team was collaborating well, everyone was asking questions and things were going good, but there was another new joiner who was not good with the communication. So there were things he used to say which he should not, but he was not minting it. But he used to say it in a rude way, like, okay. And I saw it happening twice or thrice, learned from my previous mistake, talked with the people who, with whom he was saying it in the meetings, like how you feel about it. And those people trusting me enough to say, like, yes, they feel that they are being disrespected. So the trust is here with the Scrum Master. They are telling me openly that, yeah, that's the problem. Soumya Then me talking to this new guy that, hey, this is the kind of situation we are having right now and this is the feedback that we are getting for, like, for you from the people. And he also trusting me that I'm not blaming him. I'm here to help him out with the team and adjust him into the team. And he telling me like, he's open to have a talk, open talk with whoever has a problem and try to improve it. So that says a lot. Like, okay, within a period of time I have gained and formed this trust within my team where they trust me enough to have this kind of sensitive conversation and they trust themselves enough. Like, okay, if somebody is open enough to have a talk on this sensitive topic, then there is a safe place to talk about it.

Host (10:23)

The key thing about that story for me is this idea that you're looking at the behaviors that you want to see and then when they are not there or when the opposite is there, right? Like lack of respect as you just described, then you tackle it not as a blaming exercise, but rather as a curiosity exercise. Hey, why is this happening? How do you feel? Have you noticed that people feel this way when you say things in that way, like bringing up the topic? So that's a very practical, I think, very practical way to bring this focus on the right collaborative behaviors into your day to day work. So thank you for sharing that with us, Somija.

Somya Mehra (11:03)

You're welcome, Vasco.

Vasko (11:08)

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Host (12:58)

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Somya Mehra (13:17)

Sam.