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Writer's pictureashish joshi

Tips to Earn Team's Trust and Respect as a Scrum Master

Updated: Jul 5, 2023

When a new scrum master enters a team they want to show their ability by improving the team’s productivity and performance. They must remember the main ingredient for it- trust and respect of the team towards them. This not only applies to the new scrum master but also to every scrum master and other individuals whose roles include leading and guiding others. Without trust and respect scrum master's opinion will not be taken seriously by the team making your dream of high performing team discarded.


“As soon as a leader has earned the trust of his team, there are no limits on what they can accomplish together.”


But these two are difficult to earn and easy to lose. But then the question is how do we get them? Because everyone knows we all need the trust and respect of the team to be an effective leader.

scrum master

Some signs show us, does our team trust and respect us or not to know it we need to,

The best way to understand any signs is by the tone of speaking and body language.

  • When you feel and see that your team is being unprofessional with you while you are discussing something serious, for example, the team talks back to you.

  • When the team hides the issue with you it means they still don’t trust you with their issues they think of you as an outsider.

  • When the team talks about you behind your back or they be insincere or dishonest with you it’s a sign they still don’t trust and respect you.

  • This is the easiest sign to know, they usually don’t pay attention while you are talking or don’t look into your eyes while discussions.

But being a new scrum master it's okay if your team doesn’t have trust in you is still new to them. But it’s also necessary to build it. So let’s start with the tips of knowing how to earn trust and respect from the team.


Get Good Starter

Let your senior or superior have you introduced to the team. Let them know your previous work and achievements so that team can get a clear idea of what they can expect from you.


Give Respect

To get what you want you must give it first to others. So you must first give respect to others to get respect from them. How to do it?

  • Listen to them when they come to you.

  • Provide them with your honest opinion without hurting their feelings.

  • Have their back when they need you.

  • Treat them rightly.

In short, treat them as you want them to treat you.


Be Bold

You must be clear on what to accept from the team and when to be clear with your decisions. Every decision is a team decision but when you have foreseen the idea be sure to imply it and don’t go with the team's wrong decisions. It is always necessary to listen, discuss and imply the team’s ideas or opinion but this should not be the case every time. You must know when it’s necessary to implement your decisions on them to maintain team discipline. It’s better to provide the team with grounded reasons and logic for your decisions.


scrum master

Be Consistent with your Approach

Be sure with the technique you will be working and they are consistent with it. It is necessary to be consistent with your working approach as your team members are dependent on you. Sudden change in the working technique will create confusion in the team resulting in teams being doubted with you.


Share your Experiences

It does always help you to bond with the team when you share your previous experiences or personal stories with them. Because we only share our personal with people we trust, right?

But while sharing stories be sure to share them only as a story and not get clingy on it.


Ensure your Words and Actions Match

To gain trust from others in any relationship it is necessary to make sure what you say always matches with your action. Even if you don’t think, everyone observes your actions. They validate your words with your actions. They will respect you more when they see your predictable behavior.


“Without trust and respect we don’t truly collaborate; we merely coordinate or, at best, co-operate. It is trust and respect that transform a group of people into a team.”

So with the above tips, it will be easy for new scrum masters or agile coaches to gain the team's trust and respect for them.


About Advance Agility

We, at Advance Agility, are the new-age Agile Coaching, Consulting, and IT services company. We enable end-to-end Digital Transformation. Agile execution is integral to our being. We are doing SAFe implementation with small, medium, and large organizations across the globe. Our vision is to be the leading Agile execution player globally. To keep adding value at every process stage. We are on a mission to empower our clients, and move from concept to cash in the shortest sustainable lead time by adopting a human-centric approach to business agility. Embracing the change is in our DNA. Things that keep us apart are Quicker and Seamless execution with an End-to-end gamut of services. Our Global presence and Stellar Track Record give us an edge over our competitors.


Connect with us at advanceagility.com to learn about SAFe and SAFe Implementation. Write to us at contact@advanceagilty.com for any agile training or consulting needs. We are always looking for competent agile trainers as well. So if you are a good trainer or want to become one, do get in touch with us to that we can learn, grow and achieve together.


Connect with us for applying the Scrum Master role within a SAFe® enterprise https://www.advanceagility.com/scrummaster

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