To give and receive feedback effectively, a clear organizational structure is essential. When everyone knows their roles and acts from within those roles, the risk of conflicts shifting to a personal level is significantly reduced. In this context, the Scrum Master should see themselves as a servant leader. Their role is to serve the team and the shared goal by enabling team members to self-organize. Neither their role nor those of their colleagues are fixed; roles are defined on a project-by-project basis. Scrum Master Steve Trapps once shared that he struggled to come up with well-known examples of servant leaders. The fact that none came to mind, he said, was no coincidence: “In searching for an example of a Servant Leader that people could relate to, I came to think of them as a black hole—you can’t actually pinpoint them as a separate entity, but you can spot them by the effects they’re having on others around them.”
A servant leader enables the team to make decisions decentrally. What remains central is the shared goal to which everyone is committed. In this coordinating form of leadership, the leadership style adapts to the specific context. Depending on the skills required at a given moment, individual team members may temporarily take the lead. Titles may be useful on business cards, but they should play no role in Scrum teams. Personal sensitivities should ideally stay out of the equation as well. Emotions and perceptions are as diverse as people themselves: one person may feel overlooked, another pushed into an exposed role they are uncomfortable with. What is meant kindly may be perceived as intrusive—and so on. This is precisely why clear roles and servant leadership are so important.
Always the same pattern: the Drama Triangle
Certain dynamics can negatively affect collaboration and become a real challenge. When a project struggles, teams can fall into a spiral of negative assumptions and comments that drag everyone down.
If some team members dominate discussions, others may withdraw and operate below their potential—reducing overall performance. A particularly common pattern is the Drama Triangle (see Figure 1).
We are all familiar with this dynamic: children argue, and adults step in. Although they were not involved, they immediately decide who is the victim and who is the perpetrator—and assign themselves the role of the rescuer.
The Drama Triangle consists of victims, perpetrators, and rescuers/helpers, with people often assigning themselves these roles:
• “I didn’t do anything.”
• “Leave XY alone.”
• “If I don’t constantly tell XY what to do, this will never work.”
In projects, we often catch ourselves slipping into these roles instead of staying focused on the issue at hand. Robert, the rescuer, defends Peter, the victim—but what is the real issue? Peter could not complete his task because others did not listen, while Kerstin, cast as the perpetrator, has no patience for either of them and simply wants to move forward.
Roles may shift over the course of a project, but the dynamic of the Drama Triangle always remains negative and ultimately puts project success at risk.
In projects, we often catch ourselves slipping into these roles instead of staying focused on the issue at hand. Robert, the rescuer, defends Peter, the victim—but what is the real issue? Peter could not complete his task because others did not listen, while Kerstin, cast as the perpetrator, has no patience for either of them and simply wants to move forward.
Roles may shift over the course of a project, but the dynamic of the Drama Triangle always remains negative and ultimately puts project success at risk.
Author David Emerald introduced The Empowerment Dynamic as a constructive alternative that focuses on project success.
The familiar roles are transformed into a positive dynamic that moves the project forward:
• The Creator (formerly the victim) is recognized for their contribution and output.
• The Challenger (formerly the perpetrator) advances the project through constructive feedback and helps the creator grow.
• The Coach (formerly the rescuer) moderates the process and supports the creator without taking control.
At the end of every feedback cycle, it should be clear what the Scrum team’s next concrete step will be. This works best through collaboration—and ideally without an “elephant in the room.”
Do you have questions about Scrum roles or need support on your journey toward agile project management? Get in touch with us. We are happy to advise you and offer tailored training sessions.