2026-04-15
Scaling as a Scrum Master: Finding Your Ideal Team Load
I started as a Scrum Master with one team. Perfect situation to learn about the job, to take the time to explore the options before suggesting an improvement, and to use the help of a mentor.
When I was encouraged to take a second team a few months later, the cards were reshuffled. Where to put my focus? How to still be relevant after switching from 100% to 50%?
A few years later, I had 4 teams as a Scrum Master. Mission Impossible if you want to do things just like you would do them with 1 or 2 teams.
Each situation leads to a different posture and a different level of detail. Different strengths and different pitfalls, as explained in this video.
From your experience, what is the ideal number if teams as a Scrum Master?
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I heard this saying : A good Scrum Master can handle 3 or 4 teams. A great Scrum Master can handle one team. But today, as I personnaly think about the Scrum Master mainly as an organizational coach (not team level agent), I would say a Scrum Master can handle one Product eco-system.
Olivier
Most Scrum Masters forget that their intrinsic value is "putting yourself out of a job," so to speak. Most fear that it may cause them to be fired or laid off. The Scrum Masters who lead with that mindset stay longer than those who don't.
The reason being, the company will look at your success on one team, then get you to do that for another team. You never run out of work. In fact, you become more valuable.
Now, my point for that exhaustive preamble, is to say that after a few months, the first team should not need 50% of your time. Let alone after a few years, with 4 total teams.
Before anyone tries to preach to me how some teams cannot perform at an optimum level without a dedicated Scrum Master, I will just take the liberty to make my case.
That is true. However, what I've seen is that most Scrum Masters try to be everything for the team in the beginning, except helping them be self-organized. Then wonder why the team always needs hand-holding. They create this monster, then wonder why the monster won't get off their tail.
Ronnie