How does a Scrum Master handle "Shadow IT" or teams working outside the Scrum framework?

All answers to this question.

If they won't join your framework, you have to find a "Translation Layer." Map their Waterfall milestones to your Sprint cadence.

   Answered 2024-09-06 by Dorothy Adams

• I agree with Dorothy. You can't force a whole company to change overnight, so being the "Agile Liaison" is a major part of the Scrum Master's advanced role.

     Commented 2024-09-07 by Emily Rodriguez

Is it helpful to invite members of those "outside" teams to our Sprint Reviews so they can see the impact of their delays?

   Answered 2024-09-08 by Charles Gonzalez

• Charles, absolutely! It’s one of the best ways to build empathy. When a DevOps engineer sees a demo fail because of a server issue they knew about but didn't prioritize, they realize they aren't just "fixing a ticket"—they are supporting a product. It turns them into partners rather than just an external service provider.

     Commented 2024-09-10 by Richard Scott

This is where you move from "Scrum Master" to "Agile Coach." You have to address the "Inter-team dependencies." In late 2024, I organized a "Scrum of Scrums" where representatives from DevOps and Marketing met once a week to look at the combined roadmap. We used a "Dependency Map" to show how a delay in Marketing’s assets was stalling our development. Once the pain was visible and quantified (in terms of delayed releases), the executives were willing to push for a more unified cadence. You have to make the invisible visible.

   Answered 2024-12-10 by Susan Anderson