Providing a personal readme to your new teammates and stakeholders as a Scrum Master is a great way to build trust and rapport while managing expectations at the same time. I do so regularly and having a template for that purpose comes in handy.
Therefore, I thought it also might be an excellent exercise to test ChatGPT on more practical aspects of a Scrum Master’s work. So please follow the complete path to having ChatGPT create a decent personal readme template for Scrum Masters—which took me less than 20 minutes.
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I ran the session on ChatGPT on Saturday, March 25, from 10:30 am CET to 10:50 am CET on the model GPT-4. (This requires upgrading to ChatGPT Plus.) I did not apply Grammarly to ChatGPT’s answers.
I used the following initial prompt to prime ChatGPT:
I want you to act as an experienced agile coach and Scrum Master. You have worked with many Scrum teams in the past. Your success, in part, was based on your ability to manage the expectation of teammates and stakeholders but also to help them excel at their jobs, being a coach, a mentor, or a friend. You always provide team members and stakeholders of new teams with a document on how you work: your strengths, weaknesses, and how to best communicate with you. In other words: you let everyone know in advance a personal manual of yours, a readme.
Please create a structure of such a readme document for other Scrum Masters to help them help their Scrum teams, too. Consider your experience in training, coaching, and mentoring agile practitioners and your communication and collaboration techniques knowledge.
ChatGPT:
Title: Scrum Master's Personal ReadMe.
Introduction:
Personal Core Values:
Working Style:
Strengths:
Areas for Improvement:
Communication Preferences:
Coaching & Mentoring Approach:
Expectations from Team Members:
Comment: Okay, this is different from what we want; it sounds like contract work for the PMI.
Cannot see the form? Please click here.
Follow-up Prompt: Please recreate the answer in a less formal way; this one is breathing project management thinking, spoken like a line manager. Also, there are areas lacking, for example, personal failures and what you learned from them. Instead, go back to Scrum values, make it personal and less formal. Make it fun to read and motivate the readers to start working on their own readme version.
ChatGPT:
Title: My Scrum Master Journey - A Personal ReadMe
Hey there, fellow Agile enthusiasts! My name is [Your Name], and I’m excited to share my Scrum Master’s Personal readme with you. I’ve been in the Agile world for [X] years and had my fair share of ups and downs. But that’s what makes it fun, right? Let’s dive into what makes me, me—and how I approach this awesome Scrum Master role.
My Guiding Principles:
Here are the values that are close to my heart and shape the way I work:
And, of course, I try my best to uphold the Scrum values: courage, focus, commitment, respect, and openness.
How I Roll:
I’m the kind of Scrum Master who [describe your working style].
When it comes to teamwork, I love [your collaboration preferences].
Rockin’ It:
Things I'm pretty good at:
But hey, nobody’s perfect. Here’s what I’ve learned from some of my personal failures:
Work In Progress:
I’m always learning and growing. Here are some areas I’m working on:
Let’s Chat:
Wanna talk? You can find me on [preferred communication channels].
I’m always up for a [preferred frequency of communication], so feel free to hit me up.
The best time to reach me is [specific times or response time expectations]. Don't worry, I'm a friendly Scrum Master!
Coach, Mentor, Friend:
My coaching style is all about [describe your coaching philosophy].
I’m here to help you grow and develop, so let’s [how you support individual team members].
Need some one-on-one time? Let’s schedule a session and make some magic happen!
What I Expect from My Awesome Teammates:
Here’s what I hope to see from you amazing folks:
Let’s work together to make sure we all understand our roles and responsibilities within the Scrum framework.
Let's Have Some Fun:
I believe that a happy team is a productive team, so let's make sure we're enjoying the ride.
Share your ideas for team-building activities, and let's create an awesome team culture together.
So, that's me in a nutshell. I hope this helps you understand how I approach my Scrum Master role, and I'm excited to learn about your own journey too! Why not take some time to create your own Personal ReadMe? It's a great way to share your story and connect with your team on a deeper level. Let's grow and succeed together!
Comment: I guess, we are in business! 🙂
Follow-up Prompt: Why is it a good idea to provide others with a readme of yourself?
ChatGPT:
Providing others with a readme of yourself is a great idea for several reasons:
By providing a readme of yourself, you contribute to creating a more transparent, collaborative, and connected team environment where everyone can thrive.
Comment: That is a decent explanation, covering all essential aspects of a readme’s utility, from building trust to setting expectations to encouraging self-reflection.
This short personal readme template exercise is another example that ChatGPT is remarkably capable when fed decent prompts. If you are willing to spend time on prompt engineering, ChatGPT can be a useful tool for many practices.
How are you using ChatGPT as a Scrum Practitioner? Please share it with us in the comments.
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Support your creation of a personal readme by pointing to the free Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide:
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