What's your job about?
PEXA is an e-conveyancing company which handles the settlement of transfers and other property transactions electronically. PEXA is an agile organisation which means we work in scrum teams and deliver incremental improvement to the product every sprint (2 weeks). As a graduate, I have been across three roles during my time at PEXA. Currently I am working as a scrum master for the Plus team. This involves facilitating agile ceremonies and improving the current scrum practises within the team. An exemplary week would include analysing the metrics of the scrum team and implementing better practises to improve delivery, facilitating ceremonies and removing impediments for the scrum team.
What's your background?
I was born in Cape Town, South Africa and lived there until the age of 7 when I moved to Hamilton, New Zealand. I completed primary school and a one year of high school in New Zealand before moving to Melbourne in Year 9. In High School, I enjoyed Physics and maths and felt that Engineering would be a good fit for me in university. I studied for 4 years at RMIT and completed a bachelor’s degree and an honours year in Mechatronic Engineering. A few months after graduating in December 2019, I joined PEXA in February 2020. A few months into my PEXA career, I learned about agile practices within software companies and found I had an aptitude for facilitating and coaching. Since then, I’ve been learning as much as I can about agile delivery, agile transformations and high performing teams. I am currently in my third graduate rotation as a scrum master and I hope to continue down this career path and become an agile coach.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes. I think anyone who has the ability to guide a team to a common goal can become a Scrum master. Valuable skills for this role include facilitation/presentation skills, teaching/coaching skills and being able to sensitively address and handle conflict within a team. Another important outlook to have as a scrum master is being a servant leader, guiding a team by helping to make their jobs easier and following their path rather than instructing a team to follow yours.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The best thing about my job is creating momentum and motivation within a team. Setting goals as a team and working towards them and then improving every sprint is very rewarding.
What are the limitations of your job?
The biggest potential limitation on a scrum master is working in a team that does not see the benefits of the agile methodology. Any team can benefit from having a well-equipped scrum master on their team, however some teams can resist change and therefore resist the new initiatives put in place. Not having the support or the ability to address this mindset can be a limitation.
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