Scrum Master Interview Games

@ReadySetAgile

Applying the agile mindset, disruptive thinking, and fun, interactive, and informative activities to find awesome Scrum Masters

John Riley

Principle Agile Coach and Trainer

### Sponsors ---

### Share Your Experience ---

### Interviews with Gaming ---

- Assess candidates' soft skills, hard skills, and personality traits. - Provide applicants with job scenarios and potential career paths. - First-hand experience to handle real organization challenges - Build the engagement of passive candidates. - Establish an innovative and attractive brand. Note: - Assess candidates' soft skills. hard skills, and personality traits. - Provide applicants with job scenarios and potential career paths. - First-hand experience to handle real organization challenges - Build the engagement of passive candidates. - Establish an innovative and attractive brand.

### Agile Interview Gaming ---

- Creative and fun! - Intensify employees’ and candidates' interest - Continuously deepens engagement - Process of candidate selection is much faster - Test specific skills like time management, creativity and innovative thinking - Create a shared learning experience - Any role can be interviewed - Almost anyone can be an interviewer Note: - Creative and fun! - Intensify employees’ and candidates' interest - Continuously deepens engagement - Process of candidate selection is much faster - Test specific skills like time management, creativity and innovative thinking - Create a shared learning experience - Any role can be interviewed - ANYONE can be an interviewer

### Our candidate: Scrum Master ---

#### Why the Scrum Master? - Very misunderstood - Must encourage team engagement - Working with many personalities - Service to team - Help understand and apply Agile Values Note: compare to traditional interviews

http://modernagile.org

#### Qualities to seek in a Scrum Master - Empowers a self-organizing team - Explains *WHY* scrum works - Observes many things simultaneously - Solicits feedback - Not afraid to experiment or fail

#### Even more Scrum Master qualities - Leads by example - Cultivates a learning environment - Allows teams to grow organically - Master of complex environments - Receives feedback well Note: Shu Ha Ri

### Your turn ---

#### What qualities do you look for in a Scrum Master? Discuss in small groups Enter answers here: https://answergarden.ch/733590

Enter answers here: https://answergarden.ch/733590

### Room Setup for Scrum Master Interview Games ---

Each small group is a mock interview

Scrum Master Candidate	Same person throughout whole session
Interviewers	2 per game, rotate each game
Observers	Remaining group members, rotate each game

#### All Games will - Test a specific set of behaviors - Be timeboxed - Everyone shares opinions, thoughts, observations

#### Let's get ready to play! Note: - pick your candidate - take a post-it and write a significant month and day (birthday)

### Strategies ---

#### If you are interviewing... - Use your experience to ask questions - Be constructive! - Use the card to guide you

In summary... https://answergarden.ch/733590

#### If you are observing - Take advantage of this unique perspective - Look for body language - Try to notice changes in attitude (interviewer and candidate) - Compare to other tables

### Game 1 - Model Behavior ---

OBJECTIVE: Describe a past situation

MATERIALS: modeling clay

CAST: Candidate, 2 interviewers, others observers

Activities
Candidate / Interviewers	Construct a model of the situation and tell the story with interaction from interviewers.
Observers	Notice the interactions, body languages
Whole table	Retrospective

Build Increment

https://answergarden.ch/733590

Game Retrospective

https://answergarden.ch/733590

### Game 2 - What's Your Take? ---

OBJECTIVE: Candidate places cards containing quotes from a team space to indicate their position

Immediate attention
Obligation or some attention when needed
No attention

MATERIALS: cards, post-it notes, pens

CAST: Candidate, 2 interviewers, others observers

Activities
Candidate	Pick a card Reads quote aloud Places the card in the appropriate section Repeat for each card
Interviewers	Interact with candidate asking appropriate questions
Observers	Watch the show
Whole table	Retrospective

Card placement Increment

https://answergarden.ch/733590

Game Retrospective

https://answergarden.ch/733590

### Final Outcome ---

- Would you hire your candidate? - How was this experience? - Were you engaged even while observing? - Did you learn something? - Could you implement something like this in your organization? - What other roles could you interview with this format?

### Services at www.ReadySetAgile.com ---

References

“Gamification in Recruiting.” Recruiterbox Blog, 13 Apr. 2015, recruiterbox.com/blog/gamification-in-recruiting.
Meister, Jeanne C., and Kevin J. Mulcahy. The Future Workplace Experience: 10 Rules for Mastering Disruption in Recruiting and Engaging Employees. McGraw-Hill Education, 2017.
Maurer, Roy. “Playing Games with Applicants.” SHRM, SHRM, 11 Apr. 2018, www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/games-applicants-recruiting.aspx.
Tice, Jason. “Hire Great People with Interview Games.” 8 Aug. 2017, Orlando, FL.

### Thank you! ---