Joel Bancroft-Connors: When Great Scrum Masters Fail—The Hidden Cost of Poor Value Communication

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.

Joel shares a powerful lesson about the critical importance of communicating value beyond team performance. Despite achieving remarkable success with multiple teams as an agile coach, Joel and his colleagues ultimately failed because they couldn't effectively demonstrate their value to leadership. The teams were thriving, but when budget cuts came, the coaching support was eliminated first. Without ongoing support, these successful teams began to deteriorate. Joel emphasizes that as Scrum Masters and agile coaches, we must actively communicate our impact and connect team success to business outcomes. Simply assuming that good team performance speaks for itself is not enough - we need to interact more with stakeholders and clearly articulate the value we create.

In this episode, we refer to the TV series Ted Lasso, and the books Start with Why by Simon Sinek, and Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Adkins. 

Self-reflection Question: How effectively are you communicating the business value of your Scrum Master activities to leadership, and what specific metrics or stories could better demonstrate your impact?

[Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

🚀 Global Agile Summit 2025

Join us in Tallinn, Estonia, from May 18th – 20th, 2025, for an event that will inspire, challenge, and equip you with real-world Agile success stories.

🌍 Connect with global Agile leaders.

💡 Learn practical strategies for impact.

🔥 Break free from Agile fatigue and become a Pragmatic Innovator

Check Full Program

[Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

About Joel Bancroft-Connors

Joel Bancroft-Connors is The Gorilla Coach — a Certified Scrum Trainer and Agile disruptor focused on sustainable value and effectiveness. With a background in product, project, and coaching, Joel blends sharp insights with practical tools to help teams thrive. He is a Miro power user and rocks curated classroom playlists.

You can link with Joel Bancroft-Connors on LinkedIn.