How Micromanagement Became A Gift
Being pushed from scrum master to program manager made me a stronger leader for my team
I was employed as a scrum master at two now-defunct US tech companies (will expand on this experience in a future post soon). One was a scrappy startup in Sunny SoCal, and the other a seasoned defect management company in the Midwest that served Fortune 500 clients. Both companies boasted that when hiring scrum masters, they would grant them the space to autonomously lead and support their teams with no bogarting from upper management.
This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
I was responsible for managing system requirements while wrangling the responsibilities of multiple teams, from product design to validation. Additionally, I would often stave off angry backlash from the company vice president as to why some critical features were failing post-validation (note: these usually turned out to be issues in manufacturing, not software).
I wasn’t paid nearly enough to juggle that many moving parts—but the pressure made me a strong, empathetic leader. I learned to manage people as humans, not headcount.
Below are the notable changes I documented as a result of this grueling situation.
Feature Development Starts to Fully Form
Even when some of the most experienced product owners or managers sit down to write a scope of work for an anticipated feature, key tech leads across teams are not involved in early conversations to see if that feature development is even viable. As the Scrum Master, I became the informal bridge—bringing the right people into the room before weeks of work were wasted. Over time, this shifted how we kicked off work: questions of feasibility, dependencies, and priorities started happening first, not last.
DevOps Becomes a Transparent Process
Initially, deployment and testing were black box operations that happened “somewhere else.” I inserted myself into conversations with QA, developers, and DevOps to understand the bottlenecks and blockers firsthand. By mapping out the deployment pipeline, helping teams document handoff points, and setting expectations for readiness reviews, we turned DevOps from a mystery into a well-lit hallway. Suddenly, everyone knew how we shipped—and what was causing delays.
You Learn When to Say ‘No’
When leadership tosses “just one more thing” on top of your team’s backlog—especially while under deadline—you learn to protect the process and the people. I got comfortable saying: “That sounds like a new feature. Do you want to swap it in for this one?” or “We’ll need to account for tech debt here before pushing this forward.” Saying “no” wasn’t about being difficult—it was about being intentional. My teams started to feel safer, and our delivery became more predictable.
You Take More Informed Risks
Because I was forced to wear multiple hats, I began understanding systems at a deeper level—product vision, design intent, technical constraints, and customer impact. That made me bolder. I could advocate for trying new tools, new workflows, or even scrapping features that no longer made sense. These weren't blind risks—they were calculated. I stopped asking for permission to improve things and started pushing the envelope where it mattered.
Final Thoughts
If you are or have struggled like myself with juggling multiple responsibilities under the guise of the Scrum Master role, do not look at it as an inherent curse. It is a hidden blessing for you and your team. While the company may stay largely uninformed about how things really work to execute feature development, you will break down those silos and be the one people depend on when things fall apart.
Not only does this make you vastly more employable—it forces you to uncover niche strengths you didn’t even know you had. One day you’ll realize that your team isn’t just talking at you anymore—they’re inviting you into the technical conversation, because they trust your judgment. That’s when you know you’ve grown into more than a Scrum Master—you’ve become a true systems leader.
Like what I have to say? Hire me!
I am always looking to take on complex projects—it’s a fun challenge that keeps me mentally fit. Feel free to DM or email (elecia@gmail.com) if you feel I’d be a great fit for your role.