How important is the role of a Scrum Master?

A lot of companies nowadays work with Agile Framework, mainly Scrum. However, I’ve noticed a weird pattern: despite the fact of working with Scrum, many companies do not hire a Scrum Master.

What? That’s not a joke.

Unfortunately, many times I hear the sentence “Scrum Master is such a useless role,” even worse, that is not only some companies’ view, but also Product Owners and Developers sometimes share this idea. Why does it happen?

Companies tend to say that Scrum Master is not needed because the team is aware of how to do Scrum and they are already self-organized, therefore no need for a position to facilitate it. For sure, also the company will save some little money by not hiring a Scrum Master.

Team members, like Product Owners and Developers, may see that there is no need for someone to take care of the Scrum, since they are already “good enough” on it, the Scrum Master has no room here.

Before we question the need for a Scrum Master, you should understand deeper what this role is all about. Therefore I would recommend reading this article, Agile Development: What is a Scrum Master? Roles and Responsibilities?

The big question is: does it make sense not to have a Scrum Master?

I’ve got some experience in both scenarios, with and without Scrum Master, the situation is clear.