“As scrum master, I’m given a platform”

She already had a lot of experience as a product owner. At Enexis, Noortje swapped that substantive role for the facilitating function of scrum master. And she's loving it. “Daring to challenge the environment and help people and teams in their development, that suits me well. At Enexis you’re given a platform. In other places you often see that, for example, a developer takes the role of scrum master 'on the side'. Here, you get the space and confidence to perform the function as intended.”

Responsibility in the right place

The entire IT department of Enexis works according to the SAFe methodology. Noortje takes her role in it. “In the value chain Maintenance and Troubleshooting, I am the scrum master of two teams that develop and maintain Mendix mobile apps (DevOps), which are important for the maintenance and troubleshooting of gas and electricity grids. My goal is to give the people in the teams the confidence to do their job well. And to put the responsibility where it belongs. So that we help each other to achieve a sprint result. If I notice that someone is stuck or that a process is running rough, I trigger my colleagues to go back to basics and think about the goal of the project. They often come to a solution themselves.”

Space for the softer side

Originally, Enexis was a fairly bureaucratic organisation with a structure of rules and procedures. According to Noortje, that has changed in all the right places. “The great thing about Enexis is that the entire IT organisation and management have embraced agile working. There is real space for people here. There are many opportunities to develop yourself, and you are encouraged to do so. So it’s easier for me to take a softer approach to people. Which is not to say that it’s all sweetness and light here. As far as I’m concerned, we still need to take steps in the cultural change towards an environment in which IT development is closer to the end user. In which the end users say what they want and IT determines how we can achieve it. For that, you have to know each other and speak each other’s language.” 

Doing what you do best

Collaboration and coordination across the boundaries of teams and value chains is therefore essential to bring agile working to an ever higher level. “Like many big organisations, Enexis has guilds,” says Noortje. “For example, for scrum masters, product owners and anyone in a change function. Those guilds function really well and are supported. Also because management is involved. Management has an eye for the talents and experience of people anyway. I had already experienced the implementation of the SAFe methodology with other employers. That’s why I was involved in the design of the scrum teams in my value chain together with someone from the business. Yes, I really like it here. I can do what I’m good at.” 

Want to know more?

Would you like to know more about the world of ICT within Enexis? If so, read the stories of other colleagues. Do you have any questions about the role of scrum master? Noortje will be happy to tell you more about it. Would you like to know more about the world of IT within Enexis? If so, read the stories of other colleagues. Do you have any questions about the role of Scrum Master? Noortje will be happy to tell you more about it during a digital coffee session. Or are you curious about the possibilities within Enexis? Then leave your details here. Jasper, IT Recruiter, will contact you as soon as possible.