A product team I once collaborated with was consistently frustrated by the same issue: their work kept getting delayed by security reviews.
Each sprint, progress slowed, delivery dates slipped, and frustrations grew. The developers felt powerless, thinking “that’s just how things work here.” The turning point occurred when the Scrum Master intervened, not by imposing additional standups or enforcing stricter ceremonies, but by mapping the workflow and pinpointing the bottleneck.
Through discussions with stakeholders and a simple agreement on earlier involvement, the dependency reduced from weeks to days. Suddenly, the delivery process improved, not because the team worked harder, but because the system became smarter.
Yes, it was another meeting, but was it a meeting? It was a collaborative session between two teams that fostered an agreement and an SLA.
That’s a working session, not a meeting.
What.
This is where the Scrum Master role truly shines: not as a meeting facilitator, but as a systemic problem-solver. Using the lens of the Theory of Constraints, Scrum Masters identify the bottlenecks that quietly throttle throughput. Sometimes those bottlenecks are external dependencies, sometimes they’re local policies, and sometimes they’re invisible habits like too much work-in-progress.
The Scrum framework itself contains enabling constraints, timeboxes, Sprint Goals, and the Definition of Done, which help focus attention and reveal where flow breaks down. But identifying the break is only half the job; the Scrum Master creates the conditions for teams and stakeholders to act on it.
So What.
Why does this matter? Because throughput rarely suffers from a lack of effort, it suffers from friction in the system. As Thomas Bragg highlights in Throughput Accounting, local optimizations often disguise the valid constraint; teams may look busy, but the system delivers little. When Scrum Masters elevate bottlenecks, they help the organization shift from optimizing individuals to optimizing flow.
Importantly, this is indirect work. Scrum Masters don’t increase throughput by coding faster or working longer hours. They improve flow by changing the environment, reducing friction, and fostering collaboration across boundaries. The impact is real, but it requires leaders to look past the ceremonies to see it.
Now What.
For Scrum Masters who want to operate at this level, the challenge is to look beyond the team’s ceremonies and into the system itself. Practical steps include:
- Mapping the workflow to visualize handoffs, delays, and hidden queues.
- Identifying one dependency that consistently slows progress and addressing it through stakeholder collaboration.
- Encouraging teams to treat flow metrics (cycle time, WIP aging) as learning signals, not performance scores.
This shifts the Scrum Master from a role seen as “running meetings” to one recognized as a steward of flow.
Let's Do This!
Scrum Masters are more than facilitators; they are protectors of flow.
By working at the seams of the organization, surfacing bottlenecks, and guarding enabling constraints, they amplify throughput without adding pressure. When teams recognize this, the role transforms from “nice-to-have” to essential.
The best Scrum Masters don’t just keep Scrum running; they keep delivery moving (mostly indirectly).