Pros
Good people Good benefits Good amount of time off Stable work (never was afraid of losing my job even in the pandemic) Relatively easy to transition to different roles/teams
Cons
With a huge hiring increase did not come an increase in scrum masters - this is a huge problem because scrum masters are responsible for "culture" but there are too few of them to make a difference. They tell us to take time off but there's so much to do it's not always realistic. There isn't any systemic support which makes taking time off easy for folks as overworked as the scrum masters. The onboarding process is near-nonexistent. You learn to sink or swim largely on your own. To non-scientists, the Broad is a huge, complicated, confusing place. DSP in particular is VERY confusing. I've worked at the Broad for two years and I barely know more about it now than I did when I started. DSP leadership is not bought into the practice of scrum, even though every team who has a scrum master values the role and/or wants more scrum support. This trickles down to little scrum support and little to no interest in hiring more scrum masters. This is quite frustrating whey they keep reassuring us they listen and share our values. As much as DSP talks the importance of culture, I don't always see this value in practice. This shows up a lot in relation to scrum masters in particular, as they are, again, the "culture" people. During a particularly difficult time for my team, I in my role as scrum master could have been a huge help, but leadership did not involve me in the process of finding support for my team. My insight about my team's culture was not taken seriously (and even ignored altogether) despite the fact I was hired to be the person who could offer just that. Why hire someone for this role if you aren't going to consult, listen, or work with them? In my own, personal experience, I burned out from this role quite quickly due to constant frustration with management, who said they would do things to support culture but then fell short when it came to supporting the scrum masters, who are essential to cultivating the culture they want to influence. I was placated with (what I came to understand were) empty promises so regularly I stopped trusting management nearly altogether and resigned myself to "this is just how it is": that is, feeling constantly overwhelming and without meaningful guidance or managerial support. I don't doubt upper leadership cares, I just don't think they realize how they THINK culture works in DSP is not aligned with how it actually works. In my role as scrum master, there was little opportunity for upward growth, just lateral changes. Your experience at the Broad varies so dramatically depending on which department or team you're in. Therefore, it matters that my review is for DSP specifically, not the Broad in general.
