ScrumMasters moonlighting and taking two jobs?

ScrumMasters moonlighting and taking two jobs? I just got asked about this at Lean Coffee. Gross. Like just seriously. The question started with one person and then two other people reported the same issue.

We had fun figuring out how to tackle this challenge. First and foremost, there is an HR/Legal angle here. Please consult with HR before taking any actions.

As always with LeanCoffee, I ask others to go first. This is the advice I gave. (Trying pack this into 60 seconds)

1. Act from empathy, as one person in our group pointed out some people are having to take two jobs to make ends meet.
2. The observed behaviour is that the SM was disengaged in various Scrum activities that they should be facilitating and participating in. Either they don’t care or were too tired or ???. This has been observed on multiple occasions by someone who is professional coach.
3. The person has been difficult to contact outside of the scheduled events (i.e. Daily Scrum).
4. Engage in Systems Thinking (https://agilepainrelief.com/glossary/systems-thinking). Examine the problem from different perspectives: The ScrumMaster; The Team’s; other affected people. Look at what pressures are being placed the ScrumMaster. Take sometime to understand what motivates this person (https://agilepainrelief.com/glossary/arc-motivational-model - is a good starting point). We’re not trying to diagnose the person (I’m not a psychologist). Instead, taking their viewpoint allows for empathy.
5. Have a 1-on-1 with the individual. Instead of raising the issue of two jobs, observe what you’re seeing with respect to their engagement in their role as the team’s facilitator, coach etc. Act with empathy, acknowledge the possibility of burnout or other problems.
6. Work with them on a plan to play the role effectively; invite them to consider changing roles or escalate to HR if they don’t want to adapt.

#YourTurn - have you seen ScrumMasters working two jobs? What approach did you take to dealing with it?

Our LeanCoffee’s (free) https://agilepainrelief.com/lean-coffee are always engaging, although they’re not normally this spicy.