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• Reaffirms who is in control during the forming stage. You.
• Solves the issue
• Sends a strong message to the team that you expect team loyalty and productivness
• Will not tolerate negativity for the sake of old allegiances, it is a new day.

I can already envisage a time when I leave the role as I feel the team will be a completely self-managing unit who no longer require a Scrum Master.

• Reaffirms who is in control during the forming stage. You.
• Solves the issue
• Sends a strong message to the team that you expect team loyalty and productivity
• Will not tolerate negativity for the sake of old allegiances, it is a new day.

I can already envisage a time when I leave the role as I feel the team will be a completely self-managing unit who no longer require a Scrum Master.

Edit in 2021

This answer, whilst highly upvoted, is the answer of a junior Scrum Master on an Agile journey. There is a considerable amount of advice in this answer that I do not agree with any longer and have matured beyond.

The language is unnaturally combative (I had recently left the Armed Forces) and shows a strong misunderstanding of Servant Leadership, even going so far as to use the word Master. It refers to imposing will upon a team which is absolutely not the role of a Project Manager, Delivery Manager, Scrum Master or other equivalent.

Learning to use influence is a sign of business maturity and reflected in the Agile Manifesto.

I have left this answer on Stack Exchange to show that everyone is learning and evolving and we draw upon our experiences. I would not approach a feature team with this attitude any longer and would seek to find a way of working together wherever possible.

However the references and the concept of Disagree and Commit are still strongly encouraged for all.

###Commitment to the Team

###5 Dysfunctions of a Team

###Lastly, consider letting one of the developers go.

###Results

Commitment to the Team

5 Dysfunctions of a Team

Lastly, consider letting one of the developers go.

Results

In our sessions normally half the team end up crying as people tell the stories on their life that led them to the current team.

The personal timeline over a couple of bottle of wine was the best team building exercise we ever did to understand everyone's motivations and empathise with them. You will learn which developers fear being a bad father allowing you to prioritise their children's events, which developers were high achievers (harness their ambition), which team members suffered a life-event which impacted their productivity etc...

I personally do not believe that any new scrum team survives first contact with the process without losing an individual who refuses to accept the new status quo.

In our sessions normally half the team end up crying as people tell the stories of their life that led them to the current team.

The personal timeline over a couple of bottles of wine and pizza was the best team building exercise we ever did to understand everyone's motivations and empathise with them. You will learn which developers fear being a bad father allowing you to prioritise their children's events, which developers were high achievers (harness their ambition), which team members suffered a life-event which impacted their productivity etc...

I personally do not believe that any new scrum team survives first contact with the process without losing an individual who refuses to accept the new status quo.

###Results

I should also add that my approach, focussing more on the master part, has worked extremely well. We had to let one developer go (the team had lost all confidence in him) but everyone else has gelled and adopted a Scrum mindset.

We have month-long sprints with Planning sessions have decreased from 18 hours in total to lasting less than 6 hours (due to disagree and commit) and our stand-ups went from 41 minutes to 23 minutes on average.

In addition, senior management were happy that the team were under the Scrum Master control rather than a runaway train they were previous. The Product Owner is much happier that the Scrum Master is willing to lead when required and allow Agile principles to guide wherever possible. I am writing a white paper on our experience at present.

For those horrified at my strong line I should also add I took a similarly strong attitude to management, streamlining the amount of meetings, updates and reports the team were scheduled to attend.

I can already envisage a time when I leave the role as I feel the team will be a completely self-managing unit who no longer require a Scrum Master.