Before You Switch Domains, Read This
A framework for Scrum Masters to learn the bare minimum about the new domain
Hello 👋, It’s Vibhor. Welcome to the 🔥 paid member only🔥 edition of Winning Strategy: A newsletter focused on enhancing product, process, team, and career performance. Many subscribers expense this newsletter to their Learning & Development budget. Here’s an expense template to send to your manager.
If you’re new, here’s what you missed in the last few weeks:
Consider this.
The day started like any other.
You were preparing for your team’s daily stand-up when your manager called you into their office.
“I have an exciting opportunity for you, and it comes with a raise,” they said.
“We want you to lead a new team.”
At first, you were thrilled. A new challenge, a chance to make an impact, and a step forward in your career.
But then they dropped the curveball:
“This team works in a completely different domain than yours, in Data Analytics.”
You try to stay calm, but your mind starts racing.
You’ve spent years fine-tuning your skills in the Software Development domain. You finally got a grip on it. You understand your current team’s workflows, the technical lingo, and the challenges they face. But now, you’re being asked to step into a world where all that familiarity disappears.
How would you help a team when you don’t understand their work? It’s like starting from zero all over again.
But what if I told you that you don’t have to spend years learning the new domain?
This is the exact situation many Scrum Masters face at some point in their careers. It’s intimidating, but it’s also an incredible opportunity to grow. Your success depends on quickly becoming familiar with the new domain.
How?
If you’ve ever faced the challenge of leading in unfamiliar territory—or you’re preparing to step into that challenge soon—this guide is for you.
Let’s get started.
NEW — Domain Overview Generator Tool
I am happy to announce yet another productivity tool for my community.
As a valued paid member of Winning Strategy, you can access the beta release of the Domain Overview Generator tool by clicking on the link below.
I created this tool to help you gain “just enough” knowledge of an “unfamiliar” domain to understand how the teams in that domain operate.
Other tools:
What is a DOMAIN?
In the simplest terms, a domain is the area of expertise or knowledge that defines the work “your team” is doing.
It’s the context that shapes your team’s challenges, priorities, and success.
It’s the “what” and “why” behind the team’s work.
The feeling you get when you enter a new domain is the same as the feeling you get when you go to a new country where people speak a different language and follow different customs.
Examples of a domain could be:
Software Development
Data Analytics
DevOps
Digital Marketing
Hardware Development
Research & Development
Healthcare IT
Financial Services
HR
etc.
Let’s say you’re moving from a Software Development team to a Data Analytics team.
In your previous domain, you were familiar with terms like: “deployment,” “bug fixes,” and “code reviews.” Success on that team was measured through metrics such as code quality and successful releases.
However, in Data Analytics, you're suddenly hearing about “data pipelines,” “ETL processes,” and “statistical significance.” Data accuracy and insight generation speed measure the team's success.
Different domain, different language, different mindset.
Good news: You don't need to become a technical expert in the new domain.
All you need is “just enough” understanding to:
facilitate meaningful conversations
identify impediments
help the team improve their processes
know when to ask the right questions
Now, how do you do that?
How do you determine what’s enough, and how do you learn about that?
Well, it turned out that each “domain” has 4 specific variables that are unique to it and differentiate it from other domains.
Let’s have a look at each of these variables one by one.
Variable #1: Deliverables
Let’s start with the most fundamental question: What is a deliverable?
A deliverable is the tangible or intangible output that a team produces to:
meet a specific goal or
solve a problem
It’s the “what” your team is working towards, what they’re trying to deliver to their stakeholders. Understanding “deliverables” is the key to understanding a domain.
In the Software Development domain, deliverables are typically:
a new feature in an app
a bug fix
an API integration
a complete application
a new version of existing software
a technical documentation
code review reports
etc.
Each deliverable represents a clear, measurable “output” that serves the needs of the product’s users or stakeholders. It:
defines what "Done" means for your team
shapes your team's Definition of Ready
influences how you (the Scrum Master) structure your Sprint Planning
Impacts how Sprint Reviews are run
helps you understand what to look for in Sprint Retrospectives
For example, knowing that a “software feature” needs to be tested, documented, and deployed enables you to make sure your team discusses all these aspects during Sprint Planning.
So…
When you switch to a new domain, your first task should be to understand these “deliverables.” And you do that by asking the following questions:
what are the main types of deliverables in this domain?
what makes a deliverable "complete" in this domain?
how are these deliverables typically validated?
who are the end users of these deliverables?
For example:
If we ask these questions for Data Analytics, we’ll get: