Scrum Master v Project Manager

[Lockhouse]

I just passed my ScrumMaster certification over the weekend. The only way to get the official certificate is to do the course. I needed the certificate as just having the experience is not always enough to get your CV in front of a client.

I usually do dev team leader or lead developer contracts and it's becoming more and more necessary to be able to work with the Scrum implementation of Agile as more and more people use a flavour of it these days.

Officially the ScrumMaster is responsible for the working of the Scrum process within the team and to ensure that the aspects of scrum are being adhered to correctly. He's supposed to be a facilitator and remove any blocking obstacles. Two of the reasons for the daily standup are to ensure transparency of any development and to ensure that the risk of the project falling behind is adequately managed.

[Wilmslow]

I just passed my ScrumMaster certification over the weekend. The only way to get the official certificate is to do the course. I needed the certificate as just having the experience is not always enough to get your CV in front of a client.

I usually do dev team leader or lead developer contracts and it's becoming more and more necessary to be able to work with the Scrum implementation of Agile as more and more people use a flavour of it these days.

Officially the ScrumMaster is responsible for the working of the Scrum process within the team and to ensure that the aspects of scrum are being adhered to correctly. He's supposed to be a facilitator and remove any blocking obstacles. Two of the reasons for the daily standup are to ensure transparency of any development and to ensure that the risk of the project falling behind is adequately managed.

Very interested in this course - can you share, or PM the trainer you used and the cost?

This lot are after a grand plus VAT........!!

Certified ScrumMaster Course

[Lockhouse]

That's who I did it with. A grand was amongst the cheapest I found. Very good course. Plus they run a weekend one which made it a no-brainer.

[GreenLabel]

The standup is supposed to be a chance to see where you are with a project, not some cut-price blamestorming session. The scrum master should make sure it doesn't end up like that.

True, but those who haven't accomplished much since the last stand up will avoid the next one to avoid having their lack of progress laid out for all to see. Which I think is what SpaceCadet was getting at.

[Wilmslow]

True, but those who haven't accomplished much since the last stand up will avoid the next one to avoid having their lack of progress laid out for all to see. Which I think is what SpaceCadet was getting at.

Stand-ups are not optional. For a proper Agile enviroment, the whole room beats to the same drum - same hours, same lunch, same lunchtime girlfriend..... You are a family during the sprint. Quite literally.

[original PM]

thing is how many of us work on projects where you can get a dedicated dev/test team in that manner

normally you are getting some of a resource and this is where the daily stand up can be ardous - also imagine if you were working on more than 1 project you could end up with 3/4 daily standups.

I know the shortest time period in Agile is supposed to be a day but i think there needs to be realism around what is feasible or otherwise.

Wilmslow do you find daily standups give you a better appreciation of the teams velocity?

[Lockhouse]

thing is how many of us work on projects where you can get a dedicated dev/test team in that manner

normally you are getting some of a resource and this is where the daily stand up can be ardous - also imagine if you were working on more than 1 project you could end up with 3/4 daily standups.

I know the shortest time period in Agile is supposed to be a day but i think there needs to be realism around what is feasible or otherwise.

Wilmslow do you find daily standups give you a better appreciation of the teams velocity?

Although you can use days the shortest\easiest time period in Agile is the Storypoint. Using storypoints is the easiest way to estimate accurate velocity and burndown. You can tell I just came off the course.

[Jeebo72]

Although you can use days the shortest\easiest time period in Agile is the Storypoint. Using storypoints is the easiest way to estimate accurate velocity and burndown. You can tell I just came off the course.

Does it work in practice? Last place I was at it was a complete failure in a Business Intelligence team. Seemed to work for the Java boys in another team tho'

[Spacecadet]

The standup is supposed to be a chance to see where you are with a project, not some cut-price blamestorming session. The scrum master should make sure it doesn't end up like that.

Maybe I should have phrased that better

I do agree with you that the scrum is supposed to be about getting everyone up to date, resolving any immediate communication issues and making sure that no one is having to replicate work un-necessarily.

What I was trying to say is that it tends to be the more useless team members who complain the loudest about scrums.
The scrum also serves a purpose in reducing the amount of dis-information floating round the team as any exuses for not getting something finished on time can be sorted out and not left to fester.

[Lockhouse]

Does it work in practice? Last place I was at it was a complete failure in a Business Intelligence team. Seemed to work for the Java boys in another team tho'

No idea. I think if you can keep the team focused it stands a better chance of working.