Certified Scrum Master (CSM) Certification Training in Minneapolis

The course will educate all participants from the basics of agile software development. Hence it is important that one should understand agile as an empirical process against the waterfall approach which is a defined process.

You will be taught to Plan, Execute, Check and then Adapt. Yes, CSM course begins with the detailed introduction to the iterative four-step approach.

Every product backlog item gets declared as DONE it must be accepted by all team members and they must in advance know when it is called DONE. Here the team must be appraised of how a work is done, what are the standards required to be obeyed, and the different ways to verify whether it is done.

Each user story will have a specific criteria description called the acceptance criteria for that story.

1. Every team member is given stick-it notes and asked to write their views about the project, deadline, completion etc.
2. A good 3 minutes is given to each person to fill the following blank we can complete the task when we ……………………. Let each write their want. They can write 3 to 5 ideas.
3. Ask everyone to read one idea each and make sure that the other person does not repeat the same idea.
4. Have one person to make a note of all the ideas on the board.
5. Take voting from all to come to a common working agreement from the list mentioned in the board.

Learn the need for being agile in your software development projects. Understand the key concepts of the development using the agile approach which is driven by value. It is a well-organized project management process. Also, know how to embrace flexible planning methods. Become collaborative with the team, scrum master, and product owner.

a) Trivia About Agile Methodology-

In order to correct issues cropping up due to the waterfall method, a new development practice was introduced in 2001 by a set of people called as Agile Methodology. The main concept adapted in Agile is the iterative way. Development and testing happen in parallel to fix bugs at every stage. Set of software industry giants met in Snowbird, UT in 2000 to discuss this method. Then they decided to differentiate agile from the traditional method with some values and called them Agile Manifesto.

b) Agile Framework – A Brief Overview

Agile the iterative software development method follows many frameworks including the Scrum, Lean, Kanban, Extreme Programming, Feature-driven development etc. It is a big list and Scrum is the most commonly used framework. Every framework aims at making it lightweight and framing of a set of minimal rules. The aim of every framework being reaching the goal in an agile way. Yes, the iterative and incremental method is embraced with its own set of practices.

For example, the scrum will focus on three roles to go through the development cycle. The scrum master who is the coach and the link who connects the team and the customer. The product owner is the SME who will know the customer need and will let the team know about the same. Finally, the team which includes developer and testers to work on the project. Scrum method follows daily meetings, sprints and sprint retrospective to check the status of the project regularly. Feedbacks are exchanged and modifications are done at every stage.

c) Agile Manifesto 

The set of values defined for Agile methodology is called Agile Manifesto. It was written in Feb 2001 by 17 independent software techies. There were several written among which 4 values were accepted by all which is given below.

• The project can become successful when it depends on people than tools, and discussions must be encouraged than implementing hardcore
• Working on the product should be encouraged than focussing on documentation.
• Customer satisfaction is the key over negotiating the contract.
• Reacting to the changes and not strictly following a plan.

Every beginner must understand this basic underlying principle of Agile to kick start their career in agile.  Defining and describing these values with examples will allow learners to embrace the concept easily.

d) Key Principles in Agile-

The four Agile Manifesto gave birth to 12 agile principles.

• Customer satisfaction is the prime objective and this can be achieved by delivering project on-time with the expected outcome.
• Accept changes at any stage of development and produce a competitive product to the customer
• . Continuously sharing working software with the client instead of sharing documentation about project status
• Business team and development team works collaboratively.
• Provide support to the team with a motivated working environment.
• Conducting daily stand up meeting to let team meet face to face.
• Measure work progress with the working software.
• Promote sustainable development.
• Good design will improve the agility.
• Keep the entire process simple and discuss solution more than worrying about the problem.
• Empower team to come up with ideas.
• Introduce games during meetings to ease team tension and increase productivity.
• How to get to these principles will be explained during the training.

The objective of release planning is to plan and make the scope, budget, and date for the incremental delivery in an agile project. Planning to have multiple sprints until the final product is released is discussed in the release planning meeting.

Every member of the scrum team and the stakeholders are part of this release plan meeting and it happens during each sprint activity. The release planning is done with the help of the product planning output and the pace at which the team completes the product backlog item per each sprint. This pace is nothing but the speed of the team and termed as velocity in agile projects.

The framework of Scrum is simple and it deals efficiently with the changing situations. The work gets split into iterations. It is because during the development process the priority changes due to the situation, user mindset, technology etc. Therefore, the framework focus on splitting the project into sequences of iterations called sprint. Every sprint will last for maximum 4 weeks. Therefore the complexity of the project is split and all changes are accommodated during the sprint meeting. There is not much of loss and also the user gets the output per the expectation.

The framework is simply understood as Planning – Executing – Learning – Taking Actions. This will continue until the end result is achieved. Every sprint meeting will be in length to plan from the education of the previous sprint.

• Tuckman’s Group Development Tools and Technique – Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning.
• Scrum Master tools Cynefin Framework – Simple, Complicated, Complex, and Chaotic.
• The Japanese Shu Ha Ri – Shu – self-disciplining, Ha – Innovate things, Ri – Execution
• Root cause analysis

• Four or more week longer sprints
• Bigger team size
• Complex backlog items

Yes, that’s how you can easily remember the five values of the scrum process. C FOR C means to Commit you to need Courage. To develop Courage you need to Focus With Open mind and Respect all in the team.

You got it right, it is Commitment – Focus – Openness – Respect – Courage

Develop these five values and every scrum team will see success. Commit to the Sprint Goal and focus to work towards the same. Share your views openly and respect others opinion as well. Have the courage to accept what went wrong in a retrospective meeting to complete backlogs in your next sprint.

The three key stakeholders in the scrum team are the product owner, development team and the scrum master. These roles are looked upon based on their command and responsibility.

• Product Owner – The person who is responsible for prioritizing the work and one who owns the ROI of the project is called the product owner. This person understands the customer need and creates the product backlog.
• Development Team – The set of people who are involved in writing code and developing the project is called the development team. These people will be assigned product backlog and will focus on completing the same.
• ScrumMaster – The scrum process is implemented with the help of the scrum master. This individual bridges gap between the team and the product owner. He/she hears the team view to help them resolve issues to work towards the goal of the company.