Is getting Scrum Master Training and Certification worth your time? Do employers care about it? What salary can you expect to make? What’s important to know? Here’s a list of key information you should understand prior to investing your time, money and future.
50 Facts You Need to Know About Scrum Master Training
1. Scrum is an agile methodology that emphasizes the delivery of projects in the shortest possible time by gathering end-user or customer feedback quickly and often. By following the Scrum framework you rapidly and repeatedly inspect actual working product increments to ensure you are on the right track. Scrum Master training ensures that you have a working understanding of this framework.
2. Agile was recognized as the #3 most in-demand skill from the 2019 Absolute IT Job Market Report. Agile has become the methodology of choice for many organizations. In comparison, project management ranked #6.
3. Scrum Master training fosters teamwork, avoids conflicts and creates more successful projects. Everyone is involved in the decision making process and lends value at varying stages of the project.
4. The Scrum Master should understand each team member’s strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, and even fears in order to help the team optimize delivery.
5. The national average salary for someone who holds a Scrum Master Certification is $97,319/year in the United States (2019) according to Glassdoor.
6. Organizations that utilize Scrum training or certification usually find this framework has a positive effect. It enables the entire team to work better alongside their peers, since there will be a greater understanding of the methodologies. Scrum and Agile can be executed with increased success, if there are many Scrum experts across departments.
7. In order for Agile methods to work in an organization, an Agile mindset should be developed. Agile is a way of working in which an organization encourages its people to work with greater flexibility and fewer constraints, resulting in optimal performance.
8. Taking a Scrum Master training course can help you develop the skills and knowledge necessary and then apply them effectively. Acquiring more knowledge will assist in overcoming obstacles, especially when managing large teams across a multitude of departments.
9. Scrum does not enforce strict, rigid rules; instead it is flexible and can be used for many different products across a variety of industries. Scrum allows projects to be easily undertaken. It’s a simple and uncomplicated way to handle projects.
10. Scrum Masters with formal Scrum Master training and agile certification have higher salaries than those without.
11. The role of Scrum Master is becoming more significant and widespread. LinkedIn calls “Scrum Master” one of the most promising jobs of 2019.
12. The Scrum framework simplifies large projects and divides them into easily manageable sprints.
13. You don’t need to be a software developer or have a business degree to become a Certified Scrum Master.
14. Applicable job roles for those who hold a Scrum Master Certification include, but are not limited to: Project Manager, Program Manager, Product Owner, Development Manager, Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Project Lead and Engineer.
15. The Scrum Master encourages the team members to recognize and solve problems themselves.
16. Scrum is a framework that enables teams to work on complex projects and deliver high-value products by approaching problems in an adaptable manner.
17. The word ‘Scrum’ comes from the game of rugby. The reasoning is that it stresses the importance of working as a team to move the project towards completion, similar to rugby when the teams works as a group to move the ball down the field.
18. A Scrum Master’s expertise allows them to act as a guide for the team through the scrum process. The Scrum Master is not a traditional project manager. They are responsible for removing the obstacles that prevent the team from delivering the projects goals or objectives.
19. Scrum masters help to promote a sense of community within a team. This is important when the team shares in the decision making process.
20. The Scrum Master facilitates the Product Owner by making sure that the goals, scope and product domain are understood by everyone on the scrum team.
21. Scrum is the one of the most widley used Agile approaches within organizations. According to the Scrum Alliance report last year on “The State of Scrum,” 89 percent of agile users use the scrum approach, where 62 percent of those polled have an in-house scrum coach and 76 are very likely to continue to use Scrum.
22. The Scrum Master helps to clear the path ahead for the team. This allows the team to stay focused on their work and get it done as efficiently and effectively as possible.
23. Dispensing information to project stakeholders about where the current sprint and development efforts stand, is an important role the Scrum Master holds. This can be done via the various artifacts of scrum such as backlogs and burndown charts.
24. Like a mechanic, makes sure a car is in working order, the Scrum Master, makes sure the project is working properly. Every part of the scrum process is being helped by the guidance of the Scrum Master.
25. The expected job growth rate for those who have taken Scrum Master training or earned a Scrum certification is expected to grow 24% by 2026.
26. Scrum’s use of short sprints enables fast feedback resulting in a faster turnaround when making changes.
27. Scrum Master increasingly shows up on job postings. Scrum Master training provides skill sets that assist the Scrum Master to motivate his team and produce a successful product.
28. Team productivity is boosted when the Scrum framework is implemented. Teams can become self-organized resulting in better performance. This provides management more time to focus on long term strategy.
29. Scrum teams can concentrate on the ongoing improvement of the product, as well as of their process.
30. An important responsibility of the Scrum Masters is to support and guide development of Scrum Team members.
31. The Scrum Master also assists those outside the Scrum Team to recognize which of their interactions with the Scrum Team are most valuable.
32. Scrum projects rely on real-time communication between people which in-turn reduces written documentation.
33. Part of the scrum approach includes gathering the project’s requirements and using them to define the project. Sprints are planned, and then each sprint is divided into its own list of requirements.
34. The Scrum framework promotes short development cycles. This helps to deliver any new feature or bug-fix quickly, which is why the basic unit of Scrum development, the Sprint, is typically 2-4 weeks in length.
35. The Scrum Master teaches the Development Team to keep the Daily Scrum within the 15-minute time-box.
36. The Daily Scrum is an internal meeting for the Development Team. The Scrum Master ensures that the meeting goes smoothly, and if others are present that they do not disrupt the meeting.
37. The Scrum Master organizes meetings, deals with challenges & bottlenecks.
38. The Scrum Master works together with the Product Owner to understand the vision for the project.
39. There is no one central governing body for Scrum training or Scrum certification. Scrum Master Certification can be obtained through a number of different providers including Project Management Institute, Villanova University, Scrum Alliance, scrum.org and SSGI.
40. Scrum helps to reduce the chance of project failure.
41. Scrum is becoming more popular in job descriptions, due the higher success rate of projects using this agile framework compared to waterfall methodology.
42. The Scrum Master facilitates the team’s daily standup meeting each morning. This is a short meeting where the team members answer questions about what was done yesterday, what will be done today, and if any obstacles are in their way.
43. Common educational backgrounds for Certified Scrum Masters include: Engineering, IT or Software development, Finance, Design, Mathematics, Medicine and Social Sciences.
44. Agile is one of the most popular project management frameworks going into 2020. This is only expected to grow as more and more organizations start to adapt an Agile mindset. Agile/Scrum certification will serve as a way to help you stand out from the competition.
45. Scrum practices help to identify risks at an early stage, so they can be dealt with accordingly. Risks are prioritized, and an appropriate plan is established to deal with the risks.
46. An important asset of a Certified Scrum Master is that they are a good team player. They will listen to their teammates, accept suggestions and address any obstacles they may be facing.
47. A Certified Scrum Master has the oversight to know everything about the project. Transparency is imperative to the Scrum process. It allows everyone to see and understand what is really happening in each sprint. The end result is improved communication and feedback.
48. Scrum diminishes the risk of project failure which in turn increases return on investment for stakeholders. Compared to the waterfall approach, Scrum has a much higher level of success when it comes to project outcomes.
49. Scrum allows for faster delivery to the end customer than traditional methods. Resulting in decreased time to market.
50. The Scrum Master should understand each team member’s strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, and even fears in order to help the team optimize delivery.
