Applying Professional Scrum

* Guaranteed to Run! *

Professional Scrum Foundations (PSF) is a 2-day course that prepares students to begin effectively using Scrum immediately by building software in a series of Sprints. The framework, mechanics, and roles of Scrum are emphasized with importance placed on practical application, and common missteps and misunderstandings are discussed so students have a higher awareness of the associated symptoms.

Whether your team needs a flawless Scrum launch or needs to reboot a struggling Scrum implementation, this course lays the foundation for an effective Scrum team. Professional Scrum Foundations also provides the foundations of knowledge needed for role-focused training such as Professional Scrum Product Owner and Professional Scrum Master.

Course Objectives

• Students will have a clear understanding of the mechanics of Scrum and their coherence from the empirical foundation of Scrum

• Students have an understanding of the critical elements of mastering Scrum

• Students are able to be effective members of a Scrum Team or are able to support those who are on a Scrum Team

What You Will Learn

Over the 2 days, students experience Professional Scrum: learning the framework and gaining insights into overcoming complexity, with team-based collaboration and self-organization as essential elements in mastering Scrum. Students work together as a team in a series of Sprints to build a product, thereby facing real-life problems. The rules, roles, and principles of Scrum are leveraged during the exercises. From its emphasis on the practical application of Scrum, the course exposes common missteps and misunderstandings so students grow a higher awareness of the associated symptoms. The course provides prescriptive guidance to avoid going off track and keep Scrum healthy.

Professional Scrum Foundations is excellent training for organizations, teams and anyone wanting to experience the way of working in Scrum. The course also provides the foundation of knowledge needed for role-focused training for Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Developers, and Leaders within the organization. Whether you are getting started on your first Scrum effort or refreshing your knowledge, this course gives students the knowledge and direction to start using Scrum immediately after the class.

Students learn how to apply Scrum by actively:

• Working with a realistic Product Backlog

• Decomposing requirements into actionable Backlog Items

• Estimating Backlog Items and planning a Sprint

• Reviewing the work done in a Sprint

• Retrospecting to find valuable improvements

Professional Scrum Master Certification

All participants completing the Professional Scrum Foundations course will receive a password to attempt the Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) assessment. PSF class participants who attempt the PSM I assessment within 14 days of the class and do not score at least 85% will be granted a 2nd attempt at no additional cost.

Is this training right for me?

Professional Scrum Foundations is appropriate for anyone working on or with a Scrum Team. The course is especially well-suited to companies or teams investigating Scrum, those who are currently struggling with Scrum, or those beginning to utilize Scrum.

Whether your team needs a flawless Scrum launch or needs to reboot a struggling Scrum implementation, this course lays the foundation for an effective Scrum team. Professional Scrum Foundations also provides the foundations of knowledge needed for role-focused training such as Professional Scrum Product Owner and Professional Scrum Master.

There will also be time in class for the Professional Scrum Trainers (PST) to provide coaching on challenges that you and your classmates may be experiencing today or may in the future.

What else is included?

Light breakfast, soft drinks, coffee, snacks and catering from a local restaurant will be arranged at no extra cost.

Why Scrum.org Training and Certification?

• Scrum.org is run by the co-creator of Scrum, Ken Schwaber. He also maintains the Scrum Guide. The organization is run by folks who eat, sleep and breathe Scrum and it shows in the carefully crafted curriculum and examinations.

• It ain't easy. Your Scrum.org certification will hold more credibility with employers because you don't receive it automatically after taking a course. You must pass the certification exam. Your PSM training gives you an excellent shot at achieving certification.

• Once you receive a Professional Scrum certification by passing the assessment, you keep that certification and remain listed on our website as being a Professional forever. You do not need to retest as you have already proved your knowledge, nor do you need to pay additional money to retain that certification.

• Scrum.org's courseware is uniform and rigorously updated and fine-tuned to ensure every participant receives valuable and actionable training from Professional Scrum Trainers. To be clear, uniform doesn't mean boring! It means quality!

Two Instructors 

Chris Belknap - Professional Scrum Trainer (PST)

Chris Belknap is an Agility consultant providing Agile coaching, training and consulting in the Greater Boston and New England area, one of the 270 worldwide Professional Scrum Trainers (PST) for Scrum.org, and a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Program Consultant (SPC). I have worked as a Scrum Master at several companies since 2008, and have coached hundreds of Scrum Masters and Scrum Teams at Fidelity Investments, Unum and Liberty Mutual.

For the past 4 years he served as an Enterprise Agile Coach and transformation leader at Liberty Mutual Insurance, coaching and training multiple Scrum, Kanban and XP teams and leaders, including managers and C-level executives. Prior to that I was involved in Agile transformations as a Technical Project Director at Unum and an IT Director of Software Development at Fidelity Investments.

Chris has dedicated my entire career to software craftsmanship, and have been working with Scrum for over 12 years. In my courses I share my extensive experience working as a software developer, Scrum Master, Project Manager, and IT Director.

He holds an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University and a BS from Bryant University. I am also currently a part-time instructor at the University of New Hampshire, and in the past I served as a computer science instructor at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Ram Srinivasan - Professional Scrum Trainer (PST)

Ram Srinivasan has a very unique distinction of being the first person in North America (and the second person in the world) to hold the coveted Professional Scrum Trainer (from scrum.org) and Certified Scrum Trainer (from Scrum Alliance) certifications. His mission is to help his clients build great organizations and he does this by focusing on people, process, and product development.

Ram started as a developer and later moved to hold various roles including software architect, Project /Program Manager, and Agile Coach. He has coached, mentored, and consulted with teams to organizations of different sizes across many industries (finance, insurance, retail, banking, media, telecom, government, etc.). This depth and breadth of experience give Ram the ability to view clients' challenges from different perspectives and provide pragmatic solutions, making him a sought after Agile Coach.

Beyond Agile and Scrum, Ram’s interests are in Emotional and Social Intelligence (for individuals, groups), Applied neuroscience for organizational and culture change, System Thinking, Complex Adaptive Systems, and understanding Human Systems in organizations. He is a frequent speaker at Agile meetups and conferences. From time to time, Ram also runs free coaching circles and book clubs.

Ram holds a Masters degree in Engineering from The University of Arizona and is currently based out Boston, MA. You can reach him at Ram at InnovAgility dot com

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