Course Schedule

Week 1: Theory and First Principles
Delegates explore the uncertainties of software and how an empirical process of regular inspection and adaption is an effective strategy to manage it. We’ll contrast the Scrum approach of frequently refining an imperfect plan, with the traditional approach of anticipating every variable through up-front design, architecture and requirements analysis.

Week 1 Assignment: Complexity and Empiricism
Facilitate a discussion within your organization about how your organization could benefit from Agile and Scrum and what would be a potential hindrance to tapping the full potential in the current environment. Share results from this discussion with the class and explain how you ensured that everyone had a good understanding of complexity and empiricism.

Week 2: The Scrum Framework
We define and describe the core elements of Scrum and relate them back to agile principles and empiricism:

• Scrum roles: product owner; development team; scrum master. Focus is placed on the accountabilities of each role and, therefore, great teams are built on a foundation of clear responsibilities.
• Scrum artefacts: product backlog; sprint backlog; increment. We see how transparency of the situation is the starting point for making effective decisions that lead to productive outcomes.
• Scrum events: sprint, sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review, sprint retrospective. We show how each event is designed to allow people to inspect and adapt specific things, and the importance of maintaining focus.

Week 2 Assignment: Are we doing Scrum?
Assess the effectiveness of your progress towards the goals you defined in the previous assignment. Describe the differences between your current process and Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. Create a 15% solution about what to change to improve your current situation and gather feedback about these from other people in your organization.

Week 3: Definition of Done: This core concept is explored through a scenario for a life-critical product in a regulated environment and we ask teams to create a definition of done. This raises the question of what to do when items on the definition of done take a long time or involve external dependencies.

Week 3 Assignment: Shift Left
Assess how frequently your team is able to deliver a Done Increment and how much uncertainty and surprises these Done Increments still hold. Check how the current Definition of Done is helpful in these regards and how it can be improved. Experiment with at least one improvement to the Definition of Done and share insights.

Week 4: Product Delivery with Scrum
We use a case study for a new product with an established vision and commercial context. Delegates learn a toolbox of techniques used to facilitate as Scrum Masters during product planning and delivery:

• User story mapping helps stakeholders and product owners to generate a product backlog.
• Relative sizing with story points to help develop and understand technical implementation and risk.
• Ordering product backlogs by value; size; return on investment; risk; dependencies; development cohesion.
• Release planning with velocity and product burndown charts, while agreeing with stakeholders at the start on how scope and date changes are managed as the product evolves and new information comes to light.

Week 4 Assignment: Empirical vs Waterfall
Assess how much empiricism your team is using to plan product delivery and apply at least one experiment to make it even more empirical. For example, you might assess if your team and your organization is more using a product or a project mindset for the product you are developing with your team. How is unpredictability currently handled? Have a conversation with some stakeholders about how you could benefit from moving more towards a product mindset and which objections people have.

Week5: People and Teams
What motivates commitment to the product, organisation and team? What if you didn’t have to rely on bonuses to drive people towards achieving results? How can you be sure that people are working hard even when you are not checking up on them? We explore a range of tools, techniques and theories designed to help establish healthy team dynamics.

Week 5 Assignment: Collaboration is Key
Assess together with your team how they currently work together and what could be improved. Run at least one experiment that could help the team to become more collaborative. For example, Identify behaviours and characteristics of a great team together with your Scrum Team and identify areas where your team could improve.

Week 6: The Scrum Master 

• The Scrum Master Coaching and Facilitation
  Coaching is a key part of the Scrum Master role. As a result, delegates use active listening and open questions to reveal problems and they coach individuals and teams to make a plan to resolve them. We present a simple coaching framework and apply it in an exercise that puts theory into practice.

Week 6 Assignment: How to Become a Great Scrum Master and Prepare for the Assessment
Create a plan of the activities that you could do to help your team to grow and become more agile and identify the skills that you should learn and traits that you should exemplify to support your team and your organisation on this journey.

Professional Scrum Master Course Outcomes
Delegates will leave with a comprehensive understanding of the practices and accountabilities of the Scrum Master role, knowing how to get started in fulfilling it. Experienced Scrum masters leave with renewed confidence and a collection of new techniques to try.