Overview
When we first started offering the Scrum / Agile Team Training course, we really focus on Scrum, and according to the State of Agile 2022 Report, the Scrum framework is still the most popular way of doing agile, with 87 percent of organizations supporting it.
But we have noticed a consistent trend in our conversations with customers when they talk to us about scrum and agile training. They ask for Scrum, but they also ask for modifications to make it work in their environment. It has become so common we now offer our Agile Team Training course with the option to bring your own scenario that can be used for the hands-on exercises.
Also, gone are the days of everyone on the team taking the certified scrum master course. Now organizations have turned to team training, in part to scale the adoption of agile and in part because they realize effective teams make all the difference in faster delivery.
Why do teams train together?
There are several reasons organizations take team training instead of individual ScrumMaster training.
As the agile methodology, agile project management and other agility frameworks grow in popularity, more and more people just need to be trained, so increased volume is part of it.
But the other part is the recognition that at the heart of becoming agile is the need to leverage the capabilities of a solid team. A good team is the key to agile, and agile is the key to faster time to market, so people recognize that teams need separate training.
What have we learned?
One thing is really clear, what people ask for and what they really want are not always the same. People email and call us for Scrum training based largely on the Scrum Guide, but during our pre-training assessment, where we discuss the desired outcomes they plan to achieve from the training, it usually involves some kind of customization.
What is taught during the Agile Team Training?
We teach two interlocking concepts.
First, we teach Scrum according to the Scrum Guide. Second, we teach the Agile Manifesto’s four Values and twelve Principles, and we do so in such a way so you see where Scrum came from.
Scrum is one, and only one, a manifestation of the Agile Manifesto’s four values and twelve principles. By understanding this concept and the Manifesto’s values and principles, you are better equipped to adjust scrum to fit your situation.
Simulation-Based
The hands-on simulation literally makes all the difference in how well participants learn. Our approach is to provide an agile-related simulation starting from the moment the course begins until the last retrospective. In as much as we can, we run the training as an agile scrum project.
The simulations we have created cover the software delivery life-cycle and a typical project however, we have also created simulations for other knowledge domains, including apartment construction, health care and sales.
The Difference Between Agile & Scrum
When we think about the difference between Agile & Scrum, we often find it helpful to think in terms of values/principles and practices:
Values/Principles
Principles and Values are those larger ideas that guide what we do; in effect, they become our “North Star”. For example, the Agile Manifesto values say, “We favour collaboration over contract negotiation.” That isn’t a thing you can do, but it can inform your decision on how to approach work and a challenge you may be having.
In this example, it recommends talking to the person who you are working with over sending them a document on what to do. The document would represent the ‘contract’. The Agile Manifesto provides the Agile Principles and Values we need as our North Star.
Practices
In Scrum, we start to think in terms of practices. We have stand-up meetings, Sprint Meetings, Daily Stand-up Meetings, demos and Retrospectives. But what if you don’t do a daily stand-up meeting? Well, then, you are not doing Scrum because you are missing practice.
But you could be doing agile, assuming you are collaborating and getting updates from team members in other ways.
What we have learned. Agile works!
We have taught several hundred Agile team training boot camps, and what we know is that Scrum is the first step in adopting Agile and but it is important to learn the Agile manifesto at the same time.
Use Scrum but modify by using the Agile Manifesto as your North Star for how decisions on changes are made.
Below is a copy of the Agile Manifesto, and we can say without a doubt that organizations who use the Agile Manifesto outperform organizations and teams who don’t. It’s really that simple and complex because doing it is difficult.
Summary
Our founder, John Munro, who now works for the Project Management Institute as the Agile Global Lead, helped design this course with the expressed purpose that you would be trained by industry experts who were not only trainers but were also practicing Agile executives. It was felt that there was nothing like being trained by a person who has practical experience.
The Scrum Masters Inc Agile Team Bootcamp has been taught to over 1,000 teams, and one thing is consistent. The customer surveys are always positive with comments like, “I have taken Scrum training before, but now I know how to implement it in a useful way”, “The hands on exercise have made me confident I can go be productive using Scrum when I get back to my office” or “taking the training with our scrum team helped us understand each others knowledge gaps and get everyone on the same page.