SCRUM Training in Mumbai- Nov 5-6, 2011

Having reached the closure phase of my current project, there was ample time to muse around what I needed to do further to enhance my career options or to gather some additional learning around a new topic, until I got my new project. My PMP experience had taught me that it was always good to keep learning because once you stop your learning, it's difficult to focus on topics. First thing that came to my mind was "Prince2" certification which is a UK equivalent training, for a process-based method for effective project management. While I was discussing the same with my colleague, he came up with the idea of doing the SCRUM training. I was a bit hesitant because I wasn't aware of what it was all about. So I went online and did my little amateur research to understand the basic concepts behind SCRUM. God bless the 'Google' search engines. Online search comes up with various options related to SCRUM trainings that’s conducted by different service providers.

The scrum processes are quite different from traditional methods of project management. Rather than planning, instructing and directing which is the main role of a PMP, a scrum master works to lead, coach and facilitate.  A certified scrum master acts as a facilitator between the development team and the product owner. When it comes to a CSM, his or her primary function is to clear off any barriers standing in the way of sprinting the goals. If a PMI certified PMP is interested in doing this training, I think it’s important for him or her to leave all her PMP learning at home and sit for this training as a novice. The attitude should be to learn a new framework, implement what fits in your corporate or project environment and learn some more of teamwork techniques.  This training will also prove difficult if you are used to micromanaging your current projects. Of course...this is my musing. There may be individuals who have a different opinion.

So once it was decided that I would be doing the SCRUM training and had the finances to pay for the training course, the next action was to find a suitable training group. While I browsed through various provider sites, I was attracted to a link which was of the scrum alliance group. The link was http://www.scrumalliance.org/. Over there, I clicked on the training link which took me to another link where I registered for training. The page throws up details related to the available training schedule and the training details. The Mumbai session was being conducted by Knowledge Hut. The link to their site is www.knowledgehut.com. You can get more details about this provider while on their website. Once all the formalities were completed, I got the confirmation mail from Knowledge Hut on the venue, road map and the timings of the training session. The training would cost around 30,000 rupees. It includes your examination fee. From what I understand, you get 2 years of membership to the scrum alliance group after the training is completed. An examination link is forwarded to you within a week. You have to give your test within 90 days of receiving the link. I received this link after 2 weeks and have attempted my evaluation. I have been given access to the Scrum alliance website and hence can read through material that's available at the site. From what I have been reading, major government agencies and companies around the world recognize these certifications and several top class companies demand their employees to be PMPs and CSMs.

The training gives you step by step details on how to implement the SCRUM framework. Scrum is not an acronym. First used to describe hyper-productive development in 1987 by Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, Scrum refers to the mechanism used in rugby for getting an out-of-play ball back into play. Scrum empowers teams and thrives on change. A set of rules and corresponding terminology are used to reinforce such common sense techniques as small teams, daily status meetings, not interrupting people who are working and a single source of work prioritization. Scrum’s two pillars are team empowerment and adaptability. Once Scrum is underway, teams and management find it easy to focus.

I reached the training venue, well ahead of time. Traffic can get really bad during peak hours and I hate to get late for training classes. Once at the training venue, I got introduced to my trainer. He is a Dutch guy but based out of the United States. Hubert Smits is an innovative, assertive and goal oriented Agile Consultant, Coach and Trainer with a track record of success spearheading Enterprise level Agile and Lean enablement efforts. As the lead consultant at Cisco Voice Technology, he designed and implemented the Agile Software Development Life Cycle, replacing multi-year waterfall processes with iterative product development cycles. He has a track record of working with globally distributed teams, and has contracted and coached teams in India, Argentina, Israel and Europe. All that’s mentioned above is his official introduction. From a personal perspective, I found Hubert very open to queries and extremely approachable. He came across as someone who was open to hearing different viewpoints. He never imposed his ideas on anyone in class. I thoroughly enjoyed his sessions. Of course, there were instances where I did feel sleepy. But that wasn’t because of the instructor. Listening to someone continuously and focusing on perspectives for 9 hours can get a bit tiring. The participants in the class were mostly from the application sector and seemed to be in hardcore software development roles. I felt a bit out of place. But that’s fine. It’s always good to interact with people from diverse backgrounds. I was very impressed with their vast experience and expertise in the software sector. There were few of us who were PMP certified. I don’t know about them but I was getting a bit confused about the different terms in SCRUM that sounded different from the PMI terminology. Like I stated prior, it’s good to forget about your PMP training while in a CSM class. It helps!!!



Hubert Smits

While in class, there was a lot of discussion around the Agile versus Waterfall approach. Almost all the development projects follow a somewhat changed methodology of waterfall which means that the projects are broken into discrete phases and after completing a phase, there is no chance to go back. Usually, companies make changes in their system to satisfy their customers and in this process; they compromise on their own employees and profits. In case a glitch should result, changing the software is not only a practical impossibility, but means one has to go right back to the beginning and start developing new code, all over again.  That’s Waterfall for you!

Agile methodologies are used for driving agile project which make them more convincing and profitable, not only for the companies but also for the customers. When it comes to waterfall vs. scrum, agile methodologies move a development team into the line with the business goals and closer to the organization.  It is a low over-head method that emphasizes values and principles rather than processes.  Working in cycles i.e. a week, a month, etc., project priorities are re-evaluated and at the end of each cycle. In conclusion, though on the plus side, waterfall’s defined stages allow for thorough planning, especially for logical design, implementation and deployment, Agile methodology is a sound choice for software development and web design projects.  More and more firms are becoming Agile. If you are focusing on driving massive community online and incredibly seamless and quick user adoption, then you have to think differently and this can efficiently be done with agile methodologies.

 

I wonder if the development team can use both these methods in conjunction with each other. But that’s not a decision that can be taken by a single individual. This was the opinion that I heard from most of the participants in class. When I was asked by a participant on whether I’d be able to use SCRUM at my place of work, I had to smile. We are an organization where the orders come from the ‘top’. Project Managers are usually the scapegoats who take the flak for the entire project’s failure. We normally do not get any kudos when a project succeeds. It’s expected as it’s our job! LOL! Teamwork is not something that is a norm for all individuals at our workplace. We are a functional organization with a hierarchical structure. So whether Scrum can be utilized in ITO core projects is a big question mark for now. The culture of an organization cannot change in a single day. So...hoping for Scrum to visit us soon...:)

Until my next training session.... :)

When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge. Confucius