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ASPE Welcomes Six New Certified Scrum Trainers

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

Certified Scrum Trainer’s are few and far between. As an ambassador of Scrum, CST’s must show a strong understanding of the Scrum framework, have experience of implementing and coaching others on Scrum, and be open to continuous learning. The certification process involves an extensive application, training process and strict peer review all to ensure only the very best become a CST.

It is ASPE’s pleasure to welcome a fresh batch of Certified Scrum Trainers to our instructor lineup.

Lonnie Weaver-Johnson, CSM, CST
Lonnie began working with Scrum in 2006 and has been traveling the country, she even went to India and Canada, sharing her knowledge of Scrum ever since. Helping teams learn and grow together until they reach a high performing stage is Lonnie’s passion. She embraces a candid and patient coaching style that helps her students easily understand how to make the necessary behavioral changes to make Scrum work on their own teams. View Lonnie’s full bio.

Bob Schatz, CST
Bob began his practice of Scrum as a result of leading the first large agile transition at Primavera. He specializes in training, consulting and coaching in the practice of successfully using agile project management techniques to transform their organizations and improve the performance of their software development projects. Bob has experience managing large-scale projects for the Department of Defense and is a well-known figure in the Scrum world. View Bob’s full bio.

Greg Smith, CSM, CSPO, CSP, CST
Greg has 15 years of experience in building, managing, and leading high performance, diverse teams into a bright focus. He has led Agile and Scrum adoption efforts at organizations ranging in size from 40 collocated participants to 250 participants spanning 4 countries and 3 continents. Greg brings his experience of training top Wall Street banking firms, healthcare IT industries, international e-commerce businesses and more to his training courses. View Greg’s full bio.

Chet Hendrickson, CST
Chet is the co-author of Extreme Programming Installed, a revolutionary software development book. He has over 11 years of training experience and over 25 years of working experience. Many of the courses that Chet teaches are programs that he helped write and develop. View Chet’s full bio.

Mark Layton, CST
Mark is an organizational strategist and PMI certification instructor with over 20 years in the project/program management field. He is the Los Angeles chair for the Agile Project Leadership Network and is the founder of Platinum Edge, Inc.—an organizational improvement company that supports businesses making the Waterfall-to-Agile transition. View Mark’s full bio.

Angela Johnson, PMP, ACP, CST
Angela has 16+ years of experience in Information Technology and software development working with teams of all sizes for clients located all over the globe in industries that range from manufacturing, retail and healthcare to banking and financial services. She is passionate about working with teams and enjoys enabling formed groups with the tools that they need to become performing teams increasing quality and customer satisfaction in the process. View Angela’s full bio.

If you are interested in becoming a Certified Scrum Master be sure to check out our Certified ScrumMaster Workshop.

Scrum Alliance’s Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) Exam Now Pass/Fail

Friday, July 20th, 2012

Attention aspiring ScrumMasters: As of September 1, 2012 the Scrum Alliance’s CSM post-course exam will transition from a pass-only to a pass/fail system. This change comes after a 3-year testing period where the Scrum Alliance was able to fine-tune questions and determine an appropriate passing score. They determined a passing score to equal twenty-four or more correct answers out of thirty-five.

The new pass/fail system will ensure that students, after having completed a certified Scrum training course, have a proper level of understanding and Scrum knowledge. Students who pass the exam will be awarded with a Certified ScrumMaster title. They will also receive a list of all their missed questions and a list of possible answers with the correct answer indicated. Click to continue »

FAQ: What is required to receive the Certified Scrum Master (CSM) designation and what upcoming changes are there to the process?

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

by: Tom McGraw, CSM – ASPE Training Advisor, Team Lead

The Scrum Alliance is a non-profit organization that governs the requirements for many of the industry-recognized Agile certifications.  The Scrum Alliance endorses a specific Agile process, Scrum, and certifies participants who meet certification requirements.  Currently, the most prominent Agile certification in the industry is the Scrum Alliance’s Certified Scrum Master (CSM) designation.

In order to receive the CSM designation, prospective designees must attend a Scrum Alliance approved certification course for the designation.  Currently, there are 129 Certified Scrum Trainers (CST)s in the world (of which 5% are ASPE instructors) who have the ability to certify students attending their workshops with either the Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) designations. Click to continue »

ASPE Instructors Make up 5% of the World’s Certified Scrum Trainers

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Certified Scrum Trainers (CSTs) play a central role within the Scrum Alliance. CSTs are certified to teach Certified Scrum Master courses and Certified Scrum Product Owner courses. In order to become a Certified Scrum Trainer, individuals must have a solid understanding of the Scrum framework, principles and values.  They must have extensive experience implementing and coaching Scrum inside organizations but have training experience beyond Scrum as well.  They must also be active within the Scrum community. For a brief outline of the CST approval process, visit http://www.scrumalliance.org/pages/certified_scrum_trainer. Click to continue »

Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) – Taking Scrum Certification to the Next Level

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Have you ever stopped to think what makes the PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP) certification so valuable? Besides the fact that the two-hundred question exam is so challenging, it’s that you need a minimum of three years industry experience to even apply to sit for the exam. Employers know that if you have your PMP then you have a good grasp of project management fundamentals and some relevant experience in the field.

With so many companies implementing Scrum today, how do you go about demonstrating your knowledge and experience with it? The answer is the Scrum Alliance’s Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) designation. The Scrum Alliance website states, “Potential employers can be assured that when someone is a CSP they have taken the initiative to go beyond a foundation-level understanding to achieve a depth of knowledge and experience in the Scrum process.

How do you become a CSP? Here is a roadmap to guide you along your journey.

  • Take a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) course; each course is two days in duration (Note: If you take a CSM course then you will need to take the CSM assessment before becoming a CSM)
  • Gain a year of experience with Scrum (Note: the clock starts ticking when you start practicing Scrum, not when you take a CSM or CSPO course)
  • Complete the application (available on the Scrum Alliance website  http://www.scrumalliance.org/pages/certified_scrum_professional)
  • Submit your application by signing and e-mailing it to the Scrum Alliance (practicingcertification@scrumalliance.org)
  • Your application will be reviewed by the Scrum Alliance (typically a Certified Scrum Coach (CSC) or a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) will review your application)
  • A Scrum Alliance representative may contact you to ask you clarifying questions your application
  • You will then be notified if your application passes or not
  • If you pass the application review process then you will be eligible to submit the $250 certification fee and become a CSP

As you can see this certification takes a bit more work than the CSM or CSPO designations, therefore it is more valuable to yourself and to employers. This message is making its way through the industry and in the future you can expect to see more weight being given to CSP and less to CSM and CSPO.  If you are serious about Scrum and want to show employers and the world that you have experience, then the Scrum Alliance’s CSP is for you. Visit http://www.scrumalliance.org/pages/certified_scrum_professional to download and application and apply today!

By: Brian M. Rabon, an ASPE-SDLC instructor who is a CSM, CSP, MSEE and PMP. Brian is also the president of The Briantrust Consulting Group. You can read his blog, find him on Facebook, and connect with him on Linkedin or Twitter.  Brian is a regular contributor to the ASPE-SDLC Blog and a thought leader in the fields of Agile and Traditional Project Management as it applies to Software Development.

Amsterdam Scrum Gathering, a Recap

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

Recap contributed by Brian Rabon

I had the pleasure of attending the Scrum Gathering on November 22 – 24 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands; here is a recap of what happened.

I always enjoy taking time out of my busy schedule to network and connect with colleagues from around the world. The three-day Amsterdam Scrum Gathering brought some of the worlds brightest agile minds together to discuss the latest developments in the world of Scrum. Day one was opened with Gerry Kirk, one of the conference organizers, and then a series of eight full-day deep dives followed. The toughest decision of the conference was choosing which deep dive to attend. The morning of day two was filled with traditional breakout sessions and the afternoon featured six twenty minute bare talks and nine five minute lightning talks. The third and final day of the conference was an all day Open Space session with the theme of Scrum dysfunctions. Here is a brief rundown of what happen each day. Click to continue »

How To Be A Great ScrumMaster: Questions Answered

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

We wanted to try something new. Here is a recording of a very popular web seminar we just hosted with esteemed ASPE instructor Bill Gaiennie. You can view the recording of “How To Be A Great ScrumMaster”

(Choose to View Event Recordings from the upper right-hand menu. Due to the length of the seminar, we strongly recommend that you allow the file to buffer before beginning the playback).

Below are the questions from participants after the Web Seminar. If you have any further questions or feedback for Bill feel free to leave a comment.

Q&A From The How to Be a Great ScrumMaster Web Seminar

Presented by Bill Gaiennie

Q: What is the ScrumMasters role in the initial sprint planning?

A:  The ScrumMaster’s (SM) role in the initial sprint planning is to facilitate the session.  That means that the SM is responsible for ensuring that the team has access to the people and information that they will need to detail the work it will take to complete the delivery of the stories loaded for that iteration.  Additionally, the SM is responsible for ensuring that the team is able to commit for the work of the iteration.  It’s the commitment that enables the team to ensure the right amount of information they require to authentically commit as well as care enough about their commitment to discuss it thoroughly during their retrospective should they miss.

Click to continue »