Tuesday, 23 September 2014

What are the benefits of Scrum Certification or Scrum training?

Although there are many certifications such as ITIL, PRINCE2, which are implemented in organizations for achievement of goals through a project, Scrum training or Scrum certification can be described as one of the many courses where employees are groomed to become self-motivated and become keen to accept greater responsibility.
There is a famous proverb, “If you are comfortable with yourself, you will definitely be comfortable with others.” It also means the importance of self-confidence which points to becoming a self-organized individual in one’s life. Scrum certification emphasizes on the importance of self-organization which ultimately results in the following:
  •  Team participation and a feeling of self-ownership in members
  •  Employees are self-motivated which can lead to improved performance in a team
  •  New environment that is preferable for growth
A self-organized team does not convey the message that any team member can act in his/her own way as per their wishes. It strongly means that as soon as the definition of Product Vision is created in the Create Project Vision process, the concerned team members, the Product Owner, Scrum Master and the members of the Scrum team become noted and identified individuals. It has to kept in mind that the core team of Scrum also works very closely with important stakeholders for making changes and better improvements as they all pass through the Develop Epics and Create User Stories process. Every team member’s expertise is put to the test while assessing the inputs that are needed to execute the planned work of the project. The judgment aspects of all the team members are applied to every technical and management of the project during the phase of Create Deliverables process.
A Product Owner’s task as per the content of Scrum certification is to prioritize as he/she represents the Voice of Customer. The tasks of the self-organized Scrum team are to involve in break-down of tasks and estimation during the Create tasks and Estimate Tasks processes. Every team member should be aware of the work they are doing or handling as they are responsible for the tasks getting completed. One of the greatest advantages of Scrum certification or Scrum training is that in the execution of Sprint, if any of the team members require help for finishing the assigned tasks, it is addressed through the regular interaction that is mandatory during the Daily Standup Meetings. The members of the Scrum Team regularly interact with other teams via the Scrum of Scrums (SoS) Meetings and they can look for additional guidance when needed from the Scrum Guidance Body.
Since meetings are held regularly with customers and stakeholders, every sprint will bear the required changes and improvements needed and at last, the Scrum Teams would have designed the product or service as accepted by the clients.

To know more click on: http://www.scrumstudy.com/blog/what-are-the-benefits-of-scrum-certification-or-scrum-training/

Thursday, 4 September 2014

Sprint Retrospective

Sprint Retrospective is a meeting convened by the Scrum Master in which the team talks about the previous sprint and decided on how to make the next sprint productive. This meeting differs from a Sprint Review meeting. In Sprint review meeting the team looks into what the team is currently working on whereas the Retrospective meeting talks about how they are working.
The team discusses on processes , communication, environment, artefacts and tools, practices.
Scrum is a framework that needs to be adjusted appropriately for a project, team and circumstance. The Sprint Retrospective meeting is a valuable instrument that allows a team to constantly develop and progress throughout the project.
In Scrum it is very key for all team members including the Product owner and Scrum Master to get an opportunity to voice their opinion in an truthful atmosphere. In some cases it may be beneficial to get an external enabler to attain the maximum advantage from retrospective. Also in cases where emotional conflicts are present in the team an impartial facilitator could be of help.
The duration of this meeting is usually time boxed to 3 hours and The participants of the meeting would be team members, product owner and scrum Master. However the attendance of the product owner is uncomplelled.
The meeting concentrates and getting anbswers on the below questions:
The positives during the sprint
How to improve the next Sprint
Irrespective of who joins the meeting , the atmosphere for Sprint Retrospectives must be harmless for participants. This infers that participants are required to be truthful and must be honest and apparent while considering others with respect. Issues performance and improvement can flare up in retrospectives. This can be handles by having a professional facilitator in the meeting.
Sprint Retrospectives are basically a method used to divulge the practices and activities of the Team to itself. It is considered that when a self organising team is self aware , it provides opportunities to correct one-self and improve. When a self-organizing system becomes self-aware, it self-corrects and deliberately improves when given the tools to do so.
However an ineffectively run Sprint Retrospective can do more harm than good to the team. It unnecessarily consumes the time of the team and can also be destructive to the team. Hence as stated earlier a professional facilitator is recommended to conduct the meeting at least when the team is newly following Scrum.

When Sprint Retrospectives work well, the team becomes more focused and  productive. Excellent teams do not simply appear. They evolve over time  and Sprint Retrospectives are a key ingredient in  for this.

To know more about it kindly visit :http://www.scrumstudy.com/blog/sprint-retrospective/