When you see the word "Scrum Master", your mind should automatically think about "Quick and Efficiency". That is what Scrum does. Before diving into the benefits of obtaining a Scrum Master certification, let's look at what is Scrum first. Scrum is a structural planning for project management that gives importance to teamwork, responsibility, and iterative development toward a certain goal. The objective of scrum structural planning is simple, start a project with the knowledge in hand, track the progress and modify as needed. Scrum is often paired with Agile Software Development. The name Scrum was adapted from a rugby formation in which everyone plays a role. There are 3 parties involved in a Scrum :
Product owner - Product owner is the one who understands the product and knows the features well. This person is the intermediary between the customer and the development team. Product owner are accountable for making sure the finished product are up to the expectations that were planned earlier. Scrum Master : The Scrum Master is referred to as the project facilitator. Scrum Master makes sure that the scrum's best practices are being used effectively. They are usually a good leader, can communicate well and oversees the twerks. They are the ones who usually have a Scrum Master Certification.
Development Team - The Scrum development team collaborates to design and test the final product's incremental releases. Agile and Scrum development practices are essential for developers. Now coming back to the benefits, Scrum Master certification will empower you to drive company change by enhancing your knowledge and expertise and is becoming more and more popular among Agile practitioners.
Let's take a look at 5 benefits of Scrum Master Certification.
1. Increase in Productivity.
An individual who is Scrum Master certified can bring a team's performances to a high level by getting rid of unwanted task, finding out and removing delays, focusing constantly on improvement and making sure the finished product meets every expectations. A Scrum Master training will help individuals achieve this.
2. A Higher Salary
Having a Professional Scrum Master certification can help individual to demand for a higher pay as they will stand out compared to others. According to a salary statistics by Salaryexpert, a Scrum Master certification allow you to earn an average of RM129,975 on a yearly basis.
3. Increased employment options.
This certification will also give an advantage compared to others when competing or attending an interview for a new position either within or outside current company. Headhunters will also take a close look on these people's resume and achievements as they posses a valuable certification. It shows professionalism and someone who is a verified Scrum Master.
4. Creating higher levels of employee engagement.
Another advantage possessing a Scrum Master certification is being able to assist the team to reach independency and mastery which provides motivation among the employee. Companies who are seriously practicing Scrum framework have various ways to burn out stress of employee and have a high employee satisfaction, which in turn results in more employee engagement.
5. Taking on Challenges
Scrum Masters constantly take up challenges of scrum and assis their team to do better and complete a project strongly. They have a deep understanding on Scrum knowledge and they are well verse to apply the knowledge in a real world situation. Scrum Masters are also able to adapt to the ever changing business or organizational environment and still lead a team to a successful project.
Benefits will remain benefits unless we take advantage. There are multiple training courses that can be taken to obtain an Agile Scrum certification namely:
PSM: Professional Scrum Master
The Professional Scrum Master (PSM) is an interactive, activity-based course where students gain a strong understanding of Professional Scrum and the role of the Scrum Master. The trainer will be running the course in a discussion and exercise method, providing students with a deeper understanding on Scrum Master. This is a 2 days course and upon completion, students will receive a Certificate Of Completion. Once you have completed this course, you can then choose to upskill yourself with the Professional Scrum Product Owner certification.
A Scrum Product Owner acts as an intermediary between the stakeholder and customer, maximizing the product developed by the Scrum team. Besides, A Scrum Product Owner is incharge of understanding what the clients need and pass the information to the development team, by collaborating with the Scrum Master. A Scrum Product Owner has a good relationship with the stakeholders. This allows the Scrum Product Owner to gather valuable feedback and improve the product from time to time.
PSPO: Professional Scrum Product Owner
The Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO) certification is an hands-on, activity-based course where students explore Professional Scrum and the role of the Product Owner. Through a combination of discussion and exercises, students develop an understanding of the pivotal role the Product Owner plays on the Scrum Team and learn skills and practices necessary to execute those responsibilities effectively. Once students has finished the course, they will be able to create a business model for the products, come up with an Agile plan, forecast a release date for the product and many more. This 2 days course comes with a certification of completion as well.
Based on the above 5 reasons, it is clear that having a Scrum Master certification will definitely help organizations and individuals to have efficient project management. A well-run project is essential in order to get the best outcome possible. A Scrum Product Owner certification is definitely useful for those who want to get involved in both stakeholders and overviewing the projects.
FAQ
What is Scrum?
Scrum is an Agile project management methodology. To produce results in brief cycles, the development team, product owner, and scrum master collaborate in "sprints." This enables quick development, testing, and iteration and is especially useful for complicated projects where scope changes are anticipated.
Whom should take Scrum Master Certification?
Professionals in the software development industry will definitely gain a lot from earning a Scrum Master certification. Besides them, project managers, scrum masters, software developers, product owners, software architects, team leads and QA managers will definitely find Scrum Master Certification very useful.
What are the other Scrum certification that I can take ?