5 ms·

What are the requirements for becoming a Certified Scrum Master? Do you think someone can professionally employ Scrum without having a background in software en

What are the requirements for becoming a Certified Scrum Master? Do you think someone can professionally employ Scrum without having a background in software engineering without contributing to the problems I mentioned before? If Scrum isn't the problem, it's clearly not the solution either.

heisenbit 10y ago
People without any talent for management in management are the problem. Scrum certification is just one entry vector here. A Scrum specific problem is that it also attracts people who would otherwise not be attracted to management positions which adds to the load and a particular flavor of dysfunction. Yeah, I know Scrum Masters are not project managers but let's not go down that rabbit hole.
nradov 10y ago
Are you asking a rhetorical question? There are a variety of different organizations which certify Scrum Masters and they each have their own certification standards. But there are also many people working as Scrum Masters today who have no certification. No one ever claimed that Scrum is the solution but it does bring together a number of practices that have been found to usually work well for team software development. Some additional structure is usually needed for larger programs which go beyond what a single agile team can deliver. Scrum by itself has no real impact on release cycle times or quality. Find another whipping boy.
- partycoder 10y ago
  Certifying is a form of endorsement. Then, let me paste a claim from "Scrum Alliance", one of the top institutions granting these McCertifications: "A Certified ScrumMaster® helps project teams properly use Scrum, increasing the likelihood of the project's overall success. CSMs understand Scrum values, practices, and applications and provide a level of knowledge and expertise above and beyond that of typical project managers." How are you supposed to be "above and beyond" a project manager if the certification itself: - Has no training requirement - Has no experience requirement - Requires 16 hours, a ~30 question test over the Internet with a 66% passing score. As a result, you have someone who is supposedly capable of balancing a software engineering team requirements with stakeholders... after sixteen hours... Scrum has nice values but in practice, it is a get rich quick ponzi scheme. It is a telephone game that after person #100 is completely distorted from its original meaning.
  - nradov 10y ago
    Scrum Alliance is a private organization and no one is required to give any particular weight to their endorsements. I haven't attended their CSM training myself but those who have say that it's useful for working on real development teams. All else being equal, a Scrum Master who has been through that training will usually do a better job than one who hasn't. As for balancing software engineering team requirements with stakeholders, you appear to have a complete misunderstanding of the Scrum methodology and the role of a Scrum Master. If you're going to argue against a straw man and get angry about a nonexistent problem then we can't help you.
    - partycoder 10y ago
      I've worked multiple times with certified scrum professionals who had no background in computer science or software, and no relevant experience either, and it was awful. Really hard to talk about tasks and requirements with someone who doesn't understand.

heisenbit 10y ago

People without any talent for management in management are the problem. Scrum certification is just one entry vector here. A Scrum specific problem is that it also attracts people who would otherwise not be attracted to management positions which adds to the load and a particular flavor of dysfunction. Yeah, I know Scrum Masters are not project managers but let's not go down that rabbit hole.

nradov 10y ago

Are you asking a rhetorical question? There are a variety of different organizations which certify Scrum Masters and they each have their own certification standards. But there are also many people working as Scrum Masters today who have no certification. No one ever claimed that Scrum is the solution but it does bring together a number of practices that have been found to usually work well for team software development. Some additional structure is usually needed for larger programs which go beyond what a single agile team can deliver. Scrum by itself has no real impact on release cycle times or quality. Find another whipping boy.

partycoder 10y ago
Certifying is a form of endorsement. Then, let me paste a claim from "Scrum Alliance", one of the top institutions granting these McCertifications: "A Certified ScrumMaster® helps project teams properly use Scrum, increasing the likelihood of the project's overall success. CSMs understand Scrum values, practices, and applications and provide a level of knowledge and expertise above and beyond that of typical project managers." How are you supposed to be "above and beyond" a project manager if the certification itself: - Has no training requirement - Has no experience requirement - Requires 16 hours, a ~30 question test over the Internet with a 66% passing score. As a result, you have someone who is supposedly capable of balancing a software engineering team requirements with stakeholders... after sixteen hours... Scrum has nice values but in practice, it is a get rich quick ponzi scheme. It is a telephone game that after person #100 is completely distorted from its original meaning.
- nradov 10y ago
  Scrum Alliance is a private organization and no one is required to give any particular weight to their endorsements. I haven't attended their CSM training myself but those who have say that it's useful for working on real development teams. All else being equal, a Scrum Master who has been through that training will usually do a better job than one who hasn't. As for balancing software engineering team requirements with stakeholders, you appear to have a complete misunderstanding of the Scrum methodology and the role of a Scrum Master. If you're going to argue against a straw man and get angry about a nonexistent problem then we can't help you.
  - partycoder 10y ago
    I've worked multiple times with certified scrum professionals who had no background in computer science or software, and no relevant experience either, and it was awful. Really hard to talk about tasks and requirements with someone who doesn't understand.