Are you considering getting formally trained or certified in agile methodologies or scrum? Are you looking to become a certified scrum master, or maybe get trained in an agile framework such as SAFe or LeSS, or specialize in agile transformation with classes like StarCIO Agile Planning?
I receive inquiries from friends, colleagues, and leaders on agile and scrum training and certifications regularly. Some come from companies looking to train departments on agile, and others are individuals who want to invest in their expertise and careers.
Now, there are many agile and scrum related books, podcasts, videos, courses, workshops, conferences, mentors, and coaches. Just researching this article, and I've found hundreds of options. And it can be daunting to search, review, and sift through.
My first response when it comes to anything agile is that agile is not a one-size-fits-all for organizations, teams, or individuals. You have to understand yourself and your goals, interests, and strengths before searching for options.
You also have to consider the time budget you can dedicate, access to experts, and your willingness to invest in your career.
So allow me to break this down for you with the following recommendations and decision factors you should consider when seeking agile and scrum training or certifications.
1. Your Targeted Agile Role: Stakeholder, Teammate, Team leader, Organizational Leader
Agile for Newbies
Agile for Team and Organizational Leaders
2. Your Experience with Agile and Scrum
What worked in your past may not work for your next assignment, role, and organization. Many factors go into enabling agile practices, cultures, and mindsets, and so leaders must adjust their approach depending on circumstances.
As I say many times in my workshops and courses, agile isn't a rigid process, and following regimented agile frameworks often fail. Agile is a toolbox of practices that must be adjusted based on organizational culture, standards, compliance factors, innovation charters, people skills, technology platforms, among other factors.
So if you have a narrow or limited agile lens, that's ok! My advice is to explore. Find books and courses that enable you to learn a lot in different areas without too much investment in time and cost. Then, only go after courses/certifications once you know what areas you want to go deep into.
Some starting points. And seriously, these are starting points. There's a Google body of knowledge out there on agile.
- Agile Frameworks: A comprehensive list of agile frameworks
- Agile Planning: Continuous planning and roadmaps or SAFe PI Planning
- Agile Requirements: Agile Requirements Core Practices, Agile Requirements Engineering: A systematic literature review (paid), Agile requirements, what's really needed
- Agile Roles: Scrum roles demystified, Scrum Roles Versus Job Titles, and also see my posts on the modernized scrum master role, my top posts for product owners, and the role of tech leads in agile.
- Agile Tools: This may need a post on its own as this depends on whether you are seeking agile project management tools, or tools used by agile development teams, or tools for agile product and portfolio management.
- Agile Governance, PMO, and Cultures: Agile Governance, Agile PMO, or an Agile Management Office? Personally, I am more interested in agile cultures and agile mindsets.
- Agile Transformation: Enterprise agile transformation and agile organizations
3. What's Your Learning Style
Whatever format works for you - make a commitment to start, learn regularly, and apply what you know. I see all too often people embark on a learning journey and never complete it.
4. Where are you Applying Agile
Let's consider the following questions on the scope of agile you work on today and what you are interested in pursuing in the future.
- Types of initiatives - Are you applying agile in software development, or are you looking to use it more broadly in agile data science or agile IT operations? Are you working on customer-facing initiatives, back office, middleware, workflow, or integrations?
- Department focus - Or maybe you're looking to apply agile methodologies in marketing, sales, finance, operations, or HR. As I said in a recent video, Agile is Everywhere.
- Organization - Are your teams collocated, or are you distributed globally? Do you work for a company, or want to, that prizes innovation, speed, and self-organizing teams, or one that is more conservative, structured, and hierarchical?
- Company size - Large enterprises are more likely to have agile in areas of innovation or are investing in a framework that helps scale or standardize their agile practices. Smaller organizations are less likely to have invested in a framework and more likely to want to develop their own agile cultures and mindsets based on their leaders' best practices.
- Platforms - Are you applying agile only for innovation, or are you using agile in support or to manage legacy systems?
- Compliance - Are you applying agile in regulated industries where agile practices might go through SOC audits or have compliance factors in how agile teams operate?
5. How does an Investment in Agile Training Benefit Your Career?
- Consider inexpensive books, websites, podcasts, videos, and guide: If you are a self-learner and agile methodologies are a small part of the knowledge and expertise required for your job. If historically, you have developed enough confidence in your expertise without a grade or a certificate. If the courses you want are expensive, you can't afford them, and your employer isn't funding the learning. If you are more likely to seek work in industries or companies where having certifications isn't going to make you more employable.
- Seek specialty classes: Be prepared to invest in the low thousands of dollars when you are trying to become an expert in your role. If you're trying to become an expert at transformation or culture change, it might require a mix of classes, self-learning, and mentorships. Your knowledge and confidence in applying the subject matter are likely to be more important than the brand on the certificate.
- Seek branded certifications: If you are more likely to work in larger, more conservative companies where branded certifications are sought or might make you more employable. These courses can run from $1-2K to become certified in a framework to $5K+ if you seek classes by renowned universities.
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