It is a known fact that the Agile Scrum framework is known to improve communication, teamwork, and speed. There are a number of Scrum Master certifications available for business professionals these days. One such certification is the Professional Scrum Master (PSM™ ) certification and is a type of certification not only for scrum masters but also for IT project managers who want an in-depth knowledge of scrum and its application. Let’s look at the details of the Professional Scrum Master (PSM™ ) certification.
What Is Scrum?
Scrum is best defined as the Agile way of managing a project usually related to software development. Scrum is often perceived as an Agile methodology but it’s much more than that—it’s a framework used to manage a process.
Scrum relies heavily on a cross-functional and self-organizing team. It’s self-organizing in the sense that there is no leader to assign tasks to different members of the team or to decide how to solve a problem. All such decisions are needed to taken by the whole team. The team is cross-functional and so everyone has a role to play right from design to implementation.
Under Agile, Scrum teams are supported by two roles—a Scrum master who is thought to be the manager or coach to the team and helps the team members with the Scrum process so that they can perform to their highest levels. The other is the Product Owner (PO) and represents customers, users, or businesses, and guides the team towards building the right product effectively.
So, if you earn a PSM™ certification, you’ll be a certified Scrum Master who’ll be empowered to manage teams in a way that ensures the highest productivity. Get to know more about CSM vs PSM.
The career path of a Scrum Master
In general, if you search jobs on job boards, you will get at least 150 to 200 open positions. However, if you seek more generic jobs like “Scrum Master”, the number reaches nearly 5,000. The Scrum-related job position titles include software engineer, Agile coach, IT project manager, consultant and web developer, as well as the ever-popular Scrum Master.
The Role Of A ScrumMaster
A Scrum Master is the team’s coach and helps team members perform to their maximum ability. He/She acts as a facilitator by managing the teams that are implementing the Agile methodology. Also, the Scrum Master makes sure that the teams are strictly sticking to the Agile and Scrum principles as the Scrum framework has resulted in the best framework for smaller teams of developers. The framework eases the development process by breaking their tasks into a Sprint.
The responsibilities of the Scrum Master includes-
- Sprint planning
- Scheduling the daily Scrum meeting
- Managing Scrum processes responsibly
- Helping the Scrum teams in strictly adhering to the Scrum practices
- Removing barriers to the team can focus on their work
- Assisting with the Product Backlog
- Co-operating with Product Owner in designing Product Backlog items for the next Sprint
- Protecting the team from external distractions
- Recording and assisting to improve team dynamics
If you think that a PMP certification can help to manage Scrum projects, then you’re mistaken as the role of a conventional project manager is different from a ScrumMaster. A Scrum Master does not need to assign tasks or offer day-to-day directions to the team members, unlike a project manager. Their job is to work as a guardian for the team and protect the members from external factors that may affect efficiency.
It is the best to dissect the differences between the Scrum Master and Project Manager in tabular form
The Benefits of getting PSM™ Certification
More and more organizations are adapting to Scrum and its ways and getting an in-depth knowledge of this matter will only help you manage Scrum projects better. By taking the PSM™ course, you’ll learn about the subject in detail and also learn how to apply your knowledge in real-time and manage projects the ScrumMaster way. Some of the other benefits you’ll get are:
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A New Way To Look At Projects
Scrum is based on Agile and in order to use it effectively in your projects, you need a proper Agile mindset. Training and certification will help you to align your mindset with the other members of your team ensuring better project management. There will be better cohesion, lesser disagreements, and more successful project implementation
Stay Marketable
It’ll also enhance your career opportunities as you’ll see better offers coming your way. It shows that you have in-depth knowledge of Agile and you’ll be an asset to any organization using Agile processes
