A little update on the training side of things. Life has been busy with the day job but it has given me the chance to focus on my training skills which has been a massive bonus. I was tasked with creating an internal training course for the large bank that I work for. The remit was to cover the basics of Agile, Scrum, Kanban, The Product Owner and Scrum Master roles as well as tailored practical exercises that brought the context of the bank to life. I also had to prepare the participants for a certification. By the end of the month we will have put close to 150 people through our training and prepared them for the Scrum.org PSM / PSPO exams and the feedback and results have been great. With the content covering all bases we have found that people are able to sit both PSM and PSPO exams and pass them so I have been very happy with that.
It felt really strange having to push our participants to Scrum.org (not Scrum Alliance) as there is a formal tie in between the bank I work for and Scrum.org. I can see why as the attraction of no renewal fees with Scrum.org is understandably high but I must admit I think the model that Scrum Alliance has is great as they make you work for renewal to keep your knowledge current unlike Scrum.org that sees people get their cert and drop off.
The final reason for the push to Scrum.org was that I am a Certified Scrum Alliance Trainer (CSAT) and not a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) – confused? Glad it isn’t just me! The limitations of what I can provide in terms of certifications is clear as CST’s are able to teach and certify the Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and Certified Scrum Product Owner courses (CSPO) but CSAT can’t as they focus on microcredentials only. It is a shame as there could have been close to 150 new participants in the SAI ecosystem but these constraints couldn’t be removed.
The plan is to progress to CST but a major stumbling block is the level of demand in Scotland for CSM, CSPO or even Microcredential courses. I will begin to promote the microcredential courses during the summer to see if there is demand while I work out how to progress to CST. The promotion of courses is also a minefield so bear with me while I work out Scrum Alliances’ rules on what I can and can’t do in terms of promotion. Every day is a school day!
In terms of CST progress I am told that the hard part is done, I think it is only producing the content to meet Scrum Alliance standards which I probably already have with the training that I have created. Watch this space.
I gained my CSAT last year to become the only licensed trainer in Scotland. I participated in a Trainer Assessment which was a tough practical exercise with a panel of Scrum Alliance expert trainers and passed. This meant that I was able to train out the latest Microcredentials. These Microcredentials are a new focus for Scrum Alliance and they are short, targeted training programs that are no longer than 4-8 hours so they can be done within a day either remotely or face to face with the added benefit of them being delivered by an experienced Coach and Trainer to bring them to life in your context.
From Intro to Agile and Scrum to Conflict Management skills via essential skills for new Coaches, there are a lot of great topics coming through from Scrum Alliance that I will be able to deliver. I will highlight these individually in the coming weeks but if you are in Scotland and would like some training for yourself or your teams, please reach out via the contact form.
(I actually wrote this post as a proactive test as I was pair programming with Claude.ai to sort a new training section on my wordpress. It is like magic, although I did write the article on my own, claude may have been a little more professional, hah!!)
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