CSM and CSPO training

Taking classes is an opportunity for growth. I recently completed two trainings, CSM and CSPO and it has renewed my desire for grow and continued learning.

I've learned the intent behind the agile scrum approach to software development and have a desire to be a little more agile personally.

For the CSM training it was clear to me that the scrum master role is to be the change agent and the coach and facilitator for the team and the organization. In order to maximize this role they need to be a supportive influencer in my opinion. Also they need support and power from the organizations leadership to be effective in their efforts.

The CSM role is really a project management role too. This person is ensuring that the project is moving forward by guiding the scrum team(s) their are assigned. They really don't need to have product or domain knowledge to be successful in this role because that is the job of the team.

I am qualified and equipped to fulfill the role of scrum master, but I don't have a desire for it. I like to understand details and have domain knowledge of the system I support which is the reason why I also took the CSPO course.

A product owner is the individual that ensures the team is working on the right stuff at the right time. This person is a liason between development teams and stakeholders like a business analyst but their role is much more than that.

They interact with stakeholders and users to define the vision for the product which they must communicate to the scrum team. So in a sense they are the voice of the stakeholders/users as it relates to the scrum team and vice versa.

The PO represent the scrum team to the stakeholder/users, communicating the value that team has provided via the product updates.

One can see that effective communication is needed for this role.

I also like to think that a PO is the person who provides clarity so that teams understand why the work is needed and the stakeholder/user understand why the work completed is valuable.

These are a few of my thoughts as I reflect on my recent trainings.

My next steps are to apply to PO positions, implement scrum personally and find ways to use what I've learned in my current role. This is the real challenge.