What is a Professional Scrum Trainer?
What is a Professional Scrum Trainer?
A Professional Scrum Trainer or PST is a professional trainer that teaches Scrum courses created by Scrum.Org. A certification body founded by Scrum cocreator Ken Schwaber to help people solve complex problems by learning how to implement and master Scrum, as intended by the authors.
Professional Scrum Practitioner
A Professional Scrum Trainer is someone who knowns Scrum theory inside out, but more importantly, has many years of experience as a Scrum practitioner, Scrum coach, and Scrum consultant.
Someone who has actively worked in Scrum environments, both as a part of the Scrum Team, and helped other Scrum teams consistently achieve and exceed their product development goals. Someone who knows how to overcome the challenges of Scrum and has earned their credentials as a Scrum expert.
Why I decided to become a Professional Scrum Trainer
There are three (3) reasons why I decided to become a Professional Scrum Trainer through Scrum.Org rather than a Certified Scrum Trainer (Scrum Alliance) or Scrum trainer via an independent body.
- Quality of curriculum and certification
- Encouraged by other Professional Scrum Trainers in the community.
- Actively helping others adopt and master Scrum.
Quality of Scrum.Org curriculum and certifications
I have done most of the Scrum training courses that are out there, and the Scrum.Org courses were way harder than the others. Same goes for the assessment that determines whether you receive the certification or not.
It was way harder than any of the other assessments. It really tests your knowledge and capabilities.
To me, that speaks to a quality bar that’s been set high and means that people who are being certified are well prepared for their role, whether that’s a Scrum master, a Product Owner, or an agile leader. It also means that my students get a better Scrum education than they would through a competitor.
Encouraged to become a Professional Scrum Trainer by other PSTs.
I was actively encouraged to become a Professional Scrum Trainer by other Professional Scrum Trainers in the Scrum.Org community. People who saw my experience, my skillset, and commitment to mastering Scrum wanted me to bring all that experience into the classroom to help others grow in their Scrum career.
Speaking of quality standards, I was actually rejected the first time I applied to become a Professional Scrum Trainer because the organization didn’t feel that I had enough skill, knowledge, and competence to be regarded as a Professional Scrum Trainer.
I didn’t feel discouraged at all, if anything it made me respect the organization and credential that much more – and the rejection served as motivation for me to increase my knowledge, skills, and competence so that I could meet the high standards they require for a PST.
You need to have war stories, you need to have actively worked in the Scrum trenches, and you need to have helped teams overcome significant challenges and achieve significant outcomes for the board at Scrum.Org to be satisfied that you have enough experience and skill to become a PST.
You can’t tell a client that the Scrum Guide says X, and so they need to do it that way, you need to be able to speak from experience and provide insight and examples of why things need to work that way.
Helping others implement and succeed with Scrum.
The Scrum Guide is a finite document. This is Scrum, according to the authors and cocreators of Scrum.
That said, it is a spectrum.
There are newbie Scrum teams who are moving through quicksand, and there are deeply experienced, skilled, and competent Scrum teams who excel in product development and complex problem solving.
You are somewhere on that spectrum and my job is to help you move closer toward your goal.
As a Professional Scrum Trainer, I play an active role in helping people understand Scrum and apply the values, principles, and processes in a way that helps them progress in their career and capability journey.
I wanted to help people traverse that spectrum of Scrum proficiency to the point where they evolved onto something even better suited to their environment, unique application, and strategic objectives.
The Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) role enables me to do exactly that.
It provides me with a platform where I can help you identify the next best step in your journey, and then the next best step after that. I support people throughout their entire journey.
Yes, there is the classroom element, but I also have a lot of people connecting with me long after they have graduated from the course. People who need advice, support, encouragement, or just to help them figure out what the next step should be.
I am always there. I always answer questions. I am still answering questions for students who attended my course(s) years ago.
I am also an active Scrum practitioner, agile coach, and agile consultant so I also get to work with people that I have trained in the field. I get to coach, consult, and mentor people in real-world Scrum applications and help them progress to the next level of capability.
So, being a Professional Scrum Trainer is a very rewarding and fulfilling role, it also combines well with my role as a Scrum practitioner, agile coach, and agile consultant. Each reinforces the other.
If you’re looking for a Professional Scrum Trainer to lead you through your next evolution in Scrum, I would love to be your PST. Visit https://pragmaticshift.com/training/ for a list of the course I lead, and choose a live-virtual course or an in-person course that matches your goal.
About Pragmatic Shift
Pragmatic Shift is a Scrum Training, Agile Consulting, and Agile Coaching consultancy that specializes in delivering Scrum.Org certified Scrum courses, and helping organizations increase their business agility and product development success through agile consulting and coaching.
We firmly believe that a shift to agile is a pragmatic shift.
A natural evolution from traditional project management and product management. A proven, reliable, and resilient framework for addressing compelling problems and developing complex solutions.
Over a decade’s worth of experience as an agile practitioner, agile consultant, agile coach, and Scrum trainer informs our pragmatic approach to change. Agile dogma has no value in the context of product development or organizational change.
Instead, we look to start where you are, work with what you have, and make meaningful interventions that align with the objectives you are trying to achieve.
Progress over perfection.
If this sounds like a pragmatic solution to you, visit the following pages for more information.
Scrum Training: https://pragmaticshift.com/training/
Agile Consulting: Coming Soon!
Agile Coaching: Coming Soon!
#Scrum #Scrumtraining #agileScrumtraining #Scrumorg #Scrumcourses #Scrumcertification #agile #agilecoach #agileconsultant #agilecoaching #agileconsulting #agiletransformation #agileadoption #Scrumcoach #Scrumworkshop #Scrumskills #Scrumtips #Scrummaster #productowner #agileleader #Scrumdeveloper #developer #projectmanagement #agileprojectmanagement #productdevelopment #agileproductdevelopment