Agile Coaching Skills - Certified Facilitator with Anu Smalley

In this episode, I am joined by Anu Smalley who is here to talk about the new Scrum Alliance certification: Agile Coaching Skills - Certified Facilitator (ACS-CF). During the interview Anu and I discuss who the certification is for, the skills you develop while earning the certification, and what to expect from someone who has this certification. 

Anu also offers a discount on her upcoming classes for anyone who is interested. 

You can find the podcast here.

2019 Retrospective - 10 Years as PMPs Working in Agile with Jesse Fewell

It has been ten years since Jesse Fewell and I became Certified Scrum Trainers. During that time a lot has changed in the space occupied by PMPs who work in Agile. To close out 2019, Jesse and I did a retrospective on how things have changed, how the work we do has changed, and what kinds of things PMPs who are interested in Agile need to prepare for as we head into 2020 and beyond.

You can find the interview here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Jason Tanner - Becoming a Certified Scrum Trainer

I've posted a new episode of the Reluctant Agilist on Project Manqgement.com that features Jason Tanner, CEO of Applied Frameworks and Certified Scrum Trainer. The interview focuses on the process Jason uses to help Certified Scrum Trainer candidates work towards their certification. If you aren't familiar with the process of becoming a CST, it is not an easy path. For many people, it takes 3-5 years from the time they start working on it, until they reach their goal.

You can find the podcast, contact info and more at:

https://bit.ly/2TSrPuR

Becoming a Certified Scrum Trainer w/ Anderson Hummel

Last fall Anderson Diniz Hummel became a Certified Scrum Trainer. This means that he has been approved by the Scrum Alliance to teach Certified Scrum Master and Certified Scrum Product Owner classes. The journey to becoming a CST is never easy and never as quick as anyone would like and for Anderson, it was over three years from the time he first started working on it. (And this is after already having taught at the University level for a number of years.)

During the recent holidays Anderson and I had a conversation about what his journey to CST was like. We recorded this in hopes of helping offer some encouragement, advice and support for others who are headed down the path.



To help provide some background about the CST designation, according to the Scrum Alliance’s 2018 State of Scrum Report, there are over 500,000 certified practitioners of Scrum worldwide. Within that community, only 234 people are certified by the Scrum Alliance as being allowed to teach Certified Scrum Master and Certified Scrum Product Owner classes. So, it is a rare certification to have and many people who begin heading down the path do not have a great understanding of what to expect. Hopefully this interview will help with that.

SHOW NOTES

• 00:09 Podcast Begins - What’s up with Anderson
• 01:56 Anderson’s background as a teacher and how that led to him applying for Certified Scrum Trainer
• 03:10 How is teaching Certified Scrum classes different than teaching at the University level
• 04:39 Anderson’s 3 year journey to become a Certified Scrum Trainer
• 10:17 Being a CST is a lot more than just teaching Scrum correctly
• 11:36 How Anderson went from failing art exams in school to excelling at creating art in his classes
• 15:45 How big a role does experience working on Scrum teams play into teaching CSM and CSPO classes
• 19:25 Anderson’s advice for coaches who want to become Certified Scrum Trainers
• 25:20 Understanding how teaching all day impacts you as a human and planning recovery time
• 27:32 A word of caution for new CSTs who try to book too many back to back classes
• 29:32 Parting words of encouragement and advice for CST candidates
• 32:25 Getting in touch with Anderson
• 32:27 Interview Ends

ANDERSON's ARTWORK

CST CERTIFICATION

https://www.scrumalliance.org/certifications/trainers/cst-certification

CONTACTING ANDERSON

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/andersonhummel/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anderson_hummel

Tips to Prepare for TAC Panel Interview

The 2017 Scrum Gathering in Dublin is almost upon us and that means that a number of folks, who are working towards becoming Certified Scrum Trainers (CST) will be going through TAC Panels while they are in Ireland.

If you aren't familiar with it, a TAC Panel is one of the final steps to becoming a CST. A candidate will meet with a panel of members of the Scrum Aliance's Trainer Approval Committee and SA Staff. They will have an interview and then teach,  as they would in class.  For many, this panel is very challenging. Many candidates have to go through the panel multiple times before they get the certification.

So, in order to try and help with that, Anu Smalley and I put together a short video offering some tips for those who are getting ready for a TAC.