So I'm a ScrumMaster, what next? Part 1
Last week I went on my second CSM course, "why?" I hear you ask and its a good question.
I got my Scrum Alliance CSM certification almost 3 years ago and have learnt a lot from my peers and the wider Scrum and Agile community but I felt that reacquainting myself with the core framework, getting to see a respected Certified Scrum Trainer Gabrielle Benefield apply her trade and meeting some people at the beginning of their journey to Scrum Mastery would be of benefit to me (plus Evolve Beyond have great snacks, more on this later).
The course was everything I hoped it would be and I was extremely grateful to Gabrielle to let me deliver a couple of the topics (Retrospectives and User Stories) but it got me thinking, what is the best advice I could give to aspiring Scrum practitioners, over the following posts I will pass on this advice, you comments and questions are needed so please don't hold back!
Number 1: Get a Mentor
It was one of the best things I have done since my ScrumMaster journey began, you will be surprised how kind and willing your peers will be to offer up guidance and act as a sounding board for ideas on a one to one basis.Mentorship is a two way street, if both mentor and mentee are not getting anything from the exchanges then honesty and transparency about how you feel is of the utmost importance, ending the relationship amicably is prudent as the chances are your paths will cross again in the future.
Any time you spend being mentored will earn you Scrum Educational Units (SEUs) which count towards you Certified Scrum Professional so if the CSP is something you are interested in make sure you log onto your Scrum Alliance dashboard and log the mentoring on your dashboard.
Oh and don't be afraid to ask the people you admire but think will say no, we all have something to learn from each other and the beginners mind is a gold mine.
