Aspiring DM

I had booked the 2 day Professional Scrum Master course at Westminster University, culminating in the PSM exam, including a second attempt if I didn’t pass first time.

The preceding 6 weeks had been filled with me attempting to get the hang of the Agile world. Learning and reading about Scrum, the terminology, the principles, the application, the people, I had read through most of the links sent to me when I signed up, but there was a lot. Coming in as a complete outsider, I really didn’t want to go in fully unprepared and surely any knowledge was going to be a good thing.

So there I was, early Monday morning, walking over to the University from Baker Street station, an appreciative acknowledgment to the statue of Sherlock Holmes (there will never be a better Holmes than Jeremy Brett). I was excited, nervous, anxious, I didn’t want to look stupid or out of place, a whole host of emotions going through me. I was really invested in this, I was setting myself up for my future career, for the rest of my life and it started right here and right now.

Well, right here and in 55 minutes as I was a bit early. Walking towards the entrance, I saw the tutor in the classroom preparing, remembering his face from the profile, bearing a striking resemblance to one of my old Head Chefs (from way back in the day). At least I knew where the classroom was and didn’t have to search for that, bonus!

I signed in at reception, got a lanyard with my name and course on (pretty cool, never had one of those before, tick that box), grabbed a coffee (decaff, I’m ridiculously sensitive to caffeine and didn’t want to be up all night) and waited. I wasn’t really sure how to kill the time so exchanged a few light-hearted messages with Carlos, it was his fault after all, and skimmed the Scrum guide, again.

Right, 08:50, time to go!

I headed over to the classroom, unnecessarily steeled myself and went in.

Crikey! This was like no classroom I’d been in before, it was amazing! Things have certainly come a long way since the last time I was in one. It was bright, it was spacious, it was visually appealing and it was very well equipped. There were large 4 space desks around the edge of the room with a ridiculously large monitor on the wall at the top of each of them along with a whiteboard to the side. No doubt about it, it was impressive.

The tutor, John Coleman, was busying himself at the front sorting out various things in front of a huge screen and a huge whiteboard but looked up as I walked in, exchanging pleasantries he then asked me to find a seat.

There were a few people in the class already so naturally I found a seat at an empty table. You can’t just go and sit next to someone you don’t know after all.

The class filled quickly, as did my desk and we were off!

A brief friendly introduction from John and then we had to mingle, I was horrified, I’m the quiet introvert who’s happier on his own in a quiet room somewhere but, if I wanted to do this, I had to do it.

So, I did it. It was actually an aid to promiscuous pairing, it actually has a name, it actually is a thing. It wasn’t just an ice breaker, we were learning already. You have to be used to interacting and working with people you don’t know and quickly, jumping in and out of teams. Don’t be scared or afraid, you’re all there for the same reason. You really do have to just jump in and get on with it.

A couple of minutes with a complete stranger learning who they were and what they did. Breaking down the initial apprehension, after all, they probably feel the same way, I spoke to people. I learnt names, occupations and goals and it was interesting, I could do it, it actually really helped my confidence. Small steps.

There were about 25 people in attendance, didn’t get a chance to speak to all of them but, on returning to our seats you could really sense a change in the dynamics of the room. Icebreakers really do work.

Then we started, there was plenty to get through.

We learned of Scrum, that Sprint is the heartbeat of Scrum, sprint planning, daily Scrums, sprint reviews and sprint retrospectives.

The pillars of TIA (transparency, Inspection and Adaptation) The values of FOCCR (Focus, Openness, Courage, Commitment and Respect), Artifacts and Commitments. The definition of done, Done-D-D-Done-Done -Done. Producing a valuable increment every sprint. Value, a very key word here.

Focus and finish.

We learned about self managing, change agents, resource utilisation, shared pain is shared gain. The fact that conflict is both important and constructive if done correctly. We learnt of the Cynefin framework (clear, complicated, complex and chaos), to get good at teaming (promiscuous pairing, see it was worth it), productivity, ranges over averages and flow. Scaling with Nexus and the fact that it’s better to have a hole in your team than an A-hole.

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools and the Agile Manifesto.

Storyboarding with sticky-notes, this was great, a hivemind to work out solutions and paths, all as equals. I’d only ever seen pictures of this, never been part of it, it was brilliant. We then split up into smaller teams to discuss a topic from the storyboard in depth, listening, discussing and solving problems as a team, then presenting our answers.

John was a fantastic tutor with a great sense of humour. It was an amazing, interactive and inclusive learning experience and we were all made to feel valued for our input, every question was appreciated and answered thoroughly. The whole class was interacting and the dynamics were great, an enjoyable environment to be part of.

There were plenty of team exercises where we would be given a brief on a project and asked to work out a solution to the issues given. Very interesting to hear the different viewpoints from our team of 4, how each individual saw the problem, and work collaboratively for a solution. Do note, look out for the curveballs and unexpected!

The two days flew by and it was excellent.

I actually felt a little sad leaving at the end of the second day. There was so much content covered but in an easily accessible and uncomplicated way. It was also really fulfilling having the shared interest and interaction with people in the class and in our teams. There was a shared respect of each other and of the task in hand.

A little sad but also incredibly empowered, actively seeking further education, continuous improvement and dictating what I wanted to do.

All I had to do now was remember everything and pass the test…..