Journey to Become a Professional Scrum Master
Curious about the path to becoming a scrum master? Check our my snowy experience with training.
Kent Oldmixon, a senior consultant with Centric Boston, traveled to Columbus in February to attend Centric’s Two-Day Agile Training Session. Read on to learn all about his Professional Scrum Master journey and how he made it back home to Boston during one of the snowiest winters on record.
On a stormy weekend in February, I made a trek to Columbus to increase my brain power in the form of Professional Scrum Master training. The course was sponsored by Linda Farrenkopf, Centric’s National Service Offering Lead. Dr. Chuck Suscheck was our trainer of all things Scrum Master. Now, I know what you must be thinking, “he isn’t going to have a story about flying home into a SECOND blizzard in one month?” YES HE IS! But I will try to share my experience in an agile way and maybe share a few things about Scrum along the way.
Sprint 1: Thursday
Sprint Planning: As our team is currently in the “Forming phase” we have determined we can only accept 4 points from the Product Backlog into this first sprint.
User Story #1 (3pts) – As a Scrum training recipient I must fly to Columbus Ohio
Acceptance Criteria:
- Depart Providence and land in Washington DC – Test Result: PASS
- Make connection to Columbus – Test Result: PASS
User Story #2 (1pt) – As a Scrum training recipient I must check into a hotel
Acceptance Criteria:
- Obtain Rental Car – Test Result: PASS
- Navigate to Hotel – Test Result: PASS
- Obtain Room key – Test Result: PASS
Sprint 1 Review: Sprint 1 was a success. The team completed 4 points. After reviewing the Sprint work with the Product owner, he has accepted the Sprint and we are off to Sprint 2 planning. Zero Defects!
Sprint 1 Retrospective: Columbus rental car shops close at Midnight. Although they will be there at 11:55pm to complete your paperwork, the team suggests longer lead time in the future.
Sprint 2: Friday
Daily standup: Yesterday we successfully arrived in Columbus. Today we plan to learn Scrum Master “stuff”. No blockers.
Sprint Planning: On the back of a successful Sprint 1, the team is really in the Storming Phase now and has decided we can pull more points into Sprint 2. We are starting to gel as a team.
User Story #3 (1pt) – As a Scrum Training recipient I must arrive at the Training facility (Ohio State Student Union). I will know this is complete when I am seated in the training room.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Park in the assigned location – Test Result: PASS
- Locate the training room within the Student Union – Test Result: PASS
- Attempt to blend in with the age 18-22 crowd – Test Result: FAIL
- Introductions to fellow Centric team – Test Result: PASS
- Make most of the Columbus BU aware that Boston is the superior Business Unit – Test Result: PASS
User Story #4 (5pts) – As a Scrum Training recipient I must learn about Scrum team formation so that I will be able to pass the certification exam.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Learn how agile teams come to be. Teams are self-organizing and decide who should be in the group. Since all team members are responsible for all of the work regardless of skills required. It is up to the team to determine who should be on their team. – Test Result: PASS
User Story #5 (5pts) – As a Scrum Training recipient I must learn the roles of a Scrum Master so that I will be able to pass the certification exam.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Scrum Master Role 1: Ensure the development team has a daily standup of no longer than 15 minutes. – Test Result: PASS
- Scrum Master Role 2: Remove impediments to the team’s success. It is the Scrum Master’s job to remove anything the development team determines is an obstacle. – Test Result: PASS
- Scrum Master Role 3: Help the development team understand the concepts of scrum and help them become more efficient. – Test Result: PASS
- Scrum Master Role 4: Work with the Product Owner to ensure they can efficiently prioritize the items in the backlog. – Test Result: PASS
Sprint 2 Review: Sprint 2 was a success. The team completed 11 points. After reviewing the Sprint work with the Product owner, he has accepted the Sprint and we are off to Sprint 3 planning. Zero Defects!
Sprint 2 Retrospective: During the night of the Sprint 2 install, the development team became aware that their flight back to Providence was already cancelled for the following night due to the impending “blizzard”. Of course, the first leg of the flight from Columbus to Charlotte was still on time. It was then that team decided to contact the airline and determine next course of action. A flight was available on Sunday at 4:00pm, but the connection through Charlotte was still happening. The team decided to book a hotel room in Charlotte and hole up there for a very lonely Valentine’s Day.
Sprint 3: Saturday
Daily standup: Yesterday we completed Day 1 of Scrum Master training. Learned how scrum teams form and the roles of a Scrum Master. Only blocker is the weather. TWO BLIZZARDS IN 1 MONTH! YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING!
Sprint Planning: On the back of a successful Sprint 2, the team is really in the Norming Phase now and has decided we can pull even more points into Sprint 3. We are really getting good at this “scrum” thing.
User Story #6 (5pts) – As a Scrum Training recipient I must learn the concepts of story sizing so that I will be able to enable my Product Owner to accurately prioritize their backlog.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Learn general concepts for Sizing. T-Shirt sizes to start. – Test Result: PASS
- Translate T-shirt sizing to Fibonacci numbers to have a better gauge of the relationship between a men’s small t-shirt and a moo-moo. – Test Result: PASS
User Story #7 (5pts) – As a Scrum Training recipient I must learn the concepts burn-down/burn-up so that I will be able to enable my Product Owner to accurately prioritize their backlog.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Accurately projecting the amount of points a team completes allows the Scrum Master to estimate the end date of a project. – Test Result: PASS
- Using a Burn-up, a Scrum Master can gauge how much of a product backlog a team can complete by a specific date in time. – Test Result: PASS
User Story #8 (3pts) – As a Scrum Training recipient I must successfully fly to Charlotte and secure lodging so that I do not become stranded in Columbus.
Acceptance Criteria
- Manage to book a hotel room on Valentine ’s Day with less than 24 hours notice – Test Result: PASS
Sprint 3 Review: Sprint 3 was a challenge. The team completed 13 points. After reviewing the Sprint work with the Product owner, he has accepted the Sprint and we are off to Sprint 4 planning. One Defect. Next Sprint we need to work on getting the team back to Providence.
Sprint 3 Retrospective: With possession of a boarding pass back to Providence on Sunday afternoon (4:00pm), we are feeling confident that the good folks at T.F. Green Airport will clear the runways in time for an arrival.
Sprint 4: Sunday
Daily standup: Yesterday we successfully arrived in Charlotte. Today we plan on making the final leg back to Providence. Only blocker is weather – again!
Sprint Planning: With only 1 story remaining in the backlog, we are going to focus on completing that. We have adjusted the estimate on the story accordingly as the trip back has been challenging so far.
User Story #9 (5pts) – As a Scrum Training recipient I must return safely to Providence.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Travel back to Providence on the assigned flight – Test : FAIL
- 10 minutes prior to boarding, the flight to Providence was cancelled sending a minimum of 100 passengers to the rebooking desk to make different arrangements
SCOPE CHANGE!
User Story #10 (3pts) – As a traveler I must be rerouted to New York – JFK.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Rebook on a flight into New York where the team can make final plans to get back to Providence – Test Result: PASS
- Travel to JFK in New York on the newly assigned flight – Test : FAIL
- After walking to an adjacent terminal (and to the furthest gate) the team has been made aware that the flight to JFK is very overbooked and a ticket should have never been issued
- The gate agent reassigned the team a flight to LaGuardia leaving at the same time, but it is in the terminal the team just came from
User Story #11 (3pts) – As a frustrated traveler I must be rerouted to New York – LGA.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Rebook on a flight into New York where the team can make final plans to get back to Providence – Test Result: PASS
- Travel to JFK in New York on the newly assigned flight – Test : PASS
- After waiting in the boarding area for the flight to LaGuardia, the team became aware of a flight departing for Boston. A flight that none of the gate agents (or airline help desk) seemed to mention to the team. The team decides to get on the standby list
- As the team is 23rd in line for standby it looks as though it was not meant to be. But wait, #19 and #20 just got seat assignments. It might happen! #21! We are so close!
- That’s all folks! Flight is full. 2 seats away! If only the airline had made the team aware that the flight to Boston was a possibility (and not cancelled, like everything in New England)
User Story #12 (3pts) – As a tired traveler I must arrive in Connecticut to stay with family.
Acceptance Criteria:
- Use Uber (for the first time) to get a ride from LGA to Trumbull, CT (58 miles) – Test Result: PASS
Sprint 4 Review: Sprint 4 was frustrating. The team completed 14 points (9 more than the estimation due to additional stories being needed in the Sprint). After reviewing the Sprint work with the Product owner, he has accepted the Sprint and we ready for product release.
Sprint 4 Retrospective: Uber was great! The interface worked nicely. Of course, being the first time the team used Uber, we were rightfully skeptical of the process. When the text came back that a driver had accepted my ride request, all was at ease. Our driver ended up being deaf, which resulted in a pleasant hour-long ride with no expectation of chit-chat between driver and passenger. This was the team’s ideal experience. If we could only figure out a way to request this type of quiet ride in the future!
Program Wrap-up
All joking and travel blunders aside, Scrum training in Columbus was fruitful. Yes, I did get from Connecticut back to Providence. The frustrating detour allowed me to spend time with my 4 nieces and salvage the long President’s Day weekend. I met some Centric folks that I had never met before, had a few good burgers (I made this a “burger trip”) and learned a lot about Scrum. As I have been on a Scrum team for over 2 years now, much of the learning was “scenario based”. I got more out of having discussion with the instructor, Dr. Chuck, and other Centric resources that are using Scrum at other clients. Being able to have that conversation overlaid with the Scrum framework helped me understand the methodology rather than being able to pass some test questions on the material. It must have worked, because the exam was a success:
