On top of managing the agile offering of Capgemini (Dutch description here) as a Product Owner and mentoring our Scrum coaches and Scrum trainers I also give Professional Scrum trainings.
After my classes I send out a thank you to the participants in which I include some guidelines to prepare for the online assessment they get access to. I also point people to some background readings. Over time I have created a small library of blog notes I’ve written from which I can select some to refer attendants to for additional information on top of the courseware:
- The paper “ING: capturing agility at a large Dutch bank” that the CIO Channels of ING and I co-wrote. It was kindly published by Scrum.org at http://www.scrum.org/About/All-Articles/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/577/ING-Capturing-agility-via-Scrum-at-a-large-Dutch-bank
- A blog note on the paradigm shift that we need in our software development business: http://www.capgemini.com/blog/capping-it-off/2012/04/to-shift-or-not-to-shift-the-software-industry-paradigm/
- A blog note on what is/is not Scrum, and how this “ScrumAnd” mindset opens the road to continuous improvement: http://www.capgemini.com/technology-blog/2012/08/yes-we-do-scrum-and/
- A blog note on how to ‘plan’ agility: http://guntherverheyen.com/2012/09/30/agility-cant-be-planned/
- The questionable view of the Scrum Master as ‘impediment hunter’: http://guntherverheyen.com/2012/11/11/impediments-and-where-to-find-them/
- The anti-collaborative concept of fixed price bids: http://guntherverheyen.com/2012/10/07/fixed-price-bids-an-open-invitation-to-bribe-cajole-lie-and-cheat/
- For the Lean specialists that attend the class and who are in general quite impressed by the lean-ness of Scrum: http://guntherverheyen.com/2011/12/18/how-scrum-blends-the-philosophies-of-lean-and-agile/
- Assuring people that they are welcome in the warm ‘House of Scrum’: http://guntherverheyen.com/2011/10/22/the-house-of-scrum/
- The bottom-up thinking when the scaling of Scrum is required: http://www.capgemini.com/technology-blog/2012/05/scaling-scrum/
- The differentiation between the rules of the game of Scrum and ways to play the game: http://guntherverheyen.com/2013/01/17/ways-to-play-scrum/
I always pick some of following topics to add:
- A short RSA animated movie to illustrate Daniel Pink’s scientific research on what truly motivates people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
- The original “The New New Product Development Game” paper (1986, Takeuchi and Nonaka) that has been an important inspiration in the development of Scrum.
- Why I recommend the book “Coaching Agile Teams” by Lyssa Adkins to Scrum Masters: http://guntherverheyen.com/2013/01/06/take-it-to-the-team/
Fyi. have a look at the most beautiful location I have ever trained in.