Selecting the Best Scrum Master Certification - Educushy

Educushy has helped many individuals in securing SAFe Scrum Certification and continues to benefit aspirants in their professional advancement. While there are several types of Scrum SAFe Certification available, most people go for the safe advanced scrum master training due to its wider acceptability.

What is a scrum master?
The primary role of the scrum master is to be the primary contact and source of guidance on all things scrum – the scrum expert, essentially.

That said, the scrum master is definitely not the ‘scrum police’. The scrum master is not there as an enforcer, more as a facilitator. They ensure that the team understands how scrum works, including the three pillars (transparency, inspection, adaptation) and the core principles contained in the Scrum Manifesto. The scrum master’s goal is to ensure the team can get the best out of working in the scrum. And that, in turn, ensures the team builds the best possible product.

A scrum master’s broad responsibilities include:

Coaching and training in scrum matters
Facilitate problem-solving
Encourage and moderate discussions
Backlog prioritization
Ensure adequate experimentation and testing
Minimize the impact of external constraints
Provide (or facilitate access to) necessary information for the project
All of this is done with a consistent theme: the underlying question, how does this fit with scrum?

However, the scrum master role extends beyond the specific project team. The above list mentions dealing with “external constraints” and this puts the scrum master role in touch with a variety of stakeholders. The scrum master is required to deal with and influence managers and leaders (up to and including C-level) throughout the organization.

In many ways, scrum master is a leadership role. But a leadership role without formal, positional authority. A scrum master leads by expertise and influence, focused on serving the development team.

Scrum Master Certification
To be a scrum master, you need a broad and deep understanding of scrum and agile working. You also need a range of soft skills focused on communication, feedback, and facilitation. What’s more, an ability to think critically about systems and processes is important.

What you don’t need is a certificate. However, as with any certification, a scrum master certificate is proof that an individual has acquired and demonstrated the necessary skills and knowledge to fulfill the role. We don’t insist on a certificate from our scrum masters, but we do see it as something that is (very) nice to have.

A certified scrum master has undertaken a course of study, and passed an exam or other test, proving their understanding of the theory and practice of scrum. It’s worth noting, that just as scrum is a process about continuous development and improvement of a product, the role of scrum master involves continuous learning. The certificate shows that a certain minimum level has been achieved; it doesn’t mean that an individual knows all there is to know!

SAFe Scrum Master (SSM)
Taking a more organizational approach, this certification focuses on applying and integrating scrum practices (specifically, the Scaled Agile Framework or SAFe), especially at the team level (Source: Scaled Agile)

SAFe Advanced Scrum Master
A course for established scrum masters, focused on scrum master as a leadership role, specifically in the SAFe environment. There are no qualifying certifications necessary but SSM, CSM, or PSM are recommended.

Benefits of a Scrum Master Certification
Gaining any certification requires time and work. And given that there is nothing to stop anybody working in a scrum master role without a scrum master certificate, we need a strong reason to do it. Check out the following benefits of using certified scrum masters.

Credibility:– A scrum master is an expert, called on to apply their expertise in the form of advice, guidance, and influence. To put it bluntly, a certificate can be reassuring to others that the scrum master knows their onions.

Improved Team Working:– The focus on teams and servant leadership, together with the use of soft skills such as communication and problem-solving, has a beneficial impact on how a team functions.

Greater Efficiency and Better Results:– A scrum master should enable the development team to use scrum more effectively. This can translate into shorter and/or more productive sprints, a tighter focus on the product’s objectives and target market, and ultimately, a better quality of the final product.

Part of a Wider Community:– By the end of a process of study and certification, most scrum masters have developed contacts with other scrum masters in other organizations. Some certificating bodies actively manage this network of contacts. Such access to a community of expert, qualified peers provides additional support to individual scrum masters in their organizations.

For the individual scrum master, a certification represents recognition of their skills and experience and can be a milestone in their career progression.