Kane Mar

Back in July, 2007 Pete Behrens announced the first draft of a Certified Scrum Coaching (CSC) program. In the words of the original post:

This program is designed to complement the current Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) and Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) education-based programs, the Certified Scrum Practitioner (CSP) direct experience-based program and the Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) Program.

To be honest, the draft proposal had some ideas that would have been very difficult to implement, and although I was skeptical at first, the more I read the draft proposal the more convinced I became of the benefits of a CSC programme. So, I thought about it some more and provided some feedback on the draft proposal.

Perhaps because of my feedback, I was contacted shortly after inviting me to take part in the beta process. The CSC team had been very busy; they significantly improved the process. Not only had they eliminated my major concerns but that also included several templates for letters of recommendation and additional documentation.

The application consist of a detailed questionnaire, and at least two letters of recommendation. The questionnaire itself was very time consuming to complete and took me well over 10 hours over a two week period. Apart from the usual preamble such as documenting contact details, why you want to be a coach etc, the significant sections of the questionnaire were: Section 5 “Coaching Experience”; Section 6 “Scrum Knowledge Area Assessment”; Section 7 “Scrum Coaching Competencies and Skills Applied in Practice”; And, Section 8 “Scrum Coaching Competencies and Skills Assessment”. Many of the questions in these sections were similar to structured essays.

I should also point out that CSC applicants are required to have at least 1,500 hours of Scrum coaching over the previous 5 years. That’s a significant body of work and not something that can be achieved overnight.

After completing the CSC application, I sent it in expecting a polite email saying nothing more than “Thank you for you feedback.” To my surprise, I received a reply that said:

Congratulations, your application met the level required to become a Certified Scrum Coach!

The Scrum Alliance now is actively working to formally announce and promote the CSC programme and it will likely be launched in the next few weeks. My personal feeling is that the CSC certification is going to be a big hit and will be in great demand by both employers and clients. Credit for the programme must go to Pete Behrens and the CSC team who have worked hard and have done a first rate job of making this a reality.

Finally, the first three CSC’s were at the 2007 Gathering in London and we managed to get this photo. From left to right they are Peter Hundermark, Martin Kearns and me.