How To Earn More PDUs After The Completion of PMP Certification
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Are you a PMI® credential holder? Do you also hold a PMP® certification? Then this article will be useful for you! All PMI® certifications except CAPM® certification (Certified Associate in Project Management), need holders to string along with the Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Program. The aim of this program is to ensure that your skills and certified capabilities are up-to-the-minute. Generally speaking, it involves earning PDUs as well. PMP® Certification- If you are planning to take the PMP® training, it will be worth the cost and your efforts. Various industries use PMP® as a standard for project managers. PMP® certification entitles you to work in any environment and with any methodology. The PMP® certification covers the various project management techniques and skills that are essential for project managers. The PMP® course creates your impression as- It indicates your superiority in using the PMBOK® guide It indicates that you know the best practices for project management Salary of the PMP certified- According to the 10th edition of Project Management Salary survey by PMI®, it is estimated that the PMP® certified project manager is getting more than non-PMP certified project managers. The average annual salary for a PMP® certified professional is $108,200 per year. They earn 20% more than the non-PMP® certified individuals. Here is the salary report of the PMP® certified according to PMI® report. Once you have sailed through the PMP® exam, your 3-year PMP® re-accreditation cycle starts. You need to earn at least 60 PMP® PDUs with a specific end goal to effectively renew your PMP® accreditation. Usually, 1 PDU is equivalent to 1 hour of PDU activity participation. But, there are points of confinement to certain PDU activities. We will see ways to earn more PDUs in details. But before that, let’s know what is PDU? Do you know? 1 PDU equates 1 hour of PDU activity participation What is PDU? A PDU is a Professional Development Unit. Once you earn your PMP® certification, the next step is to maintain the PMP® credential. This credential is valid only for 3 years. So to renew the certification, you need to report 60 PDUs to the PMI® before completing the third year. If missed to renew, it leads to suspension of the certificate. Ways to earn PDUs- Earning PDUs for PMP certification is a hassle-free and less expensive process and some PDUs can be earned free of cost. PDUs can be earned in two ways- A. Free PDUs B. Paid PDUs A. Free PDUs Free PDUs are categorized into 2 sections, 1) Education PDUs: Education PDUs can be earned in following 3 ways- Online or in-person courses and training offered by PMI’s Registered Education Provider (REPs) Continuing Education (professional meetings and local events) Self-driven learning From Education PDUs, you can earn maximum 35 PDUs. Out of 35 PDUs, 8 PDUs consists of technical Project Management skills + 8 PDUs in Leadership skills + 8 PDUs in strategic business management skills. These 3 skills-sets are referred as a ‘PMI Talent Triangle’ by PMI®. 2) Giving back PDUs: Giving back PDUs includes the sharing of knowledge and applying skills to contribute to the profession. This includes- Creating knowledge Giving a presentation Creating content Working as a practitioner Sharing knowledge Volunteering From giving back PDUs, you can earn maximum 25 PDUs, but only 8 PDUs can be earned as working as a practitioner during 3 years. B. Paid PDUs Paid PDUs is another way of earning PDUs after PMP® certification. The second way consists of not only gaining the project management knowledge but also earning more PDUs. This way of earning PDUs is more effective than the free PDUs in terms of gaining PDUs too early. Also, this enhances your skill-set along with the PDUs. Really looking forward to the discussion on maintaining my PMP certification @pmiirl — Joanne Cronin (@dudara) July 6, 2017 Has it come to your notice? Paid PDU approach is more effective than the free PDUs, as it not only acts as a skill enhancer for an individual but also helps in earning PDUs too early. Here are some of the Project management related courses that can help learn more about project management and earn more skills. 1) PRINCE2® course: You can earn 16 PDUs from this course. PRINCE2® (PRojects In Controlled Environments) is a Project Management methodology that allows you to handle any complex project in a diverse environment. This method is practiced worldwide and the certifications are considered authentic if the training institute is an Accredited training organization (ATO) of PEOPLECERT and a certified partner of Axelos. 2) ITIL® course: You can earn 25 PDUs from this course. ITIL® training provides understanding of the project related best practices and implementing these practices to streamline the processes for continuous improvement. It is highly recommended that you take this course from the institute which is an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) of PEOPLECERT and a Certified Partner of Axelos for ITIL® Trainings. 3) PMI-ACP® course: You can earn 21 PDUs from this course. The Project Management Institute- Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® is a widely accepted certification in the Agile community. This course shows the competency of an individual in carrying out a project in any circumstances using Agile practices. For this course, select the institute which is a Registered Education Provider (REP) of Project Management Institute (PMI®). Being a PMI® member, if you are PMP, PfMP, PgMP, PMI-PBA certified then you need to earn at least 35 PDUs from Education Category, 25 PDUs from Given back to the profession category 8 PDUs from each category of Talent triangle. Also, you can grab maximum 8 PDUs from ‘Giving back to the Profession’ by ‘Working as a Practitioner’ and all 60 PDUs from education category. Do you know? PDUs can also be earned by watching recorded webinars from projectmanagement.com. These PDUs will get recorded under the ‘PDUs awarded section’ on your account page. Hence , no need to report them separately. PMI membership comes with professional membership of project management.com. Future Demand for PMP professionals- According to the Project Management Institute®, the demand for project management professionals will explode by 2020. Below is the graphical representation of the new job vacancies worldwide for project management role. Bringing it all together PMI® is a registered trademark of the Project Management, Inc. and PMP® and its logo are accredited features of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) which are enrolled in the US and other countries. You need to keep in mind that your PDUs can be examined and you could be asked to provide justification of your learning any time. So, it is better to earn your PDUs only from accredited organizations. There are various genuine ways to learn, create and claim PDUs to stand out in the market. I hope this information will help you in earning PDUs the way you want!
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How To Earn More PDUs After The Completion of PMP Certification
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Are you a PMI® credential holder? Do you also hold a PMP® certification? Then this article will be useful for you! All PMI® certifications except CAPM® certification (Certified Associate in Project Management), need holders to string along with the Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Program. The aim of this program is to ensure that your skills and certified capabilities are up-to-the-minute. Generally speaking, it involves earning PDUs as well. PMP® Certification- If you are planning to take the PMP® training, it will be worth the cost and your efforts. Various industries use PMP® as a standard for project managers. PMP® certification entitles you to work in any environment and with any methodology. The PMP® certification covers the various project management techniques and skills that are essential for project managers. The PMP® course creates your impression as- It indicates your superiority in using the PMBOK® guide It indicates that you know the best practices for project management Salary of the PMP certified- According to the 10th edition of Project Management Salary survey by PMI®, it is estimated that the PMP® certified project manager is getting more than non-PMP certified project managers. The average annual salary for a PMP® certified professional is $108,200 per year. They earn 20% more than the non-PMP® certified individuals. Here is the salary report of the PMP® certified according to PMI® report. Once you have sailed through the PMP® exam, your 3-year PMP® re-accreditation cycle starts. You need to earn at least 60 PMP® PDUs with a specific end goal to effectively renew your PMP® accreditation. Usually, 1 PDU is equivalent to 1 hour of PDU activity participation. But, there are points of confinement to certain PDU activities. We will see ways to earn more PDUs in details. But before that, let’s know what is PDU? Do you know? 1 PDU equates 1 hour of PDU activity participation What is PDU? A PDU is a Professional Development Unit. Once you earn your PMP® certification, the next step is to maintain the PMP® credential. This credential is valid only for 3 years. So to renew the certification, you need to report 60 PDUs to the PMI® before completing the third year. If missed to renew, it leads to suspension of the certificate. Ways to earn PDUs- Earning PDUs for PMP certification is a hassle-free and less expensive process and some PDUs can be earned free of cost. PDUs can be earned in two ways- A. Free PDUs B. Paid PDUs A. Free PDUs Free PDUs are categorized into 2 sections, 1) Education PDUs: Education PDUs can be earned in following 3 ways- Online or in-person courses and training offered by PMI’s Registered Education Provider (REPs) Continuing Education (professional meetings and local events) Self-driven learning From Education PDUs, you can earn maximum 35 PDUs. Out of 35 PDUs, 8 PDUs consists of technical Project Management skills + 8 PDUs in Leadership skills + 8 PDUs in strategic business management skills. These 3 skills-sets are referred as a ‘PMI Talent Triangle’ by PMI®. 2) Giving back PDUs: Giving back PDUs includes the sharing of knowledge and applying skills to contribute to the profession. This includes- Creating knowledge Giving a presentation Creating content Working as a practitioner Sharing knowledge Volunteering From giving back PDUs, you can earn maximum 25 PDUs, but only 8 PDUs can be earned as working as a practitioner during 3 years. B. Paid PDUs Paid PDUs is another way of earning PDUs after PMP® certification. The second way consists of not only gaining the project management knowledge but also earning more PDUs. This way of earning PDUs is more effective than the free PDUs in terms of gaining PDUs too early. Also, this enhances your skill-set along with the PDUs. Really looking forward to the discussion on maintaining my PMP certification @pmiirl — Joanne Cronin (@dudara) July 6, 2017 Has it come to your notice? Paid PDU approach is more effective than the free PDUs, as it not only acts as a skill enhancer for an individual but also helps in earning PDUs too early. Here are some of the Project management related courses that can help learn more about project management and earn more skills. 1) PRINCE2® course: You can earn 16 PDUs from this course. PRINCE2® (PRojects In Controlled Environments) is a Project Management methodology that allows you to handle any complex project in a diverse environment. This method is practiced worldwide and the certifications are considered authentic if the training institute is an Accredited training organization (ATO) of PEOPLECERT and a certified partner of Axelos. 2) ITIL® course: You can earn 25 PDUs from this course. ITIL® training provides understanding of the project related best practices and implementing these practices to streamline the processes for continuous improvement. It is highly recommended that you take this course from the institute which is an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) of PEOPLECERT and a Certified Partner of Axelos for ITIL® Trainings. 3) PMI-ACP® course: You can earn 21 PDUs from this course. The Project Management Institute- Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® is a widely accepted certification in the Agile community. This course shows the competency of an individual in carrying out a project in any circumstances using Agile practices. For this course, select the institute which is a Registered Education Provider (REP) of Project Management Institute (PMI®). Being a PMI® member, if you are PMP, PfMP, PgMP, PMI-PBA certified then you need to earn at least 35 PDUs from Education Category, 25 PDUs from Given back to the profession category 8 PDUs from each category of Talent triangle. Also, you can grab maximum 8 PDUs from ‘Giving back to the Profession’ by ‘Working as a Practitioner’ and all 60 PDUs from education category. Do you know? PDUs can also be earned by watching recorded webinars from projectmanagement.com. These PDUs will get recorded under the ‘PDUs awarded section’ on your account page. Hence , no need to report them separately. PMI membership comes with professional membership of project management.com. Future Demand for PMP professionals- According to the Project Management Institute®, the demand for project management professionals will explode by 2020. Below is the graphical representation of the new job vacancies worldwide for project management role. Bringing it all together PMI® is a registered trademark of the Project Management, Inc. and PMP® and its logo are accredited features of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) which are enrolled in the US and other countries. You need to keep in mind that your PDUs can be examined and you could be asked to provide justification of your learning any time. So, it is better to earn your PDUs only from accredited organizations. There are various genuine ways to learn, create and claim PDUs to stand out in the market. I hope this information will help you in earning PDUs the way you want!
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How To Earn More PDUs After The Completion of PMP Certification
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Are you a PMI® credential holder? Do you also hold a PMP® certification? Then this article will be useful for you!
All PMI® certifications except CAPM® certification (Certified Asso...
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Peak with PMP: Reach New Heights With KnowledgeHut’s Top Courses
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Project management professional certification is one of the most reputable certifications across the globe that proves your efficiency and productivity in project management in your workplace. One should meet the following criteria in order to receive the certificate: Secondary degree holders: Should have at least 5 years of experience in project management, with 7,500 hours in leading projects and 35 hours of project management education. Four-year degree holders: Should have at least 3 years of experience in project management and spent 4,500 hours in leading projects and 35 hours of project management education. If you fulfill the above PMP credential requirements then you can apply for the PMP certification online at https://www.pmi.org/. But, ensure you make a well-defined study plan that helps to complete your PMP certification process successfully. The 35-hour project management education program is the crucial factor for your success. Opting the course from a Registered Education Provider like KnowledgeHut can help you build the foundation for the exam by equipping you with the knowledge of PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge). This training program will not only make a candidate eligible for PMP exam but also provide ample insights to shoot your target. Schedule your PMP certification exam on successful completion of the course. The exam consists of 200 objective-type questions which need to be finished within 4 hours. And, you need to answer a minimum of 137 questions correct out of 175. You will get the PMP certification as soon as you see ‘passed’ on the screen. You need to claim 60 PDUs for every 3 years in order maintain the certification and your 3-year recertification cycle begins immediately once you receive the certificate. According to a study conducted by PMI Pulse of the Profession, enterprises are getting their projects done on time, within scope, and within budget which has at least one-third of PMP certified project managers. This is because a project manager is responsible for planning, organizing, leading, monitoring or controlling, estimating cost, developing the budget, and managing risks and reports of the project. A certified project manager can play multiple roles depending on the requirements of the project such as project manager, program manager, portfolio manager, functional manager, project sponsor, project officer, and delivery manager. The demand for Project management profession is growing faster than any other occupations. Holding a PMP certification proves that you understand the global language of project management and helps to connect with a community of experts, organizations, and professionals worldwide. 
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Project management professional certification is one of the most reputable certifications across the globe that proves your efficiency and productivity in project management in your workplace. One sho...
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All you need to know about Leading SAFe 4.5® Certification with KnowledgeHut
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Agile is a project management process which encourages self-organization, accountability, and teamwork. This methodology progresses a moderate project management process by reducing the time required for review and adaptation. SAFe combines the power of Agile with Lean product development and systems thinking. It integrates delivery, collaboration, and alignment for multiple Agile teams and provides significant improvements to business agility, including quality, productivity, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, time-to-market, and more. The new version i.e SAFe® 4.5 was released on June 22, 2017. This advanced version speeds up the delivery process of products and services and also offers a 360-degree build-measure-learn feedback cycle. With four major updates, SAFe has grown faster with the market since the initial release in 2011 and keeps on being a work in process. SAFe 4 Agilist certification helps you to build a strong foundation on Agile practices, standards, and applications required to enhance the probability of the project's overall success. You might be searching for the best institute to take the course and might be thinking why only KnowledgeHut and why not others? Here we answer all your queries about Leading SAFe 4.5 Certification with KnowledgeHut. Looking for a quick overview of #SAFe? Check out our most popular download: https://t.co/Iw7rVXSK6U pic.twitter.com/oPEExo8mUY — Dean Leffingwell (@Deanleffingwell) October 31, 2017 Who is the certifying agency? SAFe® Enterprise or the Scaled Agile Framework is the provider of this SAFe® 4 Agilist Certification. KnowledgeHut offers this course by professional trainers with years of industry experience. SAFe® Agilist certification exam cost? The exam cost for the first attempt is included in the course fee if the exam is taken within 30 days of course completion. Also, the candidate can retake the exam if not cleared in the first attempt and each retake attempt charges $50. Who will benefit from leading SAFe® 4.5 course? The following individuals will benefit from this course: Leaders and Executives, Directors, Managers, CIOs, and VPs Enterprise, System, and Solution Architects QA, Development, and Infrastructure Management Project and Program Managers PMO, Portfolio Managers, and Process Leads Product and Product Line Management Is it mandatory to attend the course or can a person just take the exam directly? Yes, candidates should have completed the 2 days’ Leading SAFe® 4.5 certification training course to take the exam. After successful completion, of course, your trainer registers you to Scaled Academy and after this registration, you will receive an e-mail that includes an exam link. Thereafter, you will have 30-days to take the test. What do attendees get from the course? The course registration includes: SAFe 4 Agilist PDF certificate SAFe 4 Agilist digital badge to promote your online accomplishment Comprehensive courseware materials by Scaled Agile Institute 1-year membership with Scaled Agile Access to members-only resources such as advance notice of upcoming SAFe products, guidance presentations, and webinars 16 SEUs and 16 PDUs 1 free attempt of the exam as the course fee includes the exam fee Can I cancel my enrollment? Do I get a refund? Your amount will be refunded in full only if the registration is cancelled within 48 hours and the refunds will be processed within 30 days of the request. For more details, check our refund policy. Note: Due to transactional costs that are applicable while refunding, all cancellations will cause a 5% deduction in the refunded amount. What topics are covered? The topics covered in our 2-day course are: Introducing the SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) Embracing a Lean-Agile Mindset Experiencing PI (Program Increment) planning Understanding SAFe Principles Implementing an Agile Release Train Leading the Lean-Agile Enterprise Exploring, Executing, and Releasing Value Building an Agile Portfolio and Empowering a Lean Portfolio Prerequisites for SAFe® 4.5 Certification? Anyone regardless of experience can attend the course. But the following knowledge and skills are highly recommended for those who really want to take the SAFe® 4 Agilist certification exam: 5 plus years of experience in business analysis, testing, product or project management, and software development Good experience in Scrum What will I learn from the course? On completion of the course you will be able to: Apply SAFe to scale Lean and Agile development in your organization Identify and apply a Lean-Agile Mindset and principles Empower with a Lean Portfolio Improve your Lean-Agile leadership skills Continuously explore, integrate, deploy, and release value Coordinate the development of large value streams Support a Lean-Agile transformation in your organization How can I apply? Follow the below steps to apply for Leading SAFe® 4.5 certification exam- Step 1: Take the 2-day Leading SAFe®4.5 course Step 2: Your trainer will send all your details to Scaled Agile after successful completion of course. Now, the Scaled Agile Academy will send you two emails: a Welcome Letter and a Learning Plan Assignment. The Learning Plan Assignment e-mail includes information about the exam. Step 3: Take the online SAFe® 4 Agilist certification exam. Step 4: Once the test is completed with the minimum passing score, Scaled Academy will update your profile to disclose the certification. Step 5: You will receive an email including official notification from Scaled Academy which allows you to the member area and helps you to make your profile public within the Scaled Agile Community. 1-year membership with Scaled Agile will be provided as well. Why KnowledgeHut for Leading SAFe® 4.5? KnowledgeHut is a silver training partner of Scaled Agile Inc (SAI) and offers world-class learning to its students with excellence and provides in-depth knowledge required to become a successful world-class professional. KnowledgeHut also offers: Free materials from Scaled Agile Framework. Tricks and tips from our professional Certified Leading SAFe experts who have years of experience in implementing it in a variety of environments. 1-year membership with Scaled Agile included in the course fee. We hope this article cleared all your queries related to SAFe® 4 Agilist certification. Connect with us to know more about the Leading SAFe® 4.5 course.
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Agile is a project management process which encourages self-organization, accountability, and teamwork. This methodology progresses a moderate project management process by reducing the time required ...
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Leading SAFe 4.5.1- The Latest Version Goes Live!
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Around 2 years prior, Scaled Agile Inc. launched SAFe® 4.0, a major upgrade as a methodology to expand the current Agile practices in the organizations. Fairly early on, it gained a widespread frame in the top organizations. But it is also true, in this time-traverse, a few deterrents on a digital scale caused a problem to the organizations carrying out the new changes. So while the organizations were occupied in actualizing the new changes, the Scaled Agile Inc. team were focussing on the framework that would completely line-up with the current innovating trends and the market needs. On 21st June 2017, they released SAFe® 4.5 version to help organizations getting better, faster and more reliable business results. On March 17, 2018, Scaled Agile Inc. set up the latest courseware called leading SAFe® 4.5.1. This new update is all about conveying and coaching the key concepts of the SAFe framework and applying the spirit of continuous learning to the individuals. Let us take a look at the updates in the new courseware. But before knowing the new changes in SAFe® 4.5.1, it will be better to revise the older versions as well. SAFe 4.0- SAFe® 4.0 was implemented based on the output of the prior releases (SAFe® 3.0). This version had come up with the framework for the Lean System Engineering development branches into a single, more scalable and more modular framework. As SAFe® 4.5 version supports both Lean software and systems development, it is called SAFe 4.0 for Lean Software and Systems engineering. SAFe® 4.0 is for larger solutions including at least hundreds of practitioners for every value stream. It incorporates Team, Program, Portfolio and new value Stream level, though, SAFe® 3.0 is for littler value streams of around 100 people or less. It includes Team, Program and Portfolio level. SAFe 4.5- SAFe® 4.5 version is the outcome of the hundreds of implementations and feedback from the customers. SAFe® 4.5 version is proved to be more lean, Agile, delivering faster, better, reliable outputs, and more supportive in faster innovation than any of its predecessors. Also, this version can be configured according to your business needs. This version helped companies to: Test ideas more quickly (using Lean Startup cycle + Lean User Experience) Deliver more quickly (Scalable DevOps + Continuous Delivery Pipeline) Simplify governance and improve portfolio performance (using Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) and Lean budgets) This version is represented as a major breakthrough of development for the framework and has delighted and enjoyed a far-reaching prevalence, being as the #1 scaling system by VersionOne’s State of Agile report (the largest and longest-running Agility network in the world). New Leading and Implementing SAFe courses 4.5.1 released! Read the blog from @inbaro for all the details: https://t.co/Q6bEPdSst2 pic.twitter.com/sXIlHBOtgX — Scaled Agile (@ScaledAgile) March 19, 2018 The latest Leading SAFe 4.5.1 version- The introduction to the most recent version of SAFe® is based on the feedback from the Scaled Agile community. Following are a few of the updates in the Leading SAFe® 4.5.1 courseware- 1. Course workbook: The Scaled Agile Inc. has decided to provide the candidates with a real workbook, with organized space to write thoughts, notes, and complete exercises. They have also added exercise articles directly into the lessons, instead of asking students to refer to an appendix. 2. 2 new lessons added: The first lesson concentrates on creating the high-performing teams and programs. The second lesson is all about understanding the SAFe® Agilist (SA) exam, what it consists of, and benefits of the certification. 3. Trainer guide: For the Trainer Guide, the SAFe® community has included more educational slide notes instructing and running the exercises, and also key messages for a significant number of the slides, to make it simpler to get ready for and instruct the course. 4. Fresh look: The refreshed courseware utilizes a few distinct sorts of slides that use the most recent experiences into adapting best practices. Additionally, this can be more relevant for the instructors. 5. Changed LPM content: SAFe® community has updated Lesson no. 8, ‘Empowering a Lean Portfolio,’ with the trendy insights into Lean Portfolio Management (LPM). They made this lesson aligned with the update in the LPM and the related articles in the framework. Now it is easier to understand for the students. 6. Even lesson flow: The SAFe® community has redesigned one of the most crucial lessons, ‘Designing the Implementation,’ to create a friendly lesson flow. 7. New Course Delivery Enablement (CDE): With the arrival of this courseware, Scaled Agile has included a new set of enablement videos on the Community program concentrating not only on the latest changes but also on facilitating the exercises and educating on the most complex topic areas in the workshop. According to the Scaled Agile Inc., this framework is said to be helpful to all SAFe® Program Consultants (SPCs) and future SAFe Agilist (SA).
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Around 2 years prior, Scaled Agile Inc. launched SAFe® 4.0, a major upgrade as a methodology to expand the current Agile practices in the organizations. Fairly early on, it gained a widespread fra...
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Where Will Leading SAFe® 4.5 Be 1 Year From Now?
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Often we hear the larger and well-established organizations struggling to be more Agile. Actually, it is very tough to work around the command-and-control mindset and settled hierarchies. Stacked against the expectations of the current generation of software professionals, Agile adoption and the resultant transformation was far from achievable in the early years. In such cases, professional certifications turned out be the more profitable thing as the vast majority of such organizations were seeking ‘specialists’ to work in such situations. One such certification is the Scaled Agile Framework, more correctly and as per present times, Leading SAFe 4.5. SAFe gives a guide and best practices for embracing Agile at an organizational scale, and SAFe accreditations cover each part of Agile at every level. Fairly at an early stage, parallel to the peaking popularity of Agile, Leading SAFe started gaining a foothold in the corporate milieu. Over time, it has given a complete new meaning to Agility. With the future of Agile in mind, it is therefore imperative to foresee and pre-analyse some of the key aspects of Leading SAFe 4.5. One year from now, that way, we shall readily have the prospects and further future benefits of Leading SAFe in clear sight. SAFe can help organizations with the challenges of scaling agile @ScaledAgile https://t.co/X0rBHMc09R — SD Times (@sdtimes) February 7, 2018 Will Leading SAFe® 4.5 turn out be a one-size-fits-all technology? Though it is too early to strongly assert, Leading SAFe 4.5 will mostly resolve some of the long-lived issues pertaining to Agile implementation in organizations. Generally, Agile methodologies that worked for the small teams of 10 developers do not work for the multinational companies with a huge number of software teams spread over the globe. The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) settled this issue by providing a framework that can work for the larger and the complex organizations. This framework now has been counted in more than 70% of the US Fortune 100. Soon, the organizations saw the merit to incorporating Leading SAFe 4.5 principles into their frameworks. This marked the beginning of another enterprise-level transformation, mostly stimulated by the Scaled Agile Framework. Thereafter, the Leading SAFe 4.5 trends evolved and grew by leaps and bounds, and even before the current decade is out, a lot will be speculated about the future of Leading SAFe 4.5. How will Leading SAFe ® 4.5 shape your future? Debate abounds on how far Leading SAFe 4.5 can take an individual in today’s adapt-or-perish market. Nevertheless, as an established fact, the key to implementing the Leading SAFe 4.5 practices is to get certified. Many hundreds of professionals are keen to get the certification and find more job opportunities globally. Trends from the past few years have revealed that after SAFe 4.5 certification, individuals will get an opportunity to work as a- Lead Agile Coach Release Train Engineer Digital Transformation Program Manager/Agile Coach Agile Project Manager Scaled Agile Coach Agile Project Director IT Program Delivery Lead I/S Agile Project Manager Scaled Release Train Engineer Senior IT Project Manager Product Owner Agile Product Owner Certified Kanban/Scrum Master Test Engineer Coach Lean-Agile Coach SAFe Scrum Master Strategy and Delivery Project Manager Product Owner Analyst Program Agile Coach Content System and Software Manager Integration Engineer Program Portfolio Management Director Quality Payment Program Product Owner Analyst S&L Program Agile Coach Sr. Business Intelligence Big Data Engineer PMO Consultant These are undoubtedly some of the best Leading SAFe choices you can make after attaining Leading SAFe training. Leading SAFe 4.5 was introduced in June 2017. The primary aim of the version update was to solve the Lean software and system engineering problems. Since it is not just limited to the IT organizations, the number of organizations utilizing SAFe framework has been expanding exponentially ever since. Will the updated features of SAFe 4.5 be useful in the immediate future? They already are! Leading SAFe 4.5 has added the features that will focus on DevOps and Continuous Delivery Pipeline to meet the needs of the organization. This latest version of Leading SAFe allows an organization to: Use the Lean Startup Cycle and Lean User Experience(Lean UX) to test ideas faster. Using Scalable DevOps and Continuous Delivery Pipeline, organizations can deliver more quickly. With Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) and Lean Budget, enterprises can simplify governance and improve portfolio performance. One year from now, would you still want to shift to Leading SAFe 4.5? Even a few years from now, the attendees of the present Leading SAFe 4.5 training and workshops will reap the benefits. If you are working as an Agile team member in the upcoming years, the following will be the major reasons that will catalyze your transition to Leading SAFe 4.5. Become more flexible after introducing 4 new configurations Leading SAFe 4.5 has introduced a wide development environment which allows choosing the desired version level from the simplest to the most complex projects. This latest upgrade to the SAFe is an attempt to meet the challenges of the growing organizations. It has come up with 4 new configurations: Essential SAFe- this level concerns with the benefits of the organizations. Portfolio SAFe- prepares a strategy for the project, Agile operations, and Lean governance. Large solution- constructs big systems including multiple ARTs and Suppliers. Full SAFe- allow larger organizations to experience Lean-Agile benefit. Continuous Delivery Pipeline- The aim of the continuous delivery pipeline is to deliver the advanced features to the end user. The Continuous delivery pipeline consists of following 4 elements. 1. Continuous Exploration- Continuous exploration helps to get the market requirements and work accordingly. Collaborate, implement, synthesis and research are the major elements of this cycle. 2. Continuous Integration- In Continuous Integration, features are taken from the product backlog. Further, these features are tested and integrated into user environment. 3. Continuous Deployment- These elements are in use when the product is ready. This passes the same feature from the Continuous Exploration and the Continuous Integration elements to the production environment and makes that product ready for the users. 4. Release on-demand- Release on-demand element releases the product to the users immediately and evaluates the demand from the continuous exploration stage. Innovate more with Lean Start-up cycle and Lean UX The Lean Startup cycle and Lean UX gives the prescribed procedures to enhance rapidly and embrace distinctive levels of methodologies and gathers the input from the clients to enhance the quality and comprehend the better business results. Implementation Roadmap To wind up clearly, the SAFe lean enterprise is a thing of enormous significance. The latest version- SAFe 4.5 gives the Implementation Roadmap on an outlined fundamental arrangement of targets, values, administration procedures and general understanding. With a specific end goal to accomplishing long and short-term objectives in SAFe, the experts need to execute basic Roadmap methodologies. Backward Compatibility The most interesting feature of SAFe 4.5 is that it is a backward compatible. This will allow the organizations to experience additional benefits in future, without disturbing the current processes. Concluding Thoughts The developing interest for SAFe 4.5 in a wide range of enterprises will help you to comprehend the future prospect of the Leading SAFe. Certifications are just a pointer that somebody has put in efforts to study the foundational standards of this strategy and could exhibit that for a test. For any organization, a cultural-shift is not so natural. It requires greater investment to set a mindset. An Agile mindset. By getting the prerequisites of the organization at the market level and to make the things less demanding, you need to utilize the SAFe 4.5 certification in a legitimate way.
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Top 10 Things To Know About Leading SAFe 4.5
By KnowledgeHut Editor
In today’s fast-paced environment, organizations need a procedural framework that could fundamentally help their profitability. Many regard Agile framework as the main path for an effective enterprise development, a quick accomplishment of business objectives and fulfillment of client needs. It is difficult to understand the complete methodology at a glance, so organizations have initiated applying the Agile methodology to the team members gradually. In case of organizational change, it is hard to adopt the new things at once. Team members need a thorough knowledge of the SAFe practices, also it requires building new practices, leadership styles, and culture. SAFe quickens Lean-Agile change with the new Implementation Roadmap, which guides endeavors consistently. Agile Transitioning from Traditional methods of software development: Fig. Project success rates statistics Today, the Agile system is progressively discovering its place in software development ventures over the world. According to the State of Agile survey, 88% of the companies have adopted the Agile methodology, only 38% are implementing Agile practices for more than 75% of their projects. Here are the steps involved in Agile transitioning that will help you in smoothly transitioning from traditional methods: 1.Agile Awareness- This is the first step toward Agile adoption to spread the awareness of the Agile methodology. The basic step in transitioning to Agile is skipping what has been learned by you in years of the traditional approach of working. 2.Agile training- Providing training to the team members helps them to be familiar with the Agile practices and they will be more openly accept the changes. 3.Choosing a right approach- Before making a transition to Agile, it is best to abstain from completing a project 100%. Instead, organizations can make an incremental progress by choosing a trail aspect by selecting the Agile mode. This will lower the risk of transitioning from traditional approach to Agile approach. 4.Redefining the roles of the team- In an Agile team, team members should be familiar with their roles and the processes they need to implement in the project. This will make an easy transition. 5.Automating test processes- Automation testing is the key feature of an Agile methodology. While implementing automation, developers need to discuss with the testers wherever necessary for setting up the automation process. https://twitter.com/Deanleffingwell/status/925409309017612288 What is new in SAFe 4.5? SAFe 4.5 version is also known as SAFe for Lean Enterprises, as it provides a better way of raising an alignment and execution over the entire organization. Here are the benefits of upgrading to SAFe 4.5. 1. SAFe 4.5 is more lean and agile, more configurable and cultivates speedier innovation and learning. It enables organizations to confer better and faster business outcomes. 2. SAFe 4.5 is made to support all types of development environment. It supports from simplest to the toughest development environment. It has come up with four new configurations- Essential SAFe - an initial phase which starts just after realizing the benefits. Portfolio SAFe - adds portfolio level, strategy and investment funding, guidance on Agile programs, and Lean governance as a scenario. Large Solution SAFe - for building large systems that involve Agile Release Trains and Suppliers Full SAFe - for the largest firms those are seeking the benefits of the Lean-Agile enterprise. 3. SAFe 4.5 is better configured to match the organizational needs. It permits companies to perform the following very easily: Use the Lean Startup Cycle and Lean User Experience(Lean UX) to test ideas faster. Using Scalable DevOps and Continuous Delivery Pipeline, organizations can deliver more quickly. With Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) and Lean Budget, enterprises can simplify governance and improve portfolio performance. 4. SAFe 4.5 has provided a guide, which is called ‘SAFe Implementation Roadmap’. This guide contains 12 series articles that escorts the crucial steps that an enterprise can implement to achieve long-term goals, based on the change management techniques for getting success early in the project. 5. The more interesting and useful thing about SAFe 4.5 is that it is completely backward compatible. All you need to do is adopt advanced principles of SAFe 4.5, reserving the old practices to its original position. 6. SAFe 4.5 has come up with more innovations with Lean Startup and Lean UX. This coordination helps the organizations in commencing investments to form Minimum Viable Product(MVP). Additionally, feedback is carried out from the customers in order to form valuable decisions rapidly. 7. SAFe 4.5 is built-up with the combination of Lean ‘hypothesis-build-measure-learn’ and Scalable DevOps & Continuous Delivery delivers more inventive solutions energetically. Being a major organization, you can enhance several solution components with SAFe 4.5. 8. SAFe 4.5 maximizes the speed of product delivery, from initial phase to delivery, and from customer feedback to required improvements, offering a build-measure-learn feedback cycle. 9. SAFe 4.5 is more upgraded with the feature of quickest delivery using Scalable DevOps and Continuous Delivery Pipeline. 10. SAFe 4.5 always emphasizes on simplicity. While implementing SAFe in the entire organization, it allows working with unnecessary workflows and approval procedures that create bottlenecks. Reasons to Upgrade to SAFe 4.5: Organizations were seeking a specific path to gain faster results in fewer efforts. The current version (SAFe 4.0) was inefficient to manage this challenge. So, to overcome this challenge, Scaled Agile Inc. has introduced SAFe 4.5, the most improved version of SAFe 4.0. It is a decision made after the field research of 1.5 years. The field research consists of the users’ feedbacks and lots of implementations. Finally, the decision has made about SAFe 4.5 is that it is leaner, more Agile, and easily understandable and better at getting faster results as compared to its predecessors. About SAFe Agilist Certification: When it comes to Agile, you definitely cannot achieve everything overnight. The first vital step is to get laser-focused. The SAFe Agilist (SA) certification can be the best way to do it. The SAFe Agilist certification cost ranges from Rs. 20,000 to 24,000. SAFe Agilist Certification value- On completion of the SA training, you will- Learn how Lean, Agile, and Product Development flow form the SAFe foundation. Learn how to apply SAFe to scale Lean and Agile development in the enterprise. Identify and apply Lean-Agile mindset and principles. Learn to coordinate the development of large solutions. Learn to enhance your Lean-Agile leadership skills. Benefitted with 16 PDUs and 16 SEUs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTG4I6jUbj4 Summing it up We all know that switching to other methodology in an organization is difficult. As it needs to adopt new changes, leadership styles and the methods. Just to make the transition easy, SAFe works on Lean-Agile transformation with Implementation roadmap that guides on each critical steps to the organizations. The above-mentioned changes will help you to get an overview of the newest changes to the present framework.
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CSM, PSM, SSM, SASM - What Scrum Master Course Do I Choose?
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Scrum adoption is growing very fast and companies are looking for well qualified Scrum Masters. This is one of the main reasons to consider Scrum certification. One simple way to present your excellence is the Scrum Master certification that is perfectly tailored to the industry requirements, and of course, to your career trajectory. Currently, there are 4 primary Scrum Master certifications available. You might be in a confusion regarding the best course to take up for a superior career growth. Question yourself on some of the essentials before actually choosing the course: What does the particular certification mean? What are the prerequisites for this certification? What is the cost of this certification program? What will I achieve by taking this certification? Will this certification offer the biggest benefit for me? In this article, we will help you in choosing the best certification that suits your profile by comparing all the courses based on different aspects. CSM, PSM, SSM, SASM - What Scrum Master Course Do I Choose? https://t.co/hRgUIZfV1Z — विवेक कृष्णान (@vksvicky) May 17, 2017 All the 4 certifications are competing equally in the Scrum world. The above certification comparison demonstrates multiple facets of the in-demand Scrum certifications. Experts need to choose the course wisely based on their targets. For example, the target can be whether to: Get benefits in their job change or career or Reach greater heights in Scrum role by gaining in-depth knowledge Just choosing the right course is not enough for a better career growth, but choosing the right training provider will have a great impact on the success of a course. KnowledgeHut as a Global Registered Education Provider (REP) of Scrum Alliance offers the best training from Certified Scrum Trainers approved by Scrum Alliance. All the best for your future Scrum endeavours! 
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New Ideas For Scrum Master Day To Day Activities
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Large swathes of IT organizations are embracing Agile. This is both a good and bad news. Good news, for the many boons of Agile and Scrum known to all. Bad news, because you are no longer enjoying the benefits alone. Every day, every hour, more number of functional IT teams are making Agile work for them. Each in their own unique ways. So what is the only way to not lag behind in the Agile race? Always welcoming brand new ideas! Just like always, the beginning has to be done with the mainstay of the Agile team- The Scrum Master! If you are aware of the daily life of a Scrum Master, you already have the best of Agile cards to lay your hands on. The first and the best card is to relook and rethink the daily activities of a Scrum Master. Crossing this milestone will give you an idea of a few new entries in the existing Scrum Master’s checklist. The Scrum team consists of three roles- Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Team members. Everyone thinks that a team member who develops the software all day and a Product Owner who shapes the product all day, have full-time jobs. But based on assumptions, being a Scrum Master does not always mean having a full-time job. In any case, the role of the Scrum Master is highly important, as he/she manages the Scrum operations of the entire team. "A Day in the Life of a Scrum Master" https://t.co/IVoiKxEAfF by @Barryovereem on @LinkedIn — Jacek Durlik (@jacek_durlik) September 4, 2017 Let us take a look at a day in the life of a Scrum Master: Start the day with a ‘free and open mind’ Can ask a good question like “How can I facilitate creativity for the Scrum team to improve their lives?” Attend the Daily Scrum as a facilitator- You just need to listen to what things are being discussed in the meeting by team members. Consider some of the questions that are mentioned earlier. Based on the surveillance, you execute your next step. This might be coaching, facilitating, managing, problem-solving, conflict resolving, etc. Getting too busy and not noticing the concerned things is an activity which should not happen to a Scrum Master. The above-mentioned tasks should be the Scrum Master’s daily checklist. Collated below are some new ideas for Scrum Master day to day activities that can help improve your Agile practices. 1) Play dual roles: Scrum team members should always keep changing their area of expertise. Sometimes they should be able to choose a work which is outside their comfort zone. For example- If you are a User Interface developer (where you know all the secrets of the domain) then you can try to work on the data access code too. How to implement- Let us go with the above example. To enforce data access code, more than one team member has to work on a user story. Secondly, confine the user stories which are under ‘task in progress’, that is one user story should be smaller than the team size. Also, it can be implemented performing pair programming. Takeaways- Enforcing the thing which is out-of-the-box can help expand your knowledge. More people will come to know about all the aspects of the software (how a software works, what are the resources needed, etc.). This will increase the courage of the team member. The courage to venture beyond their boundaries. They can gradually perform tasks that are outside their expertise, lowering risks of failure, and enhancing team spirit. 2. Ask to check commit review: Whenever a developer writes code and wants to check-in that code, test, and document to the version control system, he/she asks a co-developer to review the changes first. The developer can implement this by adding ‘commit reviews’ to the ‘definition of done’. Also, they can refuse the user stories for which commit reviews are not mentioned (can be viewed as a version control system). Takeaways- At least one person has been aware of the changes, this means he/she may continue working on this particular topic if the situation demands. It increases ‘know-how transfer’. It will help increase the overall quality, as the peer developer can challenge the decision made by the prior developer. This leads to better and painless solutions. The original developer will go through the changes and explain them to this peer, which will definitely help both enhance their knowledge and skills. It increases understandability to reply to the queries of the peer developer. 3. Give awards and celebrate the victory: Being a Scrum Master, you can introduce the culture of celebrating a victory. For example- you may give little presents to the team (whole team, not only for the individuals) for achieving a Sprint goal. This will increase the motivation of the whole team. 4. Managing test-driven development: You can introduce test-driven development for developing the software. Takeaways- A team can work in parallel with the use of mock objects, with no need to wait for the availability of real dependencies. A team can refactor the code to initiate new functionality without changing the already existed functionality. Defect count will get reduced due to the double check done by the developers. 5. Arrange workshops on coding guidelines, designs, tools and different engineering practices: Arrange workshop for the team members where you can discuss or try a new tool, current architecture, latest technology, build process and many more. This can be implemented by reserving time for the workshop and organizing an arbitrator (can be from the team). Takeaways- Built team spirit, where a team can perform their own way. All team members will commence working in a team way rather than individual way, which will enhance team-wide consistency. Team can stay committed to each topic. 6. Coding DOJOS: In a Coding Dojo, the entire team gathers together in a discussion room. Two developers from the team perform pair programming at a computer which is connected to a projector for other team members. The pair is whirled every 15 minutes. In this way, team solves each other’s queries to develop engineering skills. This can be implemented by reserving time for the event (coding Dojo) and arranging a moderator. Takeaways- The team will get an idea about how to develop a software. Know-how transfer can be achieved on all topics related to software creation. 7. Testing day: When there is a lack of testers in the team, you can introduce ‘Testing day’ in the organization. Let each team member test the application and as a compensation for that work, that team member is freed from all coding tasks. Takeaways- Complete focus will be on testing. No task switching is allowed to get more efficient testing output and increased quality. As entire team participates in testing, they can share individual responsibility for the quality. 8. Urgent call for Scrum meeting: Involve team members whenever there is an emergency to mitigate the risks which are inhibiting the Sprint goal. In that case, all the team members have to drop the current task and join the meeting. Takeaways- Big errors can be taken care of quickly. All the team members will get convinced that they are not alone. 9. Introduce WIP (Work-In-Progress) Limits on the Scrum Board: When there forms a stack of the user stories on the Scrum Board, you can put forward WIP limits on the boards. These limits will compel you to take care of the user stories that might block a flow. E.g. Developers may assist the testers by writing automated tests on the scenarios that have to be tested. This can be enforced by- Writing the limits on the Scrum board Calling an emergency Scrum meeting whenever a limit is violated Takeaway- The status of more user stories will be ‘done’, removing them from the ‘to-be-done tasks’ list. 10. Kanban Scrum hybrid: Rate the team capacity (in %) for working on user stories. So the PO can make use of this rating for the unplanned items that need to be finished early without delaying or canceling a Sprint. Once the current task is over, team members are compelled to take an item from the fast-lane (till the reserved time is utilized), before working on the regular Sprint backlog items. If the reserved time is not sufficient to end the backlog items, then the PO can either wait for the next sprint or cancel the sprint. FYI- Kanban is a tool which organizes work efficiently. This tool breaks work to a small chunks and uses a Kanban Board (similar to Scrum Board) to represent the progress of the work. Takeaways- Can earn benefits from the Sprint planning and release planning. The team can stay focused on a Sprint goal. 11. Manage time boxes of Spikes: Make sure that the time boxes set for Spikes are taken care by the team members. Also, ensure that the user stories are prioritized. Try to show the results to the team members during each retrospective. Takeaways- Transparency in the team’s work. If the user stories are prioritized then it will not only maximize the value of the product at the end of each Sprint but also minimize a list of the pending tasks. Following the time-boxes not only helps in planning the future spikes but also holding a Sprint goal. 12. Fixing bugs before working on user story task: Initially, all the team members need to fix the bugs before working on a user story. Takeaways- Bugs are not piled up on the Scrum Board. Motivation will be high. Quality will be better if the defects are zero. 13. Vertical User stories + Specialist → Pair Programming: While working on a user story, if one domain expert shares his/her knowledge with another domain expert, then the knowledge transfer can be easy to the other team members. The user stories and specialist forms pair programming. At the Scrum meeting, you can decide the pairs and their respective tasks. Takeaways- Knowledge can be transferred from the specialist of the team. The whole user story can be implemented consistently due to the pair programming concept. 14. Personal Sprint goals: Every team member selects personal Sprint goals, once the retrospective is over. Typically, personal goals are related to the improvement in the engineering skills or new tools. Achieving these goals makes the team members more efficient. Some of the primary goals are- Learning Visual Studio Learning Resharper tool Providing good method/variable/tests, for each Sprint Preparing small methods, for each Sprint Takeaways- Every team member can learn something from each small Sprint also. Increased motivation of the team members. 15. Know the difference between Spikes and User Stories: You should always remember that Spikes have a fix time-box and an estimated result, whereas, User stories have a fixed result and an estimated time. So you can use User stories when you know what you want and Spikes when you want to plan the unknown. Takeaways- Spikes allow you to plan a Sprint. Work hours will not be wasted. Better focus due to fixing functionalities It allows more disciplined manner of working (i.e team members can either get the functionality fast or get an information within the defined time limit). Do’s and Don’ts for the Scrum Master- Concluding Thoughts- The role of the Scrum Master is still shrouded in a mystery. It is said that the Scrum Masters are the voice of the Scrum framework at the team level. Scrum is indeed all about continuous improvement and learning. It is also about adding new hacks to the working culture. When it comes to Agile and Scrum, you definitely cannot achieve everything overnight. All you need is to get laser-focused on the newly incorporated Scrum practices and think of innovative ways to spearhead your team to greater altitudes. It’s time to get started with the new! 
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7 Deadly Sins Of The Scrum Master’s Day To Day Activities
By KnowledgeHut Editor
The cultural shift to Agile and Scrum is occurring everywhere. This permits Scrum values and principles to infuse within the corporate confines. However, the mass adoption of Scrum and Agile methodologies has resulted in numerous inescapable sins. The organizations that have adopted Scrum on a large scale conducted industry-wide surveys and have come up with 7 deadly sins of Scrum that can have a detrimental impact on project health. Recent Agile and Scrum failure- It is best to present with facts. Collated below are the data drawn from PMI’s 2017 Pulse of the Profession Report (Version 1). The figure below shows statistics from the survey conducted to understand the most important factors responsible for Scrum failures. Meanwhile, Agile and Scrum experts have investigated some primary reasons that trigger these failures. Here is a summarized information of seven deadly sins of project management and how to avoid these sins of project planning. Scrum Master is supposed to be an intermediary between the team members and the Product Owner. So Scrum Master should avoid mentoring the Product Owner. Scrum Master should avoid ‘command and control’ leadership style. Daily Stand-up is arranged to discuss daily tasks. So instead of taking updates individually, Scrum Master should collectively discuss what can be done to accomplish the project target. A Scrum Master should not let his team burn out completely. Scrum Master is responsible for managing a team. It is observed that Scrum Master is taking a credit for partially finished work in the current Sprint by partially splitting the user story points. This is against the tenets of the Agile Manifesto. Sometimes, a person who doesn’t believe in Agile and Scrum principles plays the role of a Scrum Master. Scrum Master always facilitates the Sprint retrospectives in the same stereotyped pattern. Playing the role of a Scrum Master without understanding the behaviour required to play the role of a Scrum Master. Scrum Master solving all the obstacles for the team. Scrum Master not bringing the awareness of Engineering practices to the team. Scrum Master doing a demo during a Sprint review. Scrum Master ignoring time limits to finish a respective task. Scrum Master allowing managers for Sprint retrospectives. Scrum Master assigning tasks to the development team. Scrum Master allowing managers to attend Sprint Retrospectives. Scrum Master trying to influence the team estimates. Scrum Master letting the team alone to commit to Sprint deliverables. Scrum Master sometimes doing planning for the team instead of facilitating them. Sometimes, Scrum Master behaves unnecessarily authoritative and over-enthusiastic about Scrum. Scrum Master acting as a sole solution provider. Gluttony, greed, sloth... The 7 deadly sins of software development by #RightScale scrum master + tech lead http://t.co/0teq8ddm — RightScale (@rightscale) June 4, 2012 Roles and Responsibilities of Scrum Master- The only way to avoid committing the deadly Scrum sins is to adhere to the basic roles and responsibilities of a Scrum Master. Below we have discussed some of the key Scrum Master roles- Facilitates the meeting and Scrum ceremonies for the team members. Carries out conversation between the team members and the stakeholders. Mentors teams on Scrum practices. Promotes ways for continuous improvements. Protects teams from external interruptions. Plays a key role in resolving conflicts between the team members. Appreciates when the team does well. Celebrates the team’s success Carries out face-to-face communication. Fosters team collaboration Provides coaching in Scrum adoption. Reflects Agile and Scrum values to the team. Assists the team to improve continuously. Acts as a catalyst for change. Now, let us see what a Scrum Master actually does. Here is a quick overview of the day-to-day activities of a Scrum Master- With a fresh mind, a Scrum Master can start his/her day. SM will ask the first question to the team members- “How can I facilitate creativity for the Scrum team to improve their lives?” Attending the Scrum meeting as a facilitator for the team members, an SM just needs to listen to their project-related concerns. Consider earlier mentioned questions for further improvement. Based on the observations, decide your next step. The next step includes coaching, facilitating, managing, problem-solving, conflict resolving, etc. Help out team wherever they lag. Educate the team members. Drive organizational change. Last Words- The main objective of the Scrum Master is to ensure that the project is running smoothly within an allocated time and budget. The role of the Scrum Master is still a matter of discussion. Usually, people see Scrum Master as a facilitator only, but firstly he/she is a coach and then facilitator. The Scrum Master plays a key role in protecting team members from the aforementioned deadly sins of the project. Certifications like CSM and other project related training and courses can be the best way to become laser-focused on Scrum. Choose any related certification and learn how to establish an open communication channel, make the project scope clear, protect the team from external disruptions and remove critical project blockades. 
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Most Recent Updates In PMBOK® Guide And PMP® Classes By KnowledgeHut
By KnowledgeHut Editor
The Project Management Body Of Knowledge guide (PMBOK® guide) is the PMI's lead distribution and is a major asset for successful project management in any enterprise. Recently, the guide has been refreshed to cast back the most recent practices in project management. As per the stakeholders' interests in including Agile practices in the guide, the PMI® has presented the best Agile practices alongside the traditional approaches to project management. We are pleased to announce that KnowledgeHut will also help you standardize your Project Management skills as we are starting PMP® classes in the light of the PMBOK® guide- Sixth Edition in April 2018! Interesting Fact: A PMBOK® guide is the defacto standard on project management. It complies with American National Standard Institute (ANSI) standard and is endorsed as the GOLD standard in project management. Reasons behind the changes in PMBOK guide PMI® overhauls the PMBOK® guide at regular intervals to overcome the challenges due to varying trends and practices in the project management. PMI® is managed by volunteers. The latest change in PMBOK®-sixth version has been achieved by the endeavors of the volunteer base. These volunteers are honing project managers from various organizations. What is new in PMBOK® guide- 6th edition? Collated below are the upcoming changes in the PMBOK®- 6th edition guide. 1) New chapter added In PMBOK® guide-6th edition, a new chapter based on the role of the Project Manager is added to the guide. This part focuses on an effective leadership that includes necessary capabilities, experience, and skill-set to become a great project manager. 2) Updates in the Knowledge areas. There were overall 10 knowledge areas in the previous version. These knowledge areas are exactly the same in PMBOK® guide- 6th edition, but two of these have been renamed in the revised version. These are highlighted in the table below: Now, every knowledge area has 4 additional sections as follows- Key concepts Trends and emerging practices Tailoring Considerations Considerations for Agile/Adaptive environments 3) Updates in the Processes. Three new processes have been appended to the PMBOK® guide- 5th edition as follows: 4) Updates in process names There are 6 processes renamed in PMBOK® guide-6th edition, but the content of these processes is still the same. Below are the renamed processes in the PMBOK®guide-6th edition- #PMP Exam Change: Test on the #PMBOK® Guide – Fifth Edition while you still can. https://t.co/gX9DvqVNHv #pmot — PMI (@PMInstitute) February 28, 2018 PMP® exam outline with the advent of the PMBOK® guide- 6th edition The exam pattern of PMP® will get changed under the following situations. When there is a latest release of PMBOK Just now we have gone through the changes in the PMBOK® guide-6th edition. A few concepts have been added, altered and updated. Therefore, the exam pattern must be updated according to the modified content. Role depiction study- PMI® promotes and practices constant change. Along these lines, you see the PMBOK version changing like clockwork, as it has now changed to PMBOK® 6th release. Changes in the exam content- The exam pattern whereupon the PMP® exam is based depends on the Role Depiction study. The latest exam was led by PMI® in 2015. Therefore, due to the changes in the PMBOK® guide-6th edition, the exam pattern will also get changed. CAPM Exam: The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® exam is an entry-level credential in Project Management. The CAPM® exam demonstrates knowledge of the underlying principles and terminology within the PMBOK® Guide. While the knowledge of advanced project management processes are tested in PMP®, CAPM® is more foundational. With the advent of the PMBOK® guide-6th edition, the CAPM® exam has also undergone some changes in pattern. When will the PMP®exam pattern change? PMP® exam will be lined up with the PMBOK® guide-6th edition. But this change will happen simply after the first quarter of 2018. Up until then, you will be permitted to take the PMP® certification exam in the light of PMBOK® guide release. In case you are already PMP® certified, you need to be aware of the updates in PMBOK® guide-6th edition. This will be very helpful to guide the team in the projects, as a Project Manager. Renewal of the PMP® certificate: If you attend the workshop based on the changes in PMBOK® guide-6th edition, it will allow you to acquire Professional Development Units (PDUs). These PDUs are used for certification renewal. Summing It Up The 6th edition of the PMBOK® guide has filled numerous spaces, defined terms and processes more uniformly over the knowledge areas. Till date, you must have been armed with all the necessary Project Management skills. Yet, probably not much was happening in your career. Perhaps there were a few hacks you may have missed out as a Project Management practitioner. Register today to get PMP® certified based on the PMBOK® 6th edition! All the best for your Project Management endeavours! 
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The Evolution Of Kanban: A Study Of The Principles & Practices
By Leon Tranter
As a part of the overall move towards Agile software development and related disciplines, many people are interested in Kanban. Some are applying it as a part of Agile, others are looking into it as an alternative to Scrum. There is a lot of confusion about this simple yet effective tool, so this article will clear up these misconceptions and provide a quick crash course into the essentials of Kanban. Where did Kanban come from? Kanban originated in Japan in the 1940s. People from the Toyota car manufacturer noticed that supermarkets used a simple but effective system based around small physical cards to indicate when something was out of supply or needed to be ordered. They applied this system in their own manufacturing process to help visualise work and control flow. Kanban became a part of Lean Thinking and the Toyota Production System. It was later popularised amongst software developers in 2010 by David Anderson with his book “Kanban: successful evolutionary change for your business”. What really is Kanban? Kanban is a simple but powerful system for visualising and managing work. It is not just related to software development, in fact, it is not specifically related to development of any kind. It can be used in a restaurant, a supermarket or a car factory. It has four principles and five practices. As opposed to Scrum, which involves revolutionary change, Kanban is about evolutionary change, starting from right where you are now (in fact, that is one of the fundamental principles: start off by changing nothing whatsoever! You won’t find any organisation on earth that will resist that change). It is fundamentally about visualising work and then finding ways to improve the flow of work through a system. Nice visualization of the Kanban principles and practices pic.twitter.com/WbDMSoRfk5 — maciej sowiński (@maciej_sowinski) January 13, 2016 The Four Principles of Kanban This section will discuss the four fundamental principles behind Kanban. They are all essential to understanding and implementing the practices. Fortunately, they are simple and can fit into any organisation or system. Start with what you do now As mentioned, Kanban is a method for gradually improving an existing workflow or system. So you start with whatever you are doing now - whether simple or complex, big or small. You can use Kanban alongside or on top of any existing framework or system you are using - Scrum, Waterfall (yes Waterfall!), or anything, really. Many people believe they have to choose between Scrum or Kanban - untrue! You can use them together. Agree to pursue incremental, evolutionary change As opposed to systems like Scrum or Extreme Programming, that start out by fundamentally changing the structure and behaviour of organisations, Kanban is about evolutionary change, one small increment at a time. This can make it well-suited to cumbersome organisations that resist large risky changes. Respect the current roles, responsibilities, and titles Kanban doesn’t start off by renaming people or inventing strange new roles. Everyone gets to keep not only their job but their job title too. This further helps resistance to change. Encourage acts of leadership at all levels This is a subtle but very important principle. Improvement is the responsibility of everyone in the organisation, from the CEO down to the receptionist. You might get to keep your current job title and responsibilities, but you also now have an additional responsibility: leadership, which is really about empowerment and improvement. The Five Practices of Kanban Unlike Agile, which only has values and principles, Kanban has actual practices that you can employ, starting from day one. Visualise the workflow This is the most important step in all of Kanban, and is at the core of the whole system: visualising work. This was trivially easy to do in Toyota car manufacturing plants: the work was cars lying around in various states of semi-construction. For knowledge work like software development, marketing or design, it is much harder to visualise. This can let work accumulate and create huge blockages without anyone being aware. So visualise the work! This will make it easy to see where work is piling up and where problems and bottlenecks are. The best way to do this is on a physical board, using tokens such as index cards or post-it notes. Putting the work in an electronic tool might seem convenient but when the computer is switched off or minimised, the visualisation of the work is gone. The bigger and more physical, the better! You want to aim for information radiators (that push information out to the organisation) rather than information refrigerators (that preserve information away from people’s eyes). The most common way to visualise the work is with a Kanban board that has vertical swimlanes to represent states of work. You can then place cards on the board to represent the actual work item. Here is an example of the simplest of Kanban boards, with lanes for To Do, Doing and Done: Here is another example of a board, this time with some extra lanes, numbers that indicate Work in Progress Limits, and cards marked as being Blocked. Limit WIP Limiting WIP (WIP stands for Work In Progress) is another key practice of Kanban. People often think that we want to maximise work in progress - that means everybody is busy and lots is getting done, right? Well, if you have lots of WIP, then everyone will probably be very busy, but that isn’t really valuable. We want work in a Done state, not in a “Doing” state. And the best way to ensure that is to actually REDUCE the amount of Work in Progress! It might sound counterintuitive, but it is true. Lots of WIP means lots of handoffs, queues, bottlenecks and task-switching. This all means not much getting actually Done. Minimising WIP means you can maximise flow, which maximises the amount of work Done. And that’s the true goal. Manage Flow Kanban focuses on reducing WIP in order to maximise flow. If you want lots of work to get to Done but don’t want lots of work in a Doing state, you have to reduce the amount of time it takes for work to go from Doing to Done. This is called Cycle Time. Kanban practitioners have many tools they can use to improve flow and reduce cycle time, and these will often become clear after you have visualised the work. They include eliminating approvals and handoffs, swarming on complex slow tasks, identifying bottlenecks, putting WIP limits on Kanban lanes, reducing wait time between tasks, and reducing queues. Make Process Policies Explicit As you implement new rules and policies to improve flow, ensure you make these explicit. If you have a Definition of Done, get people to agree to it and publish it. If you change the rules about approving a document, make sure this is understood and explicitly described. Improvements will fall away and get misused if they are not clearly articulated and understood. Improve Collaboratively, Evolve Experimentally Improving is a collaborative team effort, not something randomly forced on people by some arbitrary management edict. It should be implemented by teams in an iterative experimental effort. Teams need to feel they are in an environment where experimentation is encouraged and it is “safe to fail”, or nobody will try making genuine changes. I hope you have enjoyed this crash course in Kanban - many people are using this system to great effect. If you want to know more, I would recommend the books Kanban by David Anderson, or Kanban in Action by Joakim Sunden and Marcus Hammarberg. 
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The Evolution Of Kanban: A Study Of The Principles & Practices
Agile ManagementHow To Earn More PDUs After The Completion of PMP Certification
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Are you a PMI® credential holder? Do you also hold a PMP® certification? Then this article will be useful for you! All PMI® certifications except CAPM® certification (Certified Associate in Project Management), need holders to string along with the Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Program. The aim of this program is to ensure that your skills and certified capabilities are up-to-the-minute. Generally speaking, it involves earning PDUs as well. PMP® Certification- If you are planning to take the PMP® training, it will be worth the cost and your efforts. Various industries use PMP® as a standard for project managers. PMP® certification entitles you to work in any environment and with any methodology. The PMP® certification covers the various project management techniques and skills that are essential for project managers. The PMP® course creates your impression as- It indicates your superiority in using the PMBOK® guide It indicates that you know the best practices for project management Salary of the PMP certified- According to the 10th edition of Project Management Salary survey by PMI®, it is estimated that the PMP® certified project manager is getting more than non-PMP certified project managers. The average annual salary for a PMP® certified professional is $108,200 per year. They earn 20% more than the non-PMP® certified individuals. Here is the salary report of the PMP® certified according to PMI® report. Once you have sailed through the PMP® exam, your 3-year PMP® re-accreditation cycle starts. You need to earn at least 60 PMP® PDUs with a specific end goal to effectively renew your PMP® accreditation. Usually, 1 PDU is equivalent to 1 hour of PDU activity participation. But, there are points of confinement to certain PDU activities. We will see ways to earn more PDUs in details. But before that, let’s know what is PDU? Do you know? 1 PDU equates 1 hour of PDU activity participation What is PDU? A PDU is a Professional Development Unit. Once you earn your PMP® certification, the next step is to maintain the PMP® credential. This credential is valid only for 3 years. So to renew the certification, you need to report 60 PDUs to the PMI® before completing the third year. If missed to renew, it leads to suspension of the certificate. Ways to earn PDUs- Earning PDUs for PMP certification is a hassle-free and less expensive process and some PDUs can be earned free of cost. PDUs can be earned in two ways- A. Free PDUs B. Paid PDUs A. Free PDUs Free PDUs are categorized into 2 sections, 1) Education PDUs: Education PDUs can be earned in following 3 ways- Online or in-person courses and training offered by PMI’s Registered Education Provider (REPs) Continuing Education (professional meetings and local events) Self-driven learning From Education PDUs, you can earn maximum 35 PDUs. Out of 35 PDUs, 8 PDUs consists of technical Project Management skills + 8 PDUs in Leadership skills + 8 PDUs in strategic business management skills. These 3 skills-sets are referred as a ‘PMI Talent Triangle’ by PMI®. 2) Giving back PDUs: Giving back PDUs includes the sharing of knowledge and applying skills to contribute to the profession. This includes- Creating knowledge Giving a presentation Creating content Working as a practitioner Sharing knowledge Volunteering From giving back PDUs, you can earn maximum 25 PDUs, but only 8 PDUs can be earned as working as a practitioner during 3 years. B. Paid PDUs Paid PDUs is another way of earning PDUs after PMP® certification. The second way consists of not only gaining the project management knowledge but also earning more PDUs. This way of earning PDUs is more effective than the free PDUs in terms of gaining PDUs too early. Also, this enhances your skill-set along with the PDUs. Really looking forward to the discussion on maintaining my PMP certification @pmiirl — Joanne Cronin (@dudara) July 6, 2017 Has it come to your notice? Paid PDU approach is more effective than the free PDUs, as it not only acts as a skill enhancer for an individual but also helps in earning PDUs too early. Here are some of the Project management related courses that can help learn more about project management and earn more skills. 1) PRINCE2® course: You can earn 16 PDUs from this course. PRINCE2® (PRojects In Controlled Environments) is a Project Management methodology that allows you to handle any complex project in a diverse environment. This method is practiced worldwide and the certifications are considered authentic if the training institute is an Accredited training organization (ATO) of PEOPLECERT and a certified partner of Axelos. 2) ITIL® course: You can earn 25 PDUs from this course. ITIL® training provides understanding of the project related best practices and implementing these practices to streamline the processes for continuous improvement. It is highly recommended that you take this course from the institute which is an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) of PEOPLECERT and a Certified Partner of Axelos for ITIL® Trainings. 3) PMI-ACP® course: You can earn 21 PDUs from this course. The Project Management Institute- Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® is a widely accepted certification in the Agile community. This course shows the competency of an individual in carrying out a project in any circumstances using Agile practices. For this course, select the institute which is a Registered Education Provider (REP) of Project Management Institute (PMI®). Being a PMI® member, if you are PMP, PfMP, PgMP, PMI-PBA certified then you need to earn at least 35 PDUs from Education Category, 25 PDUs from Given back to the profession category 8 PDUs from each category of Talent triangle. Also, you can grab maximum 8 PDUs from ‘Giving back to the Profession’ by ‘Working as a Practitioner’ and all 60 PDUs from education category. Do you know? PDUs can also be earned by watching recorded webinars from projectmanagement.com. These PDUs will get recorded under the ‘PDUs awarded section’ on your account page. Hence , no need to report them separately. PMI membership comes with professional membership of project management.com. Future Demand for PMP professionals- According to the Project Management Institute®, the demand for project management professionals will explode by 2020. Below is the graphical representation of the new job vacancies worldwide for project management role. Bringing it all together PMI® is a registered trademark of the Project Management, Inc. and PMP® and its logo are accredited features of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) which are enrolled in the US and other countries. You need to keep in mind that your PDUs can be examined and you could be asked to provide justification of your learning any time. So, it is better to earn your PDUs only from accredited organizations. There are various genuine ways to learn, create and claim PDUs to stand out in the market. I hope this information will help you in earning PDUs the way you want!
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How To Earn More PDUs After The Completion of PMP Certification
Project ManagementPeak with PMP: Reach New Heights With KnowledgeHut’s Top Courses
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Project management professional certification is one of the most reputable certifications across the globe that proves your efficiency and productivity in project management in your workplace. One should meet the following criteria in order to receive the certificate: Secondary degree holders: Should have at least 5 years of experience in project management, with 7,500 hours in leading projects and 35 hours of project management education. Four-year degree holders: Should have at least 3 years of experience in project management and spent 4,500 hours in leading projects and 35 hours of project management education. If you fulfill the above PMP credential requirements then you can apply for the PMP certification online at https://www.pmi.org/. But, ensure you make a well-defined study plan that helps to complete your PMP certification process successfully. The 35-hour project management education program is the crucial factor for your success. Opting the course from a Registered Education Provider like KnowledgeHut can help you build the foundation for the exam by equipping you with the knowledge of PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge). This training program will not only make a candidate eligible for PMP exam but also provide ample insights to shoot your target. Schedule your PMP certification exam on successful completion of the course. The exam consists of 200 objective-type questions which need to be finished within 4 hours. And, you need to answer a minimum of 137 questions correct out of 175. You will get the PMP certification as soon as you see ‘passed’ on the screen. You need to claim 60 PDUs for every 3 years in order maintain the certification and your 3-year recertification cycle begins immediately once you receive the certificate. According to a study conducted by PMI Pulse of the Profession, enterprises are getting their projects done on time, within scope, and within budget which has at least one-third of PMP certified project managers. This is because a project manager is responsible for planning, organizing, leading, monitoring or controlling, estimating cost, developing the budget, and managing risks and reports of the project. A certified project manager can play multiple roles depending on the requirements of the project such as project manager, program manager, portfolio manager, functional manager, project sponsor, project officer, and delivery manager. The demand for Project management profession is growing faster than any other occupations. Holding a PMP certification proves that you understand the global language of project management and helps to connect with a community of experts, organizations, and professionals worldwide.
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Project ManagementThe Personal Agile Transformation: An Agile Journey To Productivity
By Jim Stewart
Much is made lately of the fact that some organizations are making the transformation to Agile, finding the greater emphasis on self-organizing teams, incremental deliverables and maximal business value compelling. However, whenever one reads about this transformation, it’s usually from the perspective of the organization and how Agile impacts it as a whole. But while from the outside it would appear that an organization is some faceless monolithic structure, we know that it is comprised of living, breathing people who themselves deliver the goods and services that the organization provides. And so, it seems important to consider what the impact is on those who must deal with their own personal Agile transformation. I have been performing traditional project management for over twenty years. I teach project management as well, and I’ve always been fond of telling my students that project management is, like accounting, a mature profession. Accountants talk about debits and credits and the only thing that really changes periodically is the tax code. The lingua franca of project management is, and for many years has been, artifacts such as Gantt charts and Work Breakdown Structures. But to a great extent, the ground has started to shift under the feet of traditional (plan-driven or waterfall) project managers, especially in the last few years. This is because the Agile approach, initially defined in a manifesto in 2001, has really begun to establish itself in corporations. Not, I would say, to the extent that it is replacing traditional methods and not everywhere. But significantly enough that project managers now need to be not only conversant in it but must also begin to consider being trained in it and getting some experience. (Its greater recognition in that bastion of traditional project management, PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge, Sixth Edition, is a fairly significant development). On a personal level, I got my Certified Scrum Master certification in early 2013 but never used it, at least not initially. It wasn’t so much that I was opposed to Scrum as much as that I was working in traditional project management and hadn’t really witnessed first-hand the revolution under my own feet. But gradually I began to realize that there was going to be a significant shift in the direction of the use of Agile and that in order to stay conversant – and, I might add employed – it would be necessary to start getting exposed to Agile projects and working in them. And in thinking about it, I realized that perhaps the very first thing I had to contend with in Agile was the fact that not only is the project manager role not quite as significant, in fact, there is no defined PM role as such. In the Scrum variant, there are only three defined roles – Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development Team. When I got my Scrum certification, I realized even then that it was a different type of role. As a project manager, I might – and should – do all the planning with my team. But when it comes time to decide who did what and when, that was always my job. It is very much of a command and control structure. And not only did I expect to lead the team, the team expected to be led. But in Agile it’s quite different. In that role, I am much more of a facilitator or coach than I am a driver of the team. The team is self-organizing, meaning that while I can help remove impediments for them, it is not my job to tell them what to do as such. It is their job to figure out what to do as a team and for the Scrum Master to facilitate and coach. Find some useful tips on how to succeed with your Agile transformation below- This is a major shift, not only for the project manager but also for the team. For the project manager, he or she must stop being directive and start being facilitative. For a lot of PMs, this is a very challenging transition. They don’t know how not to direct. And as likely as not, if they have been a PM for a long time, they are very much used to using a scheduler such as MS Project. But a Scrum team doesn’t necessarily need such a tool, preferring workflow tools such as Jira to track progress. The challenge is that the traditional project manager must hold back on telling the team what to do when they ask. He or she can remove impediments when they arise. But his or her best advice when asked what a team member should do is “take it to the team.” In a sense, he or she has to rethink what he knows and throw some of his or her training out the window. Be a Scrum Master, Not a Scrum Manager https://t.co/ohOBBzH5Lb #agile #scrum #dev @HyperRTs @DNR_CREW pic.twitter.com/XrmsCAdzwK — Seth G. (@Nicko_iCorplife) October 14, 2017 And it isn’t just the PM that may have a problem adapting to this new reality. Imagine the team member who is used to being told what to do in a hierarchical situation. Now he or she is faced with, to a certain extent, being self-directed. Some prefer not to go through this experience. And while Agile can be used for a variety of projects, it still tends to be heavily used in software development environments. And some developers, for example, used to working alone, are now expected to meet every day not only with the team but with the business. For some, this is outside their comfort zone. I spoke to a woman at an Agile conference who advised me that several developers on her team asked to be moved or left the company when Agile came in. I think the main takeaway here is embracing change and adapting. (Ironically, hallmarks of Agile itself.) Some people just prefer to do things the way they’ve always done them. And then when change overtakes them – as surely it is doing in an Agile world – they are unable to make an adjustment and wind up on the outside looking in. Once I realized that I needed to get into this world, I made this transition not only by getting trained but by adopting an Agile mindset. (Which is what Agile coaches help teams do.) I started reading everything I could get my hands on, networked as much as I could and then when the time came, leveraged that knowledge and my years in project management into a role within a company that, while Agile-ready, still saw the value of both approaches. And when I let go of the need to be in control – and realized I needed to be a coach and facilitator - I found that things just fell into place.
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The Personal Agile Transformation: An Agile Journey To Productivity
Agile ManagementAre You Delivering Potentially Shippable Product Each Sprint?
By Ridhi Chhabra
By the end of each iteration, a Scrum team is expected to produce a Potentially Shippable Product. As we know Agile methodologies emphasizes on “Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation”. When we talk about working software, it is both complete and potentially shippable. Agile methodologies emphasizes on working software which is both complete and potentially shippable due to following 3 reasons: It encourages feedback It helps a team gauge it’s progress It allows the product to ship early if desired In order to ensure, we are delivering a Potentially Shippable product at the end of the sprint, we must understand what potentially shippable means. Defining Potentially Shippable As per Scrum Inc, a Potentially Shippable Product is the outcome of the Product Backlog Items delivered at each Sprint. Delivering Potentially Shippable Product at each Sprint is essential to the Scrum because when work is divided into simple pieces it can be finished in a short iterations. As per Mike Cohn, "potentially shippable" and "shippable" are not the same thing. Some large or complex projects will require the use of "release sprint" or "hardening sprint" at the end of a release cycle (say 6 two-week sprints then a 2-week release sprint). The release sprint is not a dumping ground for sloppy work; rather it is a place where some hardening of the system can occur. Let’s have a look at some of the guidelines here: Organizations define their own ‘definition of done’ for every product and project. However, there are some guidelines that are applicable for almost all the Scrum projects in most of the organizations. Potentially Shippable means Tested! There can be no situation where a product is delivered without being tested. By the end of the Sprint, the delivered product increment needs to be bug free. If needed by the Product Owner, the feature should be a bug free, it can be released to the beta users or the stakeholders to review. Potentially shippable does not mean cohesive Just because we know that the product is potentially shippable, this doesn’t mean that people wants us to actually ship it. Many times it takes 2, 3 or more sprints for a feature set to come together to be useful. However, during the Sprints leading up to that point, the team should still strive for a product to be potentially shippable. The #Scrum team as a whole is responsible for delivering a working increment of the product at the end of each sprint http://t.co/NqnOc7JeUt — Manifesto (@ManifestoLondon) September 16, 2014 Potentially shippable means integrated A potentially shippable product doesn’t exist as different collections of source code. On a project, where multiple teams are working, the teams should define the statement of done such that it includes integrating development steams. So, Integration should be done continuously throughout the sprint. Does Potentially Shippable means Shippable? Well, when we define the ‘definition of Done’, We want it to be a Potentially Shippable product. This doesn’t mean that it has to be shippable. Whether the product needs to be shipped or not, that’s a decision taken by the Product Owners, or Business Owners. Hence, Potentially shippable is a state of confidence, that the product delivered at the end of the Sprint, is so Done that it’s Potentially Shippable.
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Are You Delivering Potentially Shippable Product Each Sprint?
Agile ManagementAll you need to know about Leading SAFe 4.5® Certification with KnowledgeHut
By KnowledgeHut Editor
Agile is a project management process which encourages self-organization, accountability, and teamwork. This methodology progresses a moderate project management process by reducing the time required for review and adaptation. SAFe combines the power of Agile with Lean product development and systems thinking. It integrates delivery, collaboration, and alignment for multiple Agile teams and provides significant improvements to business agility, including quality, productivity, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, time-to-market, and more. The new version i.e SAFe® 4.5 was released on June 22, 2017. This advanced version speeds up the delivery process of products and services and also offers a 360-degree build-measure-learn feedback cycle. With four major updates, SAFe has grown faster with the market since the initial release in 2011 and keeps on being a work in process. SAFe 4 Agilist certification helps you to build a strong foundation on Agile practices, standards, and applications required to enhance the probability of the project's overall success. You might be searching for the best institute to take the course and might be thinking why only KnowledgeHut and why not others? Here we answer all your queries about Leading SAFe 4.5 Certification with KnowledgeHut. Looking for a quick overview of #SAFe? Check out our most popular download: https://t.co/Iw7rVXSK6U pic.twitter.com/oPEExo8mUY — Dean Leffingwell (@Deanleffingwell) October 31, 2017 Who is the certifying agency? SAFe® Enterprise or the Scaled Agile Framework is the provider of this SAFe® 4 Agilist Certification. KnowledgeHut offers this course by professional trainers with years of industry experience. SAFe® Agilist certification exam cost? The exam cost for the first attempt is included in the course fee if the exam is taken within 30 days of course completion. Also, the candidate can retake the exam if not cleared in the first attempt and each retake attempt charges $50. Who will benefit from leading SAFe® 4.5 course? The following individuals will benefit from this course: Leaders and Executives, Directors, Managers, CIOs, and VPs Enterprise, System, and Solution Architects QA, Development, and Infrastructure Management Project and Program Managers PMO, Portfolio Managers, and Process Leads Product and Product Line Management Is it mandatory to attend the course or can a person just take the exam directly? Yes, candidates should have completed the 2 days’ Leading SAFe® 4.5 certification training course to take the exam. After successful completion, of course, your trainer registers you to Scaled Academy and after this registration, you will receive an e-mail that includes an exam link. Thereafter, you will have 30-days to take the test. What do attendees get from the course? The course registration includes: SAFe 4 Agilist PDF certificate SAFe 4 Agilist digital badge to promote your online accomplishment Comprehensive courseware materials by Scaled Agile Institute 1-year membership with Scaled Agile Access to members-only resources such as advance notice of upcoming SAFe products, guidance presentations, and webinars 16 SEUs and 16 PDUs 1 free attempt of the exam as the course fee includes the exam fee Can I cancel my enrollment? Do I get a refund? Your amount will be refunded in full only if the registration is cancelled within 48 hours and the refunds will be processed within 30 days of the request. For more details, check our refund policy. Note: Due to transactional costs that are applicable while refunding, all cancellations will cause a 5% deduction in the refunded amount. What topics are covered? The topics covered in our 2-day course are: Introducing the SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) Embracing a Lean-Agile Mindset Experiencing PI (Program Increment) planning Understanding SAFe Principles Implementing an Agile Release Train Leading the Lean-Agile Enterprise Exploring, Executing, and Releasing Value Building an Agile Portfolio and Empowering a Lean Portfolio Prerequisites for SAFe® 4.5 Certification? Anyone regardless of experience can attend the course. But the following knowledge and skills are highly recommended for those who really want to take the SAFe® 4 Agilist certification exam: 5 plus years of experience in business analysis, testing, product or project management, and software development Good experience in Scrum What will I learn from the course? On completion of the course you will be able to: Apply SAFe to scale Lean and Agile development in your organization Identify and apply a Lean-Agile Mindset and principles Empower with a Lean Portfolio Improve your Lean-Agile leadership skills Continuously explore, integrate, deploy, and release value Coordinate the development of large value streams Support a Lean-Agile transformation in your organization How can I apply? Follow the below steps to apply for Leading SAFe® 4.5 certification exam- Step 1: Take the 2-day Leading SAFe®4.5 course Step 2: Your trainer will send all your details to Scaled Agile after successful completion of course. Now, the Scaled Agile Academy will send you two emails: a Welcome Letter and a Learning Plan Assignment. The Learning Plan Assignment e-mail includes information about the exam. Step 3: Take the online SAFe® 4 Agilist certification exam. Step 4: Once the test is completed with the minimum passing score, Scaled Academy will update your profile to disclose the certification. Step 5: You will receive an email including official notification from Scaled Academy which allows you to the member area and helps you to make your profile public within the Scaled Agile Community. 1-year membership with Scaled Agile will be provided as well. Why KnowledgeHut for Leading SAFe® 4.5? KnowledgeHut is a silver training partner of Scaled Agile Inc (SAI) and offers world-class learning to its students with excellence and provides in-depth knowledge required to become a successful world-class professional. KnowledgeHut also offers: Free materials from Scaled Agile Framework. Tricks and tips from our professional Certified Leading SAFe experts who have years of experience in implementing it in a variety of environments. 1-year membership with Scaled Agile included in the course fee. We hope this article cleared all your queries related to SAFe® 4 Agilist certification. Connect with us to know more about the Leading SAFe® 4.5 course.
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All you need to know about Leading SAFe 4.5® Certification with KnowledgeHut
Agile ManagementPatterns For Adopting & Spreading Scrum In Organizations
By Ridhi Chhabra
When we talk about adopting any new framework or methodology, we think about how we can incorporate these changes into our organization. We simply cannot impose any change in our organization and get started with it, there has to be some process or ways to incorporate that. Also, there are some ways to incorporate Scrum changes within our organization. There include five activities in adopting the Scrum successfully: Awareness Desire Ability Promotion Transfer So to remember, we call it by the acronym ADAPT. Let’s now talk about the Patterns of Adopting and Spreading a Scrum: Patterns for Adopting Scrum Start Small or Go All In Organizations go ahead with it like a Pilot project, like selecting few team members and implementing Scrum with them, It's a ‘Start Small’ pattern. The other approach can be Go All In, which is like the executives are convinced and want the whole organization to implement in one go. Reasons to prefer starting small It’s less expensive Early success guaranteed Avoids risks of going all in Less stressful Can be done without much change Reasons to prefer going all in Reduces resistance Avoids problems within different teams The All-in transition is Quick! Choosing between the two As recommended by Mike Cohn, one should always Start Small! It involves less cost, and guaranteed early success. Going all in should be in limited cases, only when it’s a quick need. Also, it involves more cost/money as there are a lot of changes in different departments if required. Public Display of Agility or Stealth The next pattern that comes into the picture is whether to Publicize it or not. We can do the Public Display of Agility. In this approach, the organization announces that it is adopting Scrum. This can vary from announcing it in a meeting room to announcing it through the press release. The other approach is Stealth transition. In this, only team members know they are using Scrum until the project is complete. Reasons for Public Display of Agility Everyone knows that team is doing it and they are more likely to be focussed Operating publicly is a firm statement of commitment You can solicit organizational support It sends a powerful message Reasons for Stealth Transition A chance to make progress before resistance starts It keeps pressure off No one knows until you tell them If no one knows, no one can tell you to stop Choosing between the two As recommended by Mike Cohn, always choose to make a public display of Agility when you are confident and committed to the transition and when you expect a lot of resistance but want to overcome it quickly. In contrast, choose a quiet approach, when you want to do an experiment using Scrum. Patterns of adoption: "Going Through the Scrum Motions as Opposed to Being an Agile Jedi " https://t.co/tpv9kIVxNU @MichaelNir (via @InfoQ) — Stefan Wolpers (@StefanW) May 16, 2016 Patterns for Spreading Scrum Getting started with Scrum is one thing, spreading it across the organization is another. Unless you choose an all-in transition, you will need to build upon the successes of the first few teams as you move Scrum to other teams. There are 3 general patterns given by Mike Cohn that talks about spreading Scrum. Split and Seed This talks about taking a team that has begun to be successful with Scrum and using its team members to seed new teams. It’s typically put to use after the first few teams have successfully implemented and adopted Scrum. By this time, each team member understands how Sprint work and how the ready software is delivered at the end of the sprint. In Split and Seed pattern, we split one functioning Scrum team into each half of the original team forming the basis of the new team. New people are then added to these split teams to form new Scrum teams. A large initial team is used to seed as many as four new teams. Collated below are the reasons to prefer Split and Seed pattern. Add teams more quickly Each team has someone with Scrum experience to guide them Grow and Split The Grow and Split pattern involve adding team members until the team is large enough that it can be comfortably split in two. Immediately after splitting, each of the new teams will probably be on the small end of the desirable size ranging five to nine members. After allowing the new teams one sprint at this reduced size, new members are added until each team becomes a large enough that it can also be split. This pattern repeats until the entire organization has transitioned. In following cases, you can prefer Grow and Split pattern. Don’t have to destroy any existing teams Team members feel more continuity from sprint to sprint Internal Coaching The Third pattern of Spreading Scrum is Internal Coaching. In the organizations, there include types of teams. Some teams excel with the new agile approach, while others struggles. On each team, there exists one identified person who understands and implement Scrum successfully. That person is assigned as a Coach for other teams. Coaches were given responsibilities to attend sprint meetings, daily scrum each week and coach other teams. Reasons to prefer Internal Coaching Well running teams do not need to be Split Coaches can be selected for new teams Coaches can move from team to team Choosing your Pattern! In general, consider going with Split and Seed pattern, when in a hurry. It is the fastest way of spreading Scrum. However, if the technology doesn’t support moving people among teams, changing the team members can affect the productivity. The Grow and Split pattern is simply more natural and direct approach. Consider using this approach if there is no sense of urgency as it is less risky. Internal Coaching can be used on its own, mostly when the group is large enough and when splitting teams are not possible for the projects.
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Patterns For Adopting & Spreading Scrum In Organizations
Agile ManagementThe Role Of a Project Manager in an Agile Environment
By Mkateko Shibambu
Let us first understand the Project Manager’s role in a traditional/waterfall environment. The PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) Guide - 4th Edition states that a Project Manager is known to be responsible for successful implementation of a project through the five stages/processes of a project lifecycle: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing the project – see figure 1. Included in these phases is identifying requirements, management of stakeholders and balancing the competing project constraints arising during the project. The project constraints include the: Scope, Quality, Schedule, Budget, Resources, and Risk An effective Project Manager is required to be knowledgeable about Project Management, apply this project management knowledge in order to drive their performance and that of their team, and have positive personal attitude as it will be spread out to the project team. These are key characteristics of an effective Project Manager. The Role of the Project Manager in an Agile Business https://t.co/NNVUV0lT4C via @BrightTALK #projectmanagement #agile pic.twitter.com/DdMBYMIq2A — Capterra Project (@CapterraPM) March 1, 2017 PRINCE2 (PRojects IN a Controlled Environment version 2) is another waterfall methodology and states that the project management project lifecycle and processes are: starting a project, initiating a project, directing a project, managing a stage boundary, controlling a stage, managing product delivery and closing a project – see figure 2. A Project Manager is responsible for ensuring that the team performs and delivers the product accordingly as initially defined with Management ( the Project Board). The Project Manager also ensures that there is clear requirements communication between the project board and the project team to ensure quality delivery. The Agile methodology seems to be emerging very fast with most organisations requiring to do away with waterfall and utilize Agile rather. For some organisations, Agile has proven to work well in the sense that implementation happens timeously in small chunks of releases instead of a big-bang implementation that has a high probability of failure if other detailed risks and issues are missed. The stages of Agile product development life cycle include: requirements gathering, planning, design, development, release, and track and monitoring. Agile aims at releasing small chunks of the full product in sprints (popularly defined in a two week period) rather than a big bang full release. The cycle is iterated until the full product is developed and released. I have worked in a fully waterfall environment, as well as waterfall but being so-called Agile, and I am currently working in a seemingly fully Agile environment. There are different roles in this fully Agile environment of which they include: Project Manager, Product Manager, Product Owner, Scrum Master, and others. These roles are a combination of waterfall and Agile roles although we call ourselves fully Agile. We – as a team call our environment fully Agile, absorbing this information from our organisation’s Senior Management, who manage appointment of these roles. A Project Manager works very closely with top management for strategic decision making. A Project Manager still maintains the role of being the sole responsible person for successful implementation of the quality defined product, and also supports the team throughout the iterations and shield them from distractions. Although there are different frameworks in Agile, the roles within Agile do not differ much, for example, the role of a Scrum Master. A Scrum Master works very closely with the Project Manager to close the communication gap between the project team and top management. A Project Manager manages project/product risks while the Scrum Master manages the team’s performance and impediments. In waterfall, a Project manager works very closely with the delivery team while in Agile, the Project Manager works with the team indirectly – managing team communication through the Scrum Master. Although the Project Manager is responsible for successful release of a quality product, the Scrum Master is the one that manages the delivery of this quality product while working with the delivery team, since the Project Manager does not communicate directly with the delivery team. The Project Manager manages time delivery more than quality. The Scrum Master manages quality delivery of the product. The Scrum Master also manages impediments as well as the development/delivery team while the Project Manager manages risks and address them with strategic management. Then the question arises, do we still need Project Managers in Agile? Although there is no Project Manager role in any Agile methodology, in real work life environments, we still have Project Managers. To differentiate the two roles, both are responsible for delivery of a quality product. However, a Project Manager works strategically with the management team (project sponsor, project owner/requestor, etc.) to define the product’s epics, while the Scrum Master receives management defined epics from the Project Manager and work with the delivery/development team to break-down the epics into features, stories and tasks. A Scrum Master also manages impediments from at development team level and resolve what is possible in his capability. Impediments that are rated high are now channelled to a Project Manager to be managed strategically by the management team. Although organisations that are going Agile see a need to diminish Project Managers’ roles in their organisation, it will be challenging as there is also still a need to understand roles like Product Manager – which is a strategic role as well and might at times overlap with the Project Manager role, if they work together in a team to deliver the same product. Are Project Managers still required in Agile? According to my opinion and how things are working out in my organisation, my answer is actually yes! Project Managers are still required and must work closely with the Product Managers and Scrum Masters. Although there can be a confusion which can cause conflict of responsibilities between a Project Manager and Scrum Master at times. Figure 3 illustrates clarity of the Project Manager and Scrum Master roles.
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The Role Of a Project Manager in an Agile Environment
Agile ManagementBest Ways To Split User Stories For Efficient Product Backlog Refinement
By Nidhya Palaniappan
Product Backlog and User Stories: Product Backlog is an essential artefact of Scrum Framework. It comprises of a list of items (referred as PBI) that are planned to be implemented in the future. PBIs are generally in the form User Stories. A user story is the concise representation of a functional or technical requirement of a system. Writing appropriate user stories forms a strong base for achieving the sprint goals successfully and progressing towards the product vision eventually. "If you want to know more about a 'user story' you may also watch“ INVEST The attributes of a well formed user story goes by the acronym INVEST, which was coined by Bill Wake in his book "Extreme Programming": Independent - Each story should be atomic and not dependent on any other stories Negotiable - Should have scope to allow negotiation between the scrum team and business team on the grounds of technical , functional and budget constraints and modify itself accordingly Valuable - Must deliver some value to the stakeholders. If it is a functional user story, then there should be provide some business value , whereas technical user story should focus on architectural and non functional improvements. Estimable - Team should be able to arrive at a fair estimation for implementing the user story in terms of story points. Small - Should be small enough to plan and implement within a sprint Testable - Should have a clear acceptance criteria , which gives the team all the necessary information to test every possible flow. Product Backlog Refinement Product owners have to maintain a healthy backlog by frequently grooming the user stories in it. In the grooming sessions (Product Backlog Refinement), PO discusses with the team and work on improvising the poorly written user stories, breaking down the large user stories into manageable size, adding more clarity to the acceptance criteria , prioritizing the user stories and estimating them. As a Scrum Master, we should guide the team and PO in this backlog refinement activity by aiding them with the best practices in writing user stories of right size and prioritization. User Story Splitting Splitting user stories is a significant task in product backlog grooming. A user story should be neither too small nor too big. It has to be sized appropriately , in such a way that , the implementation of it could be decomposed into one or more tasks. All the tasks planned must be completed within a sprint. Generally , user stories of size more than 8 or 13 story points are split further. However this number may vary from one scrum team to another based on their capacity and velocity. Benefits of splitting a story: Smaller is always better. User stories of relatively less story points are * Easy to understand and groom * Leads to accurate estimation * Results on quicker implementation * Aids thorough testing Size of an user story is said to be optimal if it could be implemented within 0.5 day (half a day) to 10 days. Methods of splitting : A user story can be split: Horizontally - through architectural tiers as one layer at a time Vertically - as functional pieces across all the layers at a time. The horizontal layers split accordingly can be further divided as tasks. A common metaphor used to differentiate both these methods is cutting a cake layer by layer ( horizontal) and portion by portion of all the layers (vertical). Only by tasting a portion of all the layers, one would be able to feel the essence of the entire cake. Same is the case with story splitting. Vertical (Functional) splitting is more valuable than the horizontal one. Advantages of vertical splitting: Dependencies and risks could be identified at an earlier stage Nice to have features can be segregated and deferred for later sprints Considerable progress can been seen on functional part every day, whereas in horizontal slicing no benefits are seen until all related stories are complete Leads to quicker testing and faster feedback loop - in horizontal , need to wait until all the dependent stories are done Helps to prioritize based on incremental value Techniques for splitting stories vertically: User stories can be split vertically based on the following patterns: Generic Terms: If an user story has more generic terms, then there is a possibility to split it vertically. For eg : As a library member, I want to search the availability of various kinds of books for children and share it with my network. Here, "various kinds" , "share it" are more generic terms. They provide a way to split the story incrementally as below : * Develop a UI that displays all the book categories when a registered library member login * Provide a search functionality to the member, where in results are also categorized such as "fiction for kids under 10", "fiction for kids 11-15" and so on * Enable to users to share the result via email, whatsapp etc Connectors : If the user story is represented using a compound sentence, then it is obvious that it can be split vertically. In such cases, look out for conjunctions in the user story like "and, or, as well as, when, if" and split it based on these connecting words or conjunctions like : and, or, if, when, but, as well as. Acceptance criteria: Read out the acceptance criteria; if it is too complex and some parts of it can be pulled out and developed as an independent user story, follow the same. Eg: As a senior associate of the organization, I want to register for the in house training programs so that I can attend the trainings and upskill myself. Acceptance criteria : All the senior associates must be informed about the training programs through mail. Senior associates should be able to submit their details through a form for registration. Mail confirmation must be sent on successful registration. In the above scenario, each of the criteria can be designated as a separate user story. Workflow steps: Identify the workflows that connect different roles for a specific function, and if they can be completed independently split them as a separate user story. Eg: For an assignment approval system in a school, the following can be the possible user stories As a student, I should be able to submit my assignments to the teacher for grading As a teacher , I should be able to view the assignments submitted by the students As a teacher, I should have the UI to request for more clarifications Apart from the above, below are the other patterns based on which user stories can be split vertically: Operations - Create, Read, Update, Delete operations required for a functionality Business Rules deviations Variations in Data given as input to the system Variations in User Interface Spikes - If there are many unknowns in a user story and it requires research for uncovering the grey areas, then create spikes to get the insights of the user story. Based on the spike's outcome, we can proceed with the implementation of actual user story. Best practices for story splitting: * Do not split the stories too early - split just in time, when it's priority for implementation is high. * Do not compromise quality / non functional requirements - NFRs must be taken into consideration while splitting. If having a choice between a couple of user story splitting strategies, prefer the one that will result in similarly sized sub-stories. — Wojciech Zawistowski (@velesin) May 29, 2015 * Ensure that there is no feature debt - splitting should not leave out any functionality without implementation. * Story splitting is not a task to be owned by the PO alone - Along with the Scrum Master, other team members also give their view on best possible ways to split the stories as they are the actual persons who are going to develop the stories into working functionalities.
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Best Ways To Split User Stories For Efficient Product Backlog Refinement
Agile Management"The Escutcheon Workshop" - PART 2 : Kanban Journey for the Infrastructure Operations Support and Service Teams
By Badri N Srinivasan
In my previous post, I had explained what is Kanban and how to view it in the context of Infrastructure Operations Support and Service . Before we start the implementation of Kanban for a specific Operations Support and Service Team, we need to identify the team composition and work out its team structure. This will help us to implement Kanban effectively for the team. This process is known as team design and it is considered as a part of the organizational design (OD). When we identify and form a team, we generally identify different support/service skills that the team should possess so that they can undertake the complete support/service for the customer. For e.g. if a single team is expected to provide network support services to the customer, the team should ideally have skills in L0, L1, L2, and L3 support. This ensures end-to-end support for the customer as a single ticket that can be resolved by one team instead of the customer depending on multiple teams (L2 – one team, L3 – another team and other multiple teams, where applicable) to complete his ticket and request. Each member identified at a particular level of support is skilled in their job and the skill level increases as the level move up. Each level has more experience and education. The different service levels are – L0 – Basic resolution of issues through call resolution. Take the help of knowledge base to manage issue resolution. L1 – Product Demo and basic troubleshooting including specific call resolution. Deal with physical connections and hardware. Basic network design - from about 30 to about 500 network point design. Basic project management skills. L2 – Resolution of Technical problems. Focus on medium to large network design. 500 to about 2000 network point design. Intermediate project management skills. L3 – Resolution of Major problems. Root cause analysis of problems with updations to the knowledge base. Design Experts and Data Center specialists with project management skills. Focus on 2000 to 30000+ network point design and familiar with high-end network equipment (CISCO/JUNIPER/Other Brands). The network support services could be in the form of network design, installation, support and maintenance. Additionally, the levels – L0, L1, L2, and L3 could vary in different organizations depending on the type of services being offered by the organization to the customer and the type of terminology used. We may also have additional or fewer levels depending on the focus of the organization. However, at a broad level, the above classification could be used to categorize different types of operations support and services in an organization. There are two types of team design that can be observed in an organization – teams that are exclusively made up of only one type of skill level, e.g. L2 support, L1 support. This is the component type team design. Teams that are made up of the complete stack of support services provided – A single team having L0, L1, L2, and L3 skills. This is considered as the feature type team design where like a feature team, the operations support/service team provides complete end to end support to the customer (A feature team is a team that has all the skills needed to support the customer requirements and delivers the features to the customer). As organizations focus on agile and Kanban implementation for their teams and also emphasize imbibing the aspects of Spotify Engineering Culture (a culture that focuses on not having a hierarchical structure and which focuses on host and servant leadership), the attention is on forming teams that have end to end skills to resolve all the customer issues. Hence, the focus on full stack operations support/service teams. Earlier, a team member used to have specific skills and built his skills in that area only, e.g. L2. This was the T type skill focus. Now, we have the PI type skill focus where a team member is expected to be an expert in at least two areas – e.g. L2, L1 and also have knowledge in other areas. It is acknowledged that there are constraints that need to be overcome to reach this level but it is expected that in the future, the demand will be for full stack skills (L0, L1, L2 and L3) from a single team member. This implies that a team member has all the skills necessary to deliver the service/support to the customer without having to depend on another member or wait to seek help from another member. There are multiple constraints that need to be overcome in order to reach this state and organizations are facilitating this transformation that may happen over a period of time in the future. This will further strengthen the Operations support / service teams structure and delivery to the customer in the future. After the skill matrix and the team members are identified to form a team, one of the members of the team is identified as a Kanban Master. He is responsible for facilitating the implementation of the Kanban practices and process for the team along with the help of other non-team members like an Agile Coach, Center of Excellence, Continuous Improvement team and other teams (e.g. training), where applicable. Generally, we have an initial kick-off workshop for the newly formed team which I call as the Escutcheon workshop. An Escutcheon (as per the Oxford English Dictionary) is defined as – An emblem or shield bearing a coat of arms or a flat metal piece that is used for protection and also ornamentation around a keyhole, door handle or light switch. The analogy with Escutcheon reminds us of the concept of the team subliminally forming a protective boundary for the team members and which helps the team members to undertake their daily work and take the help of other team members when stuck and ask for help when they are not able to resolve any issue. The team is also having a team name which gives an identity to the team, improves team bonding and which is similar to the coat of arms on a shield that bound fellow kinsmen during the olden times. The output of the workshop is also a diagram in the form of an Escutcheon. Hence, the term Escutcheon. This, of course, implies that the team members exhibit team member characteristics like trust, courage, transparency and other traits so that the concept of a team can be established and sustained in the future. Additionally, this does not mean that the team members can only ask for help from any other member within the team. They are free to also ask for help from any other member in the organization for additional ideas for issue resolution. A typical output of an Escutcheon Workshop for a Network Operations Support / Service Team is given below - Are you interested in learning more about Lean manufacturing? April 5th kicks off our Pull / Kanban System and Total Productive Maintenance Workshop! #TPM #PullKanban #Lean Learn more at https://t.co/I0gGUIU4UP pic.twitter.com/c6cfFI7WYx — IMEC (@IMECillinois) March 12, 2018 This network operations team is tasked to support network usage and monitor the performance of the network apart from other routine support / service activities. Hence, this becomes the important tagline or punchline of the team. The key words of the team focus on data, usage and performance (with respect to the network). The team emphasizes collaboration and creativity as key focus areas which will help them in their day to day activities related to network support and service, apart from other focus areas. The team calls themselves as “Network Tigers” and which is ready to support any network issue end to end within their scope of operation pertaining to network support and service. They adopt the logo of a Tiger Face which gives the team an identity to focus, bond and celebrate their successes and wins and support each other during lean periods. Thus, the Escutcheon workshop helps the team to establish a facade (principal front face) to the customer as a single point of contact to help them for all their issues related to their network and help to resolve them end to end in the shortest possible time and with the highest quality. The team members keep improving their skills to meet this commitment to their customer and learn from their mistakes, adopt continuous learning and implement the lessons learnt from their projects to further strengthen their skills to match and exceed the customer expectations. Hence, we have now established a full-fledged Operations Support / Service team having all the skill sets that are needed to address the queries, issues and tickets raised by the customer related to their network. Now the team needs to implement, establish, nurture, sustain and institutionalize Kanban values, principles and practices in their team to enable and facilitate the team to enhance customer delight and improve the quality of delivery. In the upcoming Posts, I will focus on the next step in the Kanban journey as we learn how to implement Kanban for the Infrastructure Operations Support and Service teams – both at the team level and at the scale level (when we integrate multiple teams at scale to deliver support services to the customer). 
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