There have been many discussions relating to agile certification and the merits of the Certified ScrumMaster program over the past couple of years. The program has been tremendously successful at educating people on the Scrum framework and prepared them for the challenges they will encounter as they attempt to implement scrum within their organizations. The Scrum Alliance has certified over 10,000 people through this program.

However, the Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) program is only an educational certification process and should be considered the first step in understanding the deceptively simple Scrum framework. The program typically includes a 2-day training program with the expectation of having some experience or knowledge of Scrum prior to attending, although many that attend a CSM course have no previous knowledge.

To really understand the power, potential, and challenges of Scrum you need to live it. The Scrum Alliance designates those that are practicing Scrum as a Certified Scrum Practitioner (CSP). It is recommended that you have at least one year of experiencing Scrum to be considered a practitioner. Since Scrum, like all processes, is dependent on organizational structures, it is different in every implementation. Thus, multiple experiences are essential for someone to begin to understand the foundations of why and how Scrum works. Personally, I was unable to see why Scrum was not working effectively in my organization until I was able to step away from the organization - this is very typical for those trying to implement Scrum.

Today, I am a Certified Scrum Trainer and Scrum Coach. That is, I am guiding the next generation of ScrumMasters and Scrum Practitioners, but more importantly, I am helping organizations reach new levels of success with Scrum. I am guiding organizations in their adoption and transition to Scrum. I am helping them put Scrum values and principles to practice in their organizational and product context, which can be a difficult challenge given the fundamental differences expected from Scrum from a more traditional phased-based project-management approach.

Many organizations have benefited from Scrum coaches like myself. They have recognized that having an experienced practitioner and mentor will help them reap benefits more quickly, with less transitional costs, and often reach a higher level of success (return) due to proper guidance. However, it has not very clear today what defines an effective Scrum coach who can provide this proper guidance. That is why I am facilitating an effort to extend the Scrum Alliance certification program to recognize those individuals who have successfully guided organizations in their adoption, transition and implementation of Scrum.

While this effort has been underway for quite some time, we have published a public article and draft program definition for the Certified Scrum Coach program. Our program team has consisted of other Scrum coaches both as external consultants and internal employees, executives from organizations who have benefited from Scrum coaching, Certified Scrum Trainers and the Scrum Alliance. We would appreciate your feedback over the next month on our proposal either through submitting comments to the article or by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .