New to Scrum Learning - Need Assistance !

1 - read the Bible, oh sorry, the Scrum Guide

2 - return here after reading :))

Hi Neha Purohit.

Have you thought about first doing a Scrum Foundations course? It maybe the perfect place to start.

Good luck!

You mentioned that you're from a non-technology background. Does that mean that you are planning on applying Scrum principles in a non-technology workplace or are you looking to transition to a technology workforce? Do you want to be a developer, a servant leader or manage Products?

I would strongly advise you to start with an in-person, two day Professional Scrum Foundations course. You will learn a lot from an instructor and other students in the class.

Public Classes.

I'm actually going to strongly disagree with the suggestions given to take the Scrum Foundations course. It is a great course, don't get me wrong, but there is a time to take that class and unless the OP provides more info; I don't think it would be a wise investment on her part.

She mentioned she is a new learner and exploring different options for using scrum in a "non-tech field", unless the OP has the amount of money needed to just spend on exploring options; there are MANY, MUCH cheaper options for exploring and learning about Scrum. 

@ Neha, my suggestion would be to utilize this forum, the scrum guide, and youtube for learning about Scrum right now. There are so many free resources out there that may be able to answer your questions. The foundations class is great, but it's not cheap. Just like when I've heard a teenager that they want to be a doctor or lawyer, I encourage them to interview a doctor or lawyer and see if that really is something that they want to do before spending several hundred thousand dollars on an education only to get into the field and it's not for them. 

That said, you mentioned you work in a "non-tech field", what field if you don't mind me asking? You'll get more ideas and help with a little more information.

Although I already have my PSM1, I found this book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scrum-Pocket-Travel-Companion-practice/dp/9401803757 a great read for understanding the basics.

And then reading the Road to PSM3 gave me an even deeper understanding:  https://medium.com/serious-scrum/psmiii/home

Also, one thing which will definitely help is, when you think you know enough about Scrum, take the open tests: https://www.scrum.org/open-assessments/scrum-open

That will give you a good indication as to where your knowledge black spots are.

Hi All ,

Thank you for providing suggestions.

I would be glad to explain further : I'm from a Process Oriented field where I'm a team manager handling people . It is a process oriented job and i would like to navigate to product based field in management field than developer one.

Please advise if i can initiate the journey with scrum foundation guide.

Thanks and Regards

Neha Purohit

The Product Owner track is for you. There are currently four major agile training/certification organizations (including Scrum.org) who have excellent in-person classes which teach you some foundational skills. The subsequent certification will help you stand out when you're looking for work. If you can invest in yourself, or if your current employer sponsors learning and development, you should attend as many in-person training/certification classes as you can. Scrum.org currently has a PSPO and a new PSPO-A classes taught by PSTs. I would start there.

I'm going to suggest you focus more on how a manager can help build a cross-functional, self-managing team and less on the specifics of any agile methods.  You stated that "I'm from a Process Oriented field where I'm a team manager handling people" and for any manager to be effective in an agile organization your focus is not on the way people work but on the people's ability to do the work. Learn how to enable individuals, how to allow them to make decisions since they are closer to the work and can make better informed decisions.  Learn how to release control and become a servant-leader. This is how a good personnel manager can be the best benefit to an agile organization, regardless of what methods, frameworks they are using. 

If you want to transition more to a role that participates in agile and specifically Scrum, you should look at the Product Owner or Scrum Master roles. Determine how you want to participate be it Product direction related or team building/dynamics and study on those roles.  But remember that an agile world is less about process and more on the value that is being delivered.  Normal project management processes are often counterproductive to agile delivery. These forums are a great place to start.  Also try taking some of the free assessments for the Scrum.org certifications. They can help you get better understanding of how Scrum focuses value delivery. 

Hi @Daniel Wilhite - Thank you for your wonderful suggestion. Please advise as how can i start my agile journey from a zero background on Agile !

Kindly advise further !

@Neha Purohit, Where does your interest lie? I mean, are you into technical stuff, product delivery and development? I say this only from the context of software development (because it is more widely used there, even though other areas benefit from agility too)

You may not necessarily need to code but in my opinion you need to have some interest in and knowledge of software development and product delivery.

As the others suggested, read the scrum guide, read the agile manifesto, take a course either PSM or PSPO, take an open assessment to validate your knowledge and also if any team is using Scrum in your organization, maybe you could be a silent observer and learn how things are done.

@Neha Purohit  I would suggest starting with entering servant leadership into your favorite search engine and read up.  The term was coined in 1970 and you can find some info about it here (https://www.greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/).  There are a large number of places where you can read on what it means and techniques to help you with it.  You might also do some reading on command control leadership as that is probably what you are most familiar with and it will be good to understand the difference.

That would be the best starting point in my opinion.  If you can get where you understand those concepts well, you should be able to provide benefit to any agile organization as a personnel manager.  Where you go from there is wide open and you can decide that based on your specific situation. 

Good Luck.

To piggyback on @Dan's advice, read up on Theory X and Theory Y management approaches:



https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_74.htm