How to Become a Scrum Master: Kickstart Your Agile Journey

A Scrum Master is responsible for implementing Scrum practices in software and product development, and is one of the most in-demand roles in tech companies today. In this blog, you will learn how to become a Scrum Master. Explore everything you need to know about the position, scrum master salaries, skills, and top scrum courses and certifications required for this in-demand role.

What is a Scrum Master? What Do They Do?

The Scrum Master is a leader and facilitator who facilitates the implementation of Scrum within the team, removing any obstacles that team members may encounter in completing their tasks, and facilitating key events such as planning, team stand-ups, and retrospectives. Their role is not to manage tasks, but rather to help the team continuously improve, collaborate with the Product Owners, and foster an agile culture at the team level.

The scrum master is responsible for ensuring that the guidelines outlined in the scrum model are followed. At the same time, they also support product owners in managing product backlogs (a list of tasks to be developed) and sprint backlogs (assigning tasks to team members). 

Therefore, we can say that the role of the Scrum Master is to mediate between the client (or Product Owner) and the Scrum team they lead.

Popular Scrum Certifications

Listed below are the top industry-recognised Scrum certifications offered by the top providers for Scrum Master certifications.

Scrum.org

• Professional Scrum Master (PSM) I - III  
• Professional Scrum with Kanban Certification
• Professional Scrum with User Experience Certification
• Professional Scrum Product Backlog Management Skills Certification
• Scaled Professional Scrum Certification  
• Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Certification

Scrum Alliance 

• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
• Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSM)
• Certified Scrum Professional ScrumMaster (CSP-SM)

Scaled Agile 

• SAFe® Scrum Master
• Advanced Scrum Master (ASM)

How to Become a Scrum Master

If you want to become a Scrum Master but don’t know where to start, here’s a clear step-by-step guide you can follow.

1. Choose the Right Certification

There are different Scrum Master certifications, such as Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM), Scrum Master Accredited Certification (SMAC), etc. Each course has a different objective, format and costing. You are advised to check the syllabus of each course, its difficulty level (beginner, intermediate or advanced) and its market recognition. Choose the one that matches your career goals and/or job requirements.

2. Take a Preparatory Course

Though it is not mandatory to join any preparatory course before taking the certification exam, but is highly recommended. With the help of an official course, you will get a realistic idea of the exam structure, learn from experts, and practice exercises that are based on the exams.
We recommend selecting a course that aligns with your chosen certification. Some of those popular preparatory courses are: 

• Agile Scrum Foundation by Simplilearn
• IBM - Introduction to Agile Development and Scrum on Coursera
• Agile and Scrum Foundation Certification Training by Simplilearn
• Certified Scrum Master: Scrum Methodologies by Coursera
• CSM Certification Training by KnowledgeHut
• Agile Fundamentals: Including Scrum and Kanban by UDEMY

Depending on the training you choose, you can become certified or accredited as a scrum master. Accreditation involves taking the online exam without supervision, while certification involves taking a proctored exam.

3. Prepare for the Exam

Any certification you plan to take up would require a detailed plan to crack. You must create a study plan and follow it religiously. Focus on Scrum principles, roles, events, artefacts, and agile values. Track your progress weekly to ensure you’re ready.

4. Take the Scrum Master Exam

Book your exam only if you feel confident. Read questions slowly and understand them before answering. Learn to optimise your time and avoid spending too much time on one question. Don't panic and believe in your preparation.

After clearing your exam, you will receive your Scrum Master certificate, which can boost your career in agile project management.

Tips to Crack the Scrum Master Exam

Scrum is not something that you need to mug up. It's crucial that you understand the concepts before you memorise them. Here are some handy tips that can help you crack the exam:

• Use exam simulators and practice tests to familiarise yourself with the types of questions being asked in the paper.
• Download the latest official Scrum Guide (November 2020) by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, the originators of Scrum. It covers the concepts, roles, events, and artefacts you must be familiar with.
• If possible, work with agile teams or join mock projects. Offer your services or join a team.
• A guided training program, such as a Business Agility Scrum Master course, will strengthen your knowledge and build confidence before you take up the exam.
• Join communities like Reddit or Quora and go through the common mistakes made by other examinees. Learn from them.
• Continue revising up to the day before the exam, paying particular attention to weak points.

Top Scrum Master Skills

As a scrum master, you need a well-rounded skill set. Here are the most important ones:

Technical Skills for Scrum Masters

Since a Scrum Master's daily duties involve organising meetings and tracking the team's work and progress, there are some core technical competencies that you must develop:

• Agile project management tools (For example: JIRA, Trello, Asana or Azure DevOps)
• Team collaboration tools (Slack, Microsoft Teams or Zoom)
• Visual collaboration tools (such as Miro or Lucidchart)
• Data analysis and reporting tools (Power BI or Tableau)
• Document management and sharing tools (Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets)
• Customer relationship management (CRM) software
• Basic knowledge of programming languages ​​(not mandatory, but can be helpful)

Soft Skills for Scrum Masters

Agile processes depend almost entirely on team members and their collaboration, so a Scrum Master must be a very sociable person. With these soft skills, you'll be a little closer to landing the job you want:

• Communication
• Facilitation
• Leadership
• Troubleshooting
• Critical thinking
• Time management

Scrum Master Salary in India

According to AmbitionBox, the average salary range for a scrum master is INR 6.5 - 28.5 LPA.

Check out the location-specific salaries for scrum masters with an average experience range of 5 - 14 years.