Kate Megaw Interviewed at Agile Open SoCal 2014

Braintrust coach and trainer Kate Megaw was interviewed at the 2014 Southern California Agile Open conference.  You can view the entire interview on YouTube.

In the interview Kate shares her experiences with Agile as a coach and trainer.  She covers topics such as:

• Her journey to becoming a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST)
• The transition from a traditional Project Manager (PMP) to the world of Agile and specifically Scrum
• The role of coaches in support of Scrum in large companies and the value of becoming a Certified Scrum Coach (CSC)
• The current gaps in training and trouble spots in Scrum implementations
• The power of being involved in the Agile community

Kate Megaw, CST, PMP

Key takeaways that you can get from the interview:

1. The experience of co-training with a variety of CSTs is invaluable.  Kate believes that CSTs should continue to co-train even after becoming certified to enhance the inspect and adapt aspect of their training.
2. Traditionally PMPs have been seen as moving into the role of ScrumMaster, lately she has seen more move into the role of Product Owner.
3. One of the biggest challenges for traditional project managers in moving to Scrum is giving up command and control and becoming a Servant Leader.
4. Scrum coaches should not be seen as a “permanent employee” of the organization.  Instead, they should be there to “teach the teams to fish” so that they can do it well by themselves.
5. We’ve done a good job of training ScrumMasters but we need to do a better job of training Product Owners and Developers.  Training for all team members is important for success.
6. More awareness needs to be created around the Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) certification.  ScrumMasters and Product Owners need to see this as a career path and organizations need to be educated with respect to the value of moving their people forward.
7. Being actively involved in the broader Agile community is highly beneficial to all who are involved.  Sharing of experiences, asking questions, inspecting and adapting the process is important for growth of the individual, the organization, and adoption of Agile in general.
8. Metrics in Agile are important, we have to educate the PMO & Stakeholders in the metrics we use, and adapt them, to give them what they need to do their job.  We’re all in this together and success is the ultimate goal.

We hope you enjoy this interview and the sharing of experiences.  At the Braintrust Consulting Group we are passionate about Agile and are here to assist you in your journey.