Choosing the Right Agile Training Program in Toronto: A Comprehensive Guide

Overview

This blog article provides insights into choosing an agile training program for people in Toronto. Some of the article’s sub-headings come from a PMI Agilest Newsletter about the top agile transformation issues organizations are dealing with and how to solve them.

Those issues include how to you improve the performance of an existing Scrum Team, is Agile certification necessary and who are they essential for, and what is the best training when moving from Waterfall to Agile.

Our webpage titled ‘Agile Training Toronto” has a summary of all our agile team-based training to help you accelerate your journey.

High-Performing Scrum Team

The May 2023 Agilest Newsletter by PMI mentioned that the top three questions posted by members on projectmanagement.com were discussed. The number one question was about creating a high-performing scrum team. Scrum is considered the most widely used implementation method in project management.

Interestingly, despite certification training, individuals are not adequately prepared to excel in the scrum framework. This revelation may come as a surprise. While Certified Scrum Training effectively assists individuals in passing the exam, the exam was designed to be easily passed by anyone rather than ensuring comprehensive understanding and proficiency in scrum practices.

So if your goal is to improve the performance of a Scrum Team in Toronto, we suggest an Agile Team Training course with hands-on practical exercises. There is a complete list on this webpage called Agile Training Toronto.

Waterfall to Agile

The Agilest in May 2023 mentioned a second goal for organizations. They were aiming to transition from Waterfall to Agile. Again, based on our experience, we expect organizations in Toronto to be looking for the same outcomes.

In this situation and for companies in Toronto, we recommend the courses on the page titled Agile Training Toronto.

The key in transitioning from Waterfall to Agile is having an instructor who has made this transition because you will have many questions. An experienced instructor can help you understand the nuances. Scrum is easy to understand, but it can take a lifetime to get good at it. Someone who has worked with Teams before can provide good advice, greatly accelerating your learning.

In the case of Scrum Masters Inc, our instructors are full-time Agile Delivery Professionals who work for companies in Toronto and take time off work to provide Agile Team instruction.

Agile Certification

If your goal is to gain the Certified Scrum Master from the Scrum Alliance, then we would suggest the least costly. The reality is while its good training, you will need more after it’s done. The other fact is if you are looking to add a certification to your resume, your employer will see no difference in who taught you. They are only interested in the Scrum Alliance test, and if you pass, so pick the least costly.

There are other options, the Professional Scrum Master from Scrum.org, which overall is considered a higher quality certification but comes with less name recognition. It’s also cheaper to obtain as you can study independently and then write the exam.

PMI-ACP is also an excellent and the only ISO certification in the agile landscape. It is designed to prove you can do the job. PMI is unique and sits at a full level above the rest of the players in the certification business. In addition, PMI provides Professional Credentials certifications.

The PMI-ACP requires at least eight months of you being on an agile project. The exam is 3 hours in a proctored setting, which is serious. The only problem is the PMI-ACP is not well-known by organizations that do not use the Project Management Professional (PMP), which might be a good thing if you are looking to work for stable organizations as that is where the PMP base is most popular.

Are Agile Certifications important?

One interesting observation from the PMI Agileist article and members’ priorities was that ‘certifications’ were not listed in the top three considerations. Instead, the need was for ‘outcomes’. So are certifications in Agile needed?

Our position is certification is important depending on your role and that the best certification for any sort of delivery is PMI’s Professional Project Management or PMP. The PMP is not an Agile Cert but has many of the important concepts and thinking needed to lead and manage agile business delivery. Remember, Scrum is about execution; its not about Project Management or Product Management. If you are in a larger organization, it would be good to round out your certifications wi the PMP.

Conclusion

Selecting the right agile training program in Toronto depends on your specific goals. Whether you’re starting new agile teams or aiming to enhance the performance of existing ones, it’s crucial to choose a program that aligns with your objectives. Our company specializes in helping organizations create high-performance agile teams and expedite time-to-market while reducing stress. Our agile approaches focus on learning and using agile principles. Explore the options available and make an informed decision to propel your agile journey forward.

For a full list of our Agile training in Toronto, CLICK HERE.