6 Popular Agile Certifications in 2023

Whether you are a seasoned agile practitioner seeking to advance your agile skills or a fresh graduate looking to kickstart your agile career, it is crucial to invest in Agile certification that helps you to understand the unique features, and techniques involved in agile practice. Examining the popular certifications can gain you a proper understanding of the unique frameworks and approaches to agile product management. It also helps to make an informed decision to choose the best certification program that aligns with your career goals.

In this article, we are about to explore 6 such popular agile courses in 2023 that can help you gain some valuable insights to contribute to agile organizations.

1) ICAgile Certified Professional (ICP)

ICAgile certification is a foundational program that helps agile professionals develop basic coaching skills. Without focusing on any specific agile methodology, this course covers agile concepts and principles. It helps agile leaders understand the fundamentals behind Agile methodology. Individuals aspiring to start their career in software development can opt for this course.

2) Certified Scrum Master (CSM)

Certified Scrum Master is a two-day course that equips professionals with the necessary knowledge of scrum principles and practices. This training course is suitable for candidates new to Agile methodology and Scrum. It covers lessons on Scrum principles, roles, and artifacts, scrum events, roles and responsibilities of scrum masters.

3) Certified Agile Leadership (CAL)

Certified Agile Leadership certification focuses on developing agile leadership in change leaders. These leaders can help encourage collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement among agile teams. This course covers topics related to agile leadership principles and practices.

4) PMI Agile Certified Practitioner

The Project Management Institute certification contains resources for the project management process. To pursue this course, agile professionals may require to have working experience on agile projects and agile methodologies. This course is ideal for individuals seeking to improve their knowledge and skills in agile project management. The topics covered in this course are agile methodologies including Scrum, Lean-Agile mindset, Kanban, and XP. It also covers topics related to team performance, planning, stakeholder management, and more.

5) Agile PM Foundation

Agile PM Foundation is suitable for professionals like project managers and agile team members. This course assists individuals aspiring to become Agile project managers and professionals wanting to have a broader view of the principles and philosophies of Agile methodology. This certification includes techniques, roles, and responsibilities crucial to work on an Agile project. To obtain this certification, the candidates must pass the online test.

6) SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM)

SAFe POPM certification is about the popular Scaled Agile Framework. As the name suggests, the course is specifically designed for professionals such as Product Owners and Product Managers. Other professionals like Project Managers, Scrum Masters, and other members in managerial positions can also benefit from this course. SAFe POPM covers topics such as the Lean-Agile mindset, identifying customer needs, prioritizing tasks, and SAFe principles.

Benefits

Due to the higher success rate produced with agile implementation, organizations are looking for agile professionals to help them deliver value to their projects with each iteration. They want them to follow a set of principles to enhance their processes. In that case, getting certified in agile demonstrates that the individuals possess a level of expertise crucial for running projects and are good in team management. Professionals getting Agile certification state that they are capable of delivering consistent value and can adapt easily to change.

Personal level achievement with Agile certification

Besides, Agile-certified individuals being the top priority for companies all around the world, it also comes with other personal benefits for employees.

1. The certifications improve their career options and enhance their skills to tackle projects effectively.
2. Agile certification provides the candidates to gain knowledge and expertise to be flexible and advance with the changes. It also helps them stay updated with the changing environment and grow gradually in their career.
3. Practical demonstration gained through the training courses can be used in the project management process.

Conclusion

In conclusion, whether you are learning the basics of agile methodology or seeking to master any of the agile frameworks, it is beneficial to get Agile certified so that you can learn what makes this methodology unique and become a better agile professional. And no doubt certified individuals are the employer’s top priority and they usually get more exposure and opportunities in the industry.