What Are You Resting On?

To Whom It May Concern,

From the beginning of my career, I have strategically surrounded myself with individuals who have been welcoming and affirming in my passion towards my professional development. Whether it be through direct feedback on project work, discussions about other client projects, or reading recommendations I have taken full advantage of all that I’ve picked up to date. One of the most important lessons that I have picked up over my career is that it is not anyone else’s responsibility to plan your career. YOU must take ownership of that.

Whether it be through obtaining my MBA or launching a non-profit organization back home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, I have not begun to rest on my laurels. It has also been important to know that I work for a company that wants to see me reach my goals. One of my personal goals of the year has been to grow in my understanding of project management. One route I’ve taken is to see what opportunities I have on my current assignment to both gain exposure and to take on some of the responsibilities of my project manager. In addition to on-the-job experience, I find continuous education is also important.

During undergrad, my alma mater (Virginia Tech) allowed me to participate in a Six Sigma three-day course to receive my Green Belt. After a short catch up with the current engineering department head, I was advised that the University would be hosting a Scrum Master certification training this year. Now if you are anything like me, your first response might be along the lines of “What is Scrum?”. After taking the training, rest assured I can help provide some clarification.

Scrum itself is a set of values, principles, and practices. The framework utilizes a cross-functional team to deliver either products or services in short cycles called sprints (typically 1 month or less). Benefits of Scrum in comparison to other project management approaches are that it enables fast feedback, continuous improvement, rapid adaption to change, and accelerated delivery times.

Scrum begins with a clear understanding of customer request(s) in the form of the Product Goal. These are included in the “product backlog.” Through the process of refinement, the team adds detail, estimates, and order to items in the backlog. During the spring planning process, the goals of the next sprint are defined. This includes what can be done and how the chosen work will be completed. The output of sprint planning is the sprint backlog which tracks the items to be addressed in the current. Each sprint should bring the product closer to the overall Product Goal.

During the sprint, the Scrum team holds daily sprints to inspect progress in the sprint and to make changes as needed. At the end of the sprint, the team hosts a sprint review that includes the Scrum Team in addition to stakeholders of the project. The purpose is to inspect the outcomes of the sprint and provide recommendations on future product backlog adaptations. At the end of each sprint a retrospective is setup to inspect how the last sprint went in relation to sprint criteria. Only the direct members of the Scrum team are included. The purpose being to identify improvements to make in the next sprint to be more effective and enjoyable.

Overall, the training has benefited me by helping me to understand how to better manage and lead. In addition, I was able to create a deliverable readiness tool that we are using internally with our client. This tool was then adapted by the client for their updates to leadership. Lastly, the course credits also go towards requirements for the PMP certification I plan to take next year. I see this as a win/win, and I am proud to be apart of an organization with great culture and dedication personal growth and development. I encourage everyone to approach their career as a life-long learning opportunity. So, this begs the question, what are you resting on?

Sincerely,

Kenneth Dorsey Jr