SAFe was initially released in 2011 by Dean Leffingwell as a knowledge base for enterprises to adopt Agile. The SAFe Scrum Master (SSM) certification is a designation offered by Scaled Agile to practitioners who would complete two-day training by the SAFe Program Consultant and demonstrate their understanding of SAFe by clearing the SAFe Scrum Master certification course. This course will teach you the key components of Agile at scale development, how to execute Iteration Planning, and how to build high-performing Agile teams. By the end of this course, you will be well versed in Scaled Agile Frameworks and how to execute them within an enterprise. You will also learn the principles of servant leadership so that you can develop high-performing, engaged and continuously improving teams in your enterprise. But why should you consider a certificate course on Agile? What is a SAFe anyway? Let’s look into it.

What is SAFe?

Scaled Agile Frameworks® (SAFe®) is a system for implementing Lean, Agile, and DevOps practices at scale. It is the most popular framework for leading enterprises by making your course customized for you and sustainable for your entire enterprise. SAFe’s foundation is based on three metaphorical pillars: Team, Program and Portfolio. Most importantly, it gives a product team flexibility and helps manage some of the challenges that large organisations and enterprises face when practising Agile. Product teams use SAFe to be able to deliver successful software products. As the demand for SAFe expertise is growing rapidly worldwide among organizations, the need for Scrum Masters who can drive high performing teams at an enterprise level is skyrocketing. Build your skills as a SAFe Scrum Master and be sure to capitalize on the high demand across industries. But as a leader of an organisation how should you adopt SAFe practices that benefit you? Read ahead to know more.

What are the benefits of SAFe for organizations?

Aggregated statistics from customers adopting SAFe Scrum Master have shown the following typical results:

• Faster time-to-market

Customer needs are met faster and time-to-market has improved by aligning cross-functional teams of agile teams in an enterprise. Leveraging the power of SAFe, practitioners are able to make faster decisions, communicate effectively, streamline operations and stay focused on the customer.

• Improvements in quality

SAFe practices incorporate quality into every step of the product development cycle. This way it becomes everyone’s responsibility instead of working on the quality as a last-minute focus. This helps decrease defects in final products and reduce help desk tickets and pressure.

• Increase in productivity

SAFe helps build high performing teams and teams of teams that eliminates unnecessary work, identify and remove delays, and ensure continuous development and the right development of products. Thus, even with a remote workforce, productivity can be increased.

• Better employee engagement

Better ways of working yield a happier, more engaged workforce. Enterprises practising SAFe provide tools to help with burnouts and increase employee satisfaction.

Now that you are aware of the benefits of practicum SAFe, let’s look into the eligibility of a SAFe Scrum Master certification course.

Who should be looking out for the SAFe Scrum Master certification course?

If you are a:

• Product Manager
• Team Leader
• Business Analyst
• Portfolio Manager
• Scrum Master
• Agile Coach
• Consultant
• Architect
• Software Developer
• Engineer
• Quality Manager
• Product Owner
• Delivery Manager
• Program Manager
• Director

then you should consider the certification course and equip yourself with the SAFe skills to deliver maximum value at scale for your organization.

Are there any prerequisites to starting with the course?

No, there are no prerequisites to begin the certification course. Although, you might need to be familiar with Agile concepts and principles, aware of Scrum, Kanban, and eXtreme programming (XP). Additionally, you might need to have a working knowledge of software and hardware development processes. However, you need experience in working with a Lean-Agile environment.

What are the ways to begin the SSM certification?

Some simple steps are given below to help you get started with the course and validate your expertise as a certified Scrum Master.

1. Firstly, get trained by a SAFe Program Consultant who is also a certified SAFe expert.
2. On successful completion of the training, you will receive information about the certification exam along with your login credentials. It is a 90-minute test with 45 questions. You are required to get a minimum of 34 questions correct 45 questions to pass the certification course.
3. Post successful completion of the exam, you become a certified SAFe Scrum Master. You will receive a certificate in PDF format and a Digital Badge within 5-7 business days.

What will you learn in the course?

After completing the certificate course, you will understand how Scrum works in a SAFe enterprise and how it can be leveraged across complex projects that require multiple teams. If you are interested in coaching individuals and teams, you can explore the role of a Scrum Master in coaching high-performing Agile teams and helping enterprises deliver maximum business value at scale while maintaining quality and ensuring employee and customer satisfaction. As a practitioner, you will get equipped with knowledge of successfully implementing and executing Program Increment as well as Iteration Planning across the enterprise. You will also learn how to drive and support relentless improvement across teams adopting SAFe practices in your enterprise. This way, you will be able to maximize business outputs by building high performing Agile teams by becoming their servant leader cum coach.

What are the skills gained in the SSM certification course?

After completing the SAFe Scrum Master certification course successfully, you will be able to gain the skills which are enumerated as follows:

• You will be able to ensure the implementation of Scrum practices in your enterprise and make improvements in your organization and the products you deliver.
• You will be leading your team or an aggregate organization of teams by becoming their servant leader and coach, thus facilitating change in the work environment and product development.
• You will be able to leverage Scrum and Kanban practices in your enterprise.
• You will be benefitted from the course in conflict management within the team or teams, in case of multiple teams working together on a complex project, or as a Scrum Master Program Consultant, you will help examinees during their training session.
• You will be supporting the smooth execution of the program as a Program Consultant.
• As a Scrum Master, you will be training Agile teams within your enterprise.
• You will also be responsible for resolving impediments within teams of your enterprise or organization.
• As a Scrum Master and Program Consultant, you will be assisting and coaching Agile teams at the enterprise level.
• You will be able to enable the high performance of teams in your enterprise ensure maintenance of quality standards at all stages of product development and deliver maximum business value at scale by becoming a servant leader and coach.
• You will be able to make improvements in the time taken to deliver products to customers.
• By employing SAFe skills, you will be able to increase productivity within your enterprise and ensure faster delivery of products.
• You will also learn tools to help with employee satisfaction within your enterprise and build a favourable working environment.