Scrum is an Agile framework, the popularity of which has steadily increased in recent years. Often regarded as simple to understand, it is often misunderstood to be only a format of doing things. Scrum is actually a framework that tries to apply the philosophy of maximum clarity in processes and tasks. Agile Coach and Scrum expert Tolga Kombak quotes, “Scrum is not a problem-solving framework, but a problem-surfacing framework which works by creating maximum transparency.”

By bringing such clarity and making the team aware of problems immediately or before they arise, Scrum brings incredible efficiency to product development. Along with this, Scrum also offers a high degree of flexibility and reduces turnaround time by creating shorter goals called sprints, eliminating reliance on specialists by having multi-functional team members. Due to its success in increasing speed, efficiency, as well as quality, the market demand for Scrum developers has shown a significant rise. Becoming a Scrum developer by opting for a CSD course can be an excellent career advancement step. Here, we will discuss Scrum, its key features, and the scope of a Scrum developer in greater detail.

Scrum Key Features
1. Self-Organizing teams
Unlike traditional teams, Scrum teams do not have a rigid structure. Teams that have specific experts for specific tasks often find their progress stalled due to unavailability of a certain specialist. Scrum members are capable of handling multiple roles and are self-organizing; they do not have a rigid plan of work. By being self-organized, they bring fluidity to work owing to which sudden disturbances in plans do not have any severe effect on the speed or the quality of the work.

2. Flexibility
Based on the Agile philosophy, Scrum accepts that changes in customer requirements and other uncontrollable factors may need rapid response and a long term fixed roadmap focusing on the end goal of the product is not a great idea. Having a single rigid goal that has to be completed at the end may need frequent revisions and meetings and paperwork, making it cumbersome and resource-consuming. It thus sets smaller time-based goals and delivers them in shorter iterations, while adapting to the changes mentioned above.

3. High Quality
According to the founders of Scrum, one of the important goals of the Scrum framework is to deliver high-quality products, and organizations that have adopted Scrum have seen this improvement because the framework brings clarity on quality benchmarks.

4. Speed
Delivering products before deadlines is another highlight of the Scrum framework, as a lot of time is saved in adapting to changes or managing non-dynamic teams such as in traditional methods.

5. Transparency and Accountability
Unlike conventional approaches that focus on the product, Scrum focuses on the people. There is a transparency of communication due to the daily Scrum meetings and Scrum Master’s role in communicating the correct state of work in the team and to the product owner. Scrum also brings accountability; by being self-organized, members create their own road most times and feel responsible and accountable for it.
Certified Scrum Developer

A Scrum developer, along with other developers and a Scrum Master, contributes to the implementation of Scrum and developing high quality and efficiently built products. Often confused with Scrum Master or even with regular programmers, a Scrum Developer is a part of the Development team, and Scrum.org defines a developer as “Professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable Increment of “Done” product at the end of each Sprint”, where sprints are nothing but short term, clearly defined goals which form a part of the final product.

PayScale says the average salary for a Certified Scrum developer is $83k, which, given the fact that one has to invest only three days in a CSD training, is a very attractive proposition. We hope that this post has brought some clarity about the features of Scrum and the benefits of becoming a Scrum Developer and that you can make a more informed decision now. All the best.