From Classroom to Sprint Planning: A Teacher’s Journey to Becoming a Scrum Master and Lifelong Agilist

Charlotte—Charlie for short—advocates for the rapid feedback and experimentation afforded by agile project management. "I really like being able to get feedback quickly," she said. "I like to work with boundaries around me so that I know how I can push those boundaries without breaking them." She continued: "I also like to experiment a lot. When applying agile and scrum to things that I'm doing, I get to experiment" through the empirical process of observation, experimentation, and adaptation based on real-time feedback.

Now a scrum master for a web-hosting company, Charlie began her career as a teacher, where she learned the art of guiding, coaching, and inspiring. These early experiences laid the foundation for her current role and as the Chair of the Scrum User Group South Africa (SUGSA). Her journey shows us that agile approaches to work transcend industries and that community—offered by User Groups and other networks—can play a pivotal role in personal and professional growth.

Teaching and scrum: A surprising connection

Charlie’s teaching career started shortly after high school when she pursued a degree in education via distance learning at the University of South Africa. The flexible schedule allowed her to work while studying, gaining hands-on experience across various age groups, from toddlers to teenagers. Aiming to specialize in remedial and inclusive education, Charlie encouraged children to learn independently through hands-on activities.

Later, as Charlie began her work as a scrum master, she quickly recognized parallels between teaching and agile practices. "This role is actually quite similar to a teaching role in many aspects. It fulfilled a lot of the things that I wanted to achieve as a teacher, except maybe not molding the young minds of South Africa anymore," she says with a grin. "There's a lot of actual teaching that comes into play," she said about being a scrum master. For example, "mentoring—the way you would coach or guide or lead someone to solve their own issues." 

Drawing from her experience working with children across different developmental stages, she discovered that she could adapt the techniques she used to foster self-driven learning in her students to help teams thrive in an agile environment. The agile principle of servant leadership echoed her teaching philosophy: creating environments where teams can thrive without micromanagement.

A non-software path to agile

Charlie notes that she changed career paths twice before turning 30! Her early experience included volunteer teaching. She was then hired as a substitute teacher and eventually began working full-time. She was also an assistant to a child with special needs.

She was passionate about the work, but when she moved across South Africa to Cape Town for her husband's new job, she found that her new teaching environment didn't have the same spark for her. "I was reaching my ceiling as to what I could do at the time. I thought, let me see if there is something else out there that could be interesting because I'm still young. Let me just see." 

She ultimately landed a job in the contact center of the same web-hosting company where her husband worked. Much like the rapid progress and growth she accomplished in her teaching career, she quickly moved from a brand-new contact center representative to a customer service specialist after two years, "and that is when I found out about scrum and agile."

Charlie first learned about what a scrum master was from a colleague who transitioned to the role; she decided to explore agile herself.

“I asked her if [scrum] had anything to do with rugby,” she laughs, referencing South Africa’s national passion for the sport. However, after learning more about agile principles, she saw its potential beyond technology. Charlie’s teaching background helped her transition naturally into her role as a scrum master. Her experience in guiding others and fostering collaboration helped her teams thrive.

Charlie is currently the scrum master on the software engineering side of things at that same web-hosting company. She's on teams with internal web developers who work on the company's services and onboard and offboard products.

At first, Charlie found joining a technical team as a scrum master intimidating. "It was very daunting at first," she said. Her goals revolved around efficiencies and team dynamics, but she was simultaneously learning the teams' lingo and understanding their conversations about their work. She likened it to "chickens talking to ducks," where they were speaking the same language but in different contexts. However, Charlie soon realized that not being deeply technical allowed her to approach situations without bias or designs on a certain result and to ask questions that encouraged thoughtful problem-solving. 

Charlie's story challenges the misconception that agile is only for software developers. Agility can bring clarity, efficiency, and adaptability to any domain, whether you're working with a team of engineers or managing workflows in a customer support center.

Leveraging Scrum Alliance certifications

Charlie supported her transition into agile in part with what she learned in Scrum Alliance certification courses. Starting with her Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®) certification, she later earned the Advanced Certified ScrumMaster® (A-CSM®). She found the A-CSM course a significant step in her learning journey. Reflecting on the experience, she explained how it "helps you unpack and almost level up on the different areas they cover." These certifications were valuable for her, but she emphasized that growth also requires hands-on practice and support from a community.

Building a community: SUGSA and beyond

In her early days as a scrum master, Charlie faced the dual challenge of adapting to her role while working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Isolated from colleagues, she felt uncertain about where to turn for guidance to grow in her new career. That’s when she discovered Scrum User Group South Africa (SUGSA).

Founded as a public benefit organization, SUGSA hosts regular meetups, workshops, and networking events for agile practitioners. For Charlie, joining SUGSA was a turning point. At first, she found the experience intimidating. "I was this small fish in a huge pond," she said. However, the community quickly made her feel welcome by sharing resources, answering her questions, and supporting her as she navigated the new role.

At SUGSA, Charlie found a supportive community. She described it as "free learning with your friends," where she could share ideas, ask questions, and grow through discussions. "They’ve helped me unlock certain things and open new doors," she said, crediting the group with opportunities and support she wouldn’t have found alone.

Her involvement in SUGSA quickly deepened. Initially a participant, Charlie joined the organizing committee in her second year as a scrum master. Within her third year, she was elected Chair. In her role, she helps guide the group's activities to support its mission of promoting agile practices throughout South Africa.

The importance of community in agile

Charlie sees certifications as a valuable starting point for an agile journey but believes they work best when paired with community support. "I don't think I'd be where I am now without SUGSA," she shared. "To be honest, it was such a huge help for me, personally and with my career. There's a whole group of people that have now just been a massive support system for me."

SUGSA's events cater to a diverse audience, from seasoned agile practitioners to newcomers exploring agile. "We really want to cater to anyone and everyone. It's not just a technical person that's working in software development," she explained. The meetups have included participants from HR departments, culture specialists, and even a coffee shop owner using kanban with his team.

Charlie encourages newcomers who may feel nervous to bring a friend to their first meetup. "If you're nervous and you're scared, bring a buddy. The more the merrier," she advised.

Expanding the agile network

With Charlie’s leadership, SUGSA continues to grow, maintaining active chapters in Cape Town and Johannesburg. She hopes to see the community expand even further in the future. "I hope SUGSA can expand a lot more," she shared, expressing interest in establishing chapters in regions like Durban and Bloemfontein to bring agile practices to a broader audience.

SUGSA primarily focuses on in-person events, valuing the deeper connections and meaningful interactions these gatherings foster. The group sometimes holds virtual meetups, which allow speakers and participants from outside the main hubs to take part. Combining in-person and online events helps SUGSA connect with more people across South Africa and build a wider agile community.

A global perspective

Charlie's dedication to agile extends beyond South Africa. As a member of the Scrum Alliance Program Advisory Team for the 2025 Global Scrum Gathering in Munich, she’s had the opportunity to see agile practices from a global perspective. Working alongside team members from various countries and organizations, Charlie has enjoyed exploring how one's background shapes how you add insights or guide things. "It's fascinating how different environments can change people's thought processes," she observed. 

The power of agile

Charlie has come to see agile as a way to approach challenges in everyday life. She spots agile principles in action in unexpected places, from team dynamics in kitchens to organizational tools for cleaning routines. "We often watch Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay. And I love watching that process because I see Gordon as an agile coach who is coming into a kitchen and picking up on different team dynamics and getting people to work better, or he's seeing a flow in the system that is not working well, or people ignoring customer feedback," she shared noting how his observations and adjustments align with core agile practices. Spotting these patterns, she says, highlights how agile principles can surface in unexpected places.

For those considering a leap into agile, Charlie recommends speaking to several scrum masters to understand the diversity of experiences in the role. "A day in the life for me is constantly different every single day, and it's going to be vastly different from a day in the life of somebody else," she explained. With the guidance of others and opportunities to apply what you've learned, agile becomes not just principles and values but a mindset that can transform how you approach challenges, collaborate, and grow.

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