Reflections from a Scrum Alliance Board Member

As I have reflected on the past several years serving on the Scrum Alliance Board of Directors, I have been struck by how my view of Scrum Alliance as an organization has changed. As a certified member, I was leading organizational transformation and extending agility across different environments. However, I had limited exposure to the tremendous support and resources that are available to members. One example is the groundwork that Scrum Alliance is conducting to enrich associated communities of practice by providing sponsorships—but there are many more.

Throughout my technical and leadership career, I found myself organically gravitating towards putting people and interactions over paperwork. I focused on identifying quick wins that resulted in the most positive impact for the business and for humanity. Although I was nimble by nature and a strong advocate of working smartly, I wanted to obtain more structured learning around the techniques and best practices of agility. I understood the importance of accrediting my knowledge through a well-established and highly ranked certificate authority. This motivated me to become certified with Scrum Alliance, which had the added benefit of connecting me with likeminded people globally. More importantly, becoming a member of this amazing community allowed me to become a part of the agile movement.

Agility adoption has been a grassroots movement and has increased voluntarily across different business sectors and geographical regions. I considered joining the board of directors as an effective way to increase my positive impact globally. I realized I could leverage my business acumen to help foster a better and more sustainable future for the agile movement.

Becoming a board member has extended my reach to global subject matter experts. It has provided me with an established channel to observe, understand, and hear firsthand from leaders. The result is a process of inspecting and adapting that has fostered better decision making for the future.

Serving as a director and vice chair for two committees is challenging and rewarding at the same time. Overall, it has been a very satisfying experience. Being a member of the organization while serving on the board provides a deep understanding of business climate. It has allowed me to help lead strategic developments, provide supportive oversight to senior leadership, and stay true to the organization’s mission and values.

Marjan Pouran is a Certified Scrum Professional based in Toronto, Canada. She has been a member of Scrum Alliance since 2015. She can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marjanpouran/.

To learn more about how our board of directors is comprised, click here.