Join the team. Write the docs.
Scrum As You Are is the only course that explains Agile and Scrum from a technical writing perspective, and shows you how to harness the Scrum methodology to write better docs.
Agile methodologies are quickly replacing the old way of developing software.
Okay. Cool. But how do I fit in???
When I first encountered Agile, I’d been a tech writer for 2 years. I wasn’t senior, but I wasn’t green, either. And yet I found that there was almost no information about how to write documentation under this methodology.
Maybe you’re in the same place - you don’t know what the heck Agile is, or at least how your work as a Tech Writer fits in. It’s harder than ever to understand the direction of development. You feel like you’re falling behind in your job and in your career. You feel like you’re failing your users. For all the lip service to improved communication, no one can quite explain what’s going on without launching into incomprehensible buzz words. Researching on the internet isn’t any better: your options are spending hours reading blog posts for people who already know the basics, or taking a $2000 certification.
You could figure this out if someone would teach you.
What if I told you:
You can work in Agile, and that it’s not as hard as it looks?
Agile solves a lot of the tech writing challenges you’ve experienced in the past?
Learning enough to get started doesn’t have to be hard?
Scrum As You Are is made for tech writers
The challenges of technical writing are different from those of development. “Scrum As You Are” is the only course that approaches learning Scrum from the perspective of a technical writer rather than a developer, engineer, or architect. I’ve worked in Scrum for three years and have put everything I’ve learned into the course.
Scrum As You Are is focused on the docs
It’s all well and good to know how Agile improves development, but how does it improve the docs? Every module in “Scrum As You Are” answers this question from a documentation perspective - how does this help me write better docs?
Scrum As You Are starts from the beginning
I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t born understanding the basics of Agile development and Scrum. But almost every resource and blog post online already expects you to know the philosophy and the vocabulary - they only teach variations on the methodology or considerations for people who already know what they’re doing. “Scrum As You Are” doesn’t assume you were born understanding Agile; it’s designed to build your knowledge from the ground up.
Scrum As You Are is about writing in Scrum, not writing
You probably already suspect - and are perfectly correct - that the actual job putting one word in front of the other is no different in Scrum. Nothing about what makes writing good or effective is different under Scrum. You still need to empathize with the user and plan your content and publish it.
Scrum doesn’t change the writing. It changes how you work with the team.
Scrum gives you better access to the SMEs. No more hours-long meetings where the SME is distracted the whole time and just wants to get you out the door.
Scrum helps put the docs on an equal footing with development. Rather than being the team pariah, you’re baked into the team and do work alongside development.
Scrum helps you get updates faster. A lot of teams I’ve worked with in the past just plain forgot to tell me when things changed. Scrum helps you avoid these annoying situations.
Scrum lets you create documentation before there’s a system to compare it to. Writing from requirements is like digging through a brick wall with a spoon, and writing from a working system means you wait till the last minute to do anything. Scrum alleviates both problems with a different take on recording requirements.
Honestly, I love doing documentation in Scrum. It’s so much easier and faster, and I feel like I’m part of the team instead of the fly buzzing around its head.
The problem with Scrum is that it can be opaque.
Even worse, there’s basically nothing on the internet about how to write documentation using this methodology. (I should know; I’ve written the only resources out there.)
Teaching you Scrum is too big a job for a series of blog posts.
Honestly, it’s too big for a webinar. (I should know; I tried.)
That’s why I’ve created Scrum As You Are.
Scrum As You Are gives you everything you need to get started. I cover the Agile philosophy and the details of the Scrum methodology, the structure of the Scrum team (and how you fit in with it), the schedule, how team gets requirements, all the buzzwords, and tips on how to do work most effectively and avoid common pitfalls.
Scrum As You Are is structured into 8 online modules that you could probably hammer out in a week apiece. But once you buy it, it’s yours forever - including any updates or improvements I make in the future.
And not to brag, but I’ve got almost a decade of technical communication experience. I’ve baked this baby with love and a critical eye toward content curation.
PRE-SALE PRICING: Scrum As You Are opens on August 31, 2019.
The Pre-Sale Price of $97 increases to $297 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific on August 30.
Class Curriculum
Welcome and Overview
Module 1: What is Agile and What is Scrum?
Agile development basics and the Agile Manifesto
How is Agile different from waterfall development?
The benefits of Agile development
How is Scrum different from Agile?
The benefits of using Scrum in particular
A note on “Agilefall” and ”Scrumfall”
How does it help our users when we write in Scrum?
Module 2: The Scrum Team
What is a Scrum Team?
The “Chicken and Pig” story
The roles that are typically “on” the team
The roles that are typically “off” the team
How the Scrum team works together
How the Scrum team works with the business team
Module 3: The Schedule
What is a sprint?
What’s the value of breaking work into sprints?
How the team determines sprint length
How the schedule works in the real world
Module 4: The Pre-Work
Definition of Done
Module 5: User Stories
What’s a user story?
How are user stories different from requirements?
How to read a user story
What are story points and how are they used?
Grooming user stories and providing feedback
Spikes and “timeboxing”
Module 6: Ceremonies
What are the ceremonies?
What does a writer get out of each?
How can a writer contribute to each?
Module 7: The Metrics
Velocity
The Burndown Chart
The Burnup Chart
How to use these metrics (and how not to)
Module 8: How to get work done/how to be effective
Your responsibilities as writer
Your team’s responsibilities to you
Getting information
Tracking work (stories vs. tasks)
Writing
Reviewing
Deploying
Avoiding common stumbling blocks
Getting the team (and your manager) on board
Review and Conclusion
Your Instructor
Hi, I’m Erin! I’ve been a Tech Writer for 7 years and have been working as part of an Scrum team for 3 of those. In addition to writing on Scrum teams, I’ve been Business Analyst for 3 teams. If you’re obsessed with giving your users the best documentation you can possibly make and want to know how Scrum can help you do that, you’re in the right place.
Price for the full course goes up to $297 on August 30, so sign up now!
Some questions you might have
When does the course start and finish?
The course opens on August 31, 2019 and is self-paced. It’s broken into 8 modules, and I suggest doing a module a week to make sure you understand the content and have time to think about how to apply each module to your work. That said, you can do it as quickly or slowly as you like.
How long do I have to access the course?
Forever! Once you’ve purchased it, you have lifetime access to both the course and any updates that I apply to it.
Is this a certification course?
Nope, but I’ll let you in on a little secret: you don’t need a certification to work on a Scrum team.
I’ve worked on several Scrum teams in the past three years and I’ve never once been asked if I’m certified. (I’m not.) In fact, the only people I’ve known who do have a certification are Scrum Masters. For the average team member, it’s just not important.
One of the most important values of Agile in general and Scrum in particular is “just enough.”
Just enough development to meet the customer’s needs.
Just enough meeting time for the team to communicate.
Just enough information for the team to make intelligent decisions.
This course provides just enough information about how Scrum works and how you as a tech writer fit into it for you to jump onto a team and start providing value. It also gives you just enough information about the value of having a tech writer on the team to speak with your manager and your Scrum team about it intelligently.
What’s your refund policy?
The great thing about Scrum As You Are is that, once you’ve purchased it, it’s available for you online forever. Because of that, refunds are only available for the first 7 days after your purchase.