The Apprentice Program — An in-depth field report
by Eslam Shoaala and Stefanie Bradish
In a recent article we introduced to you our Apprentice Program, where we build an important foundation for learning and by that supporting the growth of an agile, comprehensive Scrum Community at ProSiebenSat.1. It allows to extend collaboration, exchange and learning beyond the program, by building bridges between the different business fields and divisions of ProSiebenSat.1, strengthening the loyalty of motivated colleagues and attracting new ones.
Graduates of the Apprentice Program bring their knowledge and skills to the company and to future Apprentice generations, for example as new mentors. They support different divisions to create sustainable value for a successful future of ProSiebenSat.1.
To give you an even deeper insight into the program, we asked two participants to give a detailed description of their different experiences. They talk about their learnings, journey and possible challenges, giving you in-depth insights to the Apprentice Program.
First of all, we would like to introduce you to Eslam, who in detailed manner talks about his very own Apprentice and growth journey in the Apprentice Program at ProSiebenSat.1 Tech Solutions.
“I moved to a new city and a completely new country to start my career as a Software Engineer at the Monetization Solutions Department at ProsiebenSat.1 Tech Solutions. I got my degree in Media Engineering and Technology back in 2016 from the German University in Cairo, Egypt. I considered ProSiebenSat.1 and Munich as a new chapter in my continuous learning journey. One of the interesting perks I heard about during my onsite interview was the ‘unscheduled time’. This means taking 20 percent of our normal work time for self-improvement. On my first day, I heard about a new program that I could do for my unscheduled time: The Apprentice Program. I was hesitant at the beginning because there was a six-month commitment period. However, upon checking the content, vision and goals, I was 100 percent sure that I would like to spend the upcoming six months with a full commitment. I had the feeling that the program would help me grow my technical knowledge while also meeting new people from different teams across the company.
How the program started
The kick-off of the program was at my first day at the company. Therefore, I met a lot of new faces and listened to exciting presentations as well as fascinating collaborative group discussions. During the kickoff, all participants had to form their own vision and the expected output as well as shape the program completely to their needs and expectations. That was an agile concept that I have never experienced before in my professional life. After presenting our results and forming our vision for this program iteration, we went to the next phase: choosing a mentor! For me, having a dedicated mentor was one of the best advantages in joining the program. The idea of having someone to guide you through the way, share their experience with you and helping you when in doubt, seeking advice or asking for feedback — that’s priceless! We were four Apprentices and three mentors. We — the Apprentices — discussed on which mentor every one of us should pick and HORRAY!
The Apprentice Program consisted of twelve iterations. Each iteration had a couple of learning objectives, which were in compliance with the Scrum Alliance which would eventually make us Certified Scrum Developers. We had full freedom at the Apprentice Program — with the guidance of our mentors — to achieve these pre-defined learning objectives and arrange the learning objectives based on our preferences. As I told you before, I have never seen such an agile learning experience!
The first two iterations were focused on the Scrum process: Making sure that we understand and apply it correctly and comprehend the concept and the reason behind every scrum meeting and scrum role we have in our product teams. From the third iteration, we had more focus on software engineering principles, starting from a definition and application of clean code up to building a complete CI/CD pipeline using GitLab and automatically deploying a cluster in AWS. It was such an exciting learning journey with a lot of stories, lessons, and experiences. I have to say that it really helped sharpening my coding skills and covering the parts I missed. Also, it helped uncover the parts I took for granted in my team product.
Coding Dojos
Every second Thursday during our Apprentice Program, we would have a two-hour session with our mentors in what is called a “Coding Dojo”. It is a problem or a task that we were given to solve in a pre-defined time frame. We would usually be given a task or a Dojo to tackle in 90 minutes and would spend the remaining 30 minutes in the session with our mentors giving us feedback on how we tried to solve the given problem as a team and what can be improved.
How the program shifted due to COVID-19
Two weeks after the program’s kickoff, we had to start working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I am proud of how the Apprentice team managed to go from an onsite training to a fully remote setting over the course of just one weekend! Experimenting with some of the online tools and figuring out the ones that helped us achieve the most productivity despite the remote situation. We relied on Zoom for our virtual meetings, Miro for managing our retrospective meetings and also our brain storming sessions, Trello for managing our sprint deliverables and learning objectives and Confluence for documenting our learning objectives. And, of course, GitLab for managing our code repos and Coding Dojos.
My Experience with my mentor, Jonathan
Jonathan is the Senior Software Engineer in my product team. When we were deciding together on which mentor we should choose, I was advised to stick with Jonny because he can also walk me quickly through our product hand-over.
Jonathan was such a great mentor. We would schedule our 1:1 Apprentice meeting for one hour every second week, where we would go through defined agenda points, have technical discussions and give feedback. One mentorship technique that Jonny used, which I really liked, was whenever I would ask for advice regarding any topic, he would help me out by asking the right questions that would make me reach a conclusion on my own.
I enjoyed having Jonny as a mentor for the last six months. Thanks a lot, Jonny, for the mentorship, the guidance, and the professional growth.
The benefits I gained from the Apprentice Program
The program left all of us with great benefits. The first and most important thing was the community. It truly felt like a safe space to ask for advice and make mistakes. It was very helpful that we shared our thoughts, fears, hesitations, and lessons learned with each other as well as our mentors.
It was also a great example of agility and flexibility, where we got to comprehend and apply the scrum process via promoting self-organization and self-responsibility when it comes to learning and working.
The Apprentice Program also built a feeling and a responsibility inside of us for further fostering this community and pass on the knowledge to the following participants. I am looking forward to becoming a mentor for the upcoming generation that will start in October this year.”
What’s next?
I decided to become a mentor for the upcoming Apprentice generation. I am really looking forward to passing on the knowledge I gained over the last cycle, sharing the learning objectives we covered in the program and the lessons we learned in the Coding Dojos as well as the concrete feedback sessions. I can’t wait to see how things are done on the other side of the table. To Anastasia, Miguel, Sabine, Jonny, Patrik, Veit, Bettina, Sven, and Peter: Thank you very much for the amazing journey we had together over the last six months.
To the upcoming Apprentice generation — you should be very excited to start a new and fun learning experience at ProSiebenSat.1. Get ready!”
Next up, meet Stefanie! She is a third-time participant of the Program and will give you an overview of her time there and her journey as a Scrum Master.
“My Apprentice journey so far has been a great ride – and I wouldn’t want to miss it for the world! Without it, I would not be the person – and the Scrum Master – I am today. In a time where everything changes so fast and you need to adapt quickly, the melting together of personal and professional growth is elementary. That is exactly what our Apprentice Program offered me: A chance to grow both, as a person, and a professional Scrum Master. And as cherry on top: Everything in excellent and equally motivated and curious company. Our shared purpose: To learn from and with each other what agile means to us as individuals, as a team, as a company ... and to the Scrum Alliance, of course. And what we can do to reach our best level of agility with open eyes, minds and hearts.
1) ‘Mastery experiences. For the most meaningful things that you want to experience in life, do you plan and take achievable action steps so that you can experience mastery and thus self-efficiency?’*
The Apprentice Program gives you an excellent opportunity to experience working in iterations and produce increments. Within the program you gain a new understanding why things might happen the way they do, which troubles your fellow Scrum roles Devs and Product Owners are facing daily, why each role is so important to the Scrum framework, what strengths and weaknesses they bring to the table and where they can support each other excellently because of them. Also, you learn a lot about group dynamics and what it takes to form and work as a team, what the benefits of it are, what the downsides might be. And when it’s not working out: how you can recover and get back on track as an even stronger team after that. The main benefit and challenge at the same time here is: You get to find it out and try it out yourself. It’s up to you and what you’re willing to put in.
2)’Social modeling. Do you actively surround yourself with people who are excellent examples of who you want to be and what you want to experience?’*
The Apprentice Program breathes life into the agile principle: “Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need and trust them to get the job done.” If you ever felt like you wanted to live that principle, the Apprentice Program will be a good place for you. But don’t get me wrong: It’s not some disciples following an experienced and wise guru. It is the variety of different characters, strengths, weaknesses, level of knowledge and the open and appreciative atmosphere that unleashes and fuels a level of motivation, learning and personal skills that is astounding.
3)’Social persuasion. Do you actively associate with encouragers as opposed to discouragers?’*
You might experience a whole new level of encouragement in every way imaginable. Which won’t save you from also feeling totally hopeless and stuck sometimes, though. It is kind of an included side effect. As you will be full of knowledge and new ideas you want to try out, you will see things clearer and improve your daily work – a lot! Which, of course, will be delightful. And that might lead to a totally new level of discouragement at some point. As you will have a sharp view for what already works as requested and what might just still not. But the good news is: everything is learning and you will have your study buddies at your side who can offer you compassion, understanding, perspective and a safe space to discuss it. To get more into detail: The theory work with Learning Objectives and the experiences of your Apprentice Program teamwork nourishes your daily business and the things experienced in daily business supplies the Apprentice Program teamwork with great examples of how real world and theory differ and how to handle it.
4)’Physiological and psychological responses. Do you actively manage your body and your mind in ways that support you rather than undermine you?’*
You might get to the bottom of some long slumbering limiting believes in the cellar of your mind that did hold you back so far but you might also stumble upon new and shiny stuff. You might find the courage to make some big life decisions. So, my advice: Be open. Be curious. Be surprised. It’ll be worth it. There’s always something new to experience and treasures to be found in each Apprentice generation. That one is a given. This autumn my third journey will begin. This time I’m going to be a mentor of the program. And I’m very much looking forward to being surprised. Again.
*Source: Responsibility Practice from Christopher Avery’s book “The responsibility process”, page 34
