Blog Post
They thought it was overkill The Nexus Daily Scrum
September 30, 2016
I’m currently helping a small software shop within a government organization where multiple Scrum Teams are serving the same cause. They are building one product that has several sub-systems, which sometimes need to be integrated.
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The 8 Stances of a Scrum Master
September 20, 2016
According to the Scrum Guide, the Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring Scrum is understood and enacted. Scrum Masters do this by ensuring that the Scrum Team adheres to Scrum theory, practices, and rules.
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What DevOps Taught Me About Agile
September 15, 2016
I’ve spent a lot of time looking at how organizations are using DevOps to improve their software delivery cycle time, their ability to innovate, and their ability to improve quality.
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Consider this before hiring an Agile Coach
September 14, 2016
This summer, during the Olympics, the Euro Soccer Championships and the Tour the France, while cheering in front of the tv, I noticed something in the way teams perform. And it worried me.
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5 Beliefs That Predict Enterprise Agile Success
September 9, 2016
Agile approaches, including Scrum, are empirical approaches to delivering software and business value.
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Why isn't the Definition of Ready described in the Scrum Guide?
September 5, 2016
On July 7th the Scrum community gathered in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) for the 5th edition of Scrum Day Europe. This year's theme was 'the next iteration'.
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Sprint Review is not a phase gate
September 1, 2016
Throughout the Agile Alliance 2016 conference, I was struck by a recurring feeling that many people don’t understand what the Sprint Review is.
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Trying Agile? Dont let culture eat discipline for breakfast
August 29, 2016
More and more large companies in traditional industries are singing the Agile song. I have noticed, though, that there seems to be a general misconception that Agile is onlyabout creating happy teams.
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From 50% Agile Coach to 100% Scrum Master
August 20, 2016
Today I changed my Twitter and LinkedIn profile. I removed Agile Coach and replaced it with Scrum Master. 100% Scrum Master.
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Why I joined Scrum.org
August 17, 2016
I’ve been working in software for a long time, and for most of that time I’ve been trying to find better ways of delivering working software.
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What Does This Retweet Tell Us About Agile and Scrum?
August 8, 2016
If this post resonates with you, please consider spreading the message so we can educate and inspire others.
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Is it Time to Evolve Beyond the Agile Manifesto?
July 30, 2016
If this post resonates with you, please consider spreading the message so we can educate and inspire the entire professional world together.
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Why the Dutch should be Scaled Agile Rockstars!
July 28, 2016
What really makes a transformation of your organization successful? Which elements should be in place? Which complicated framework for scaling agile should I choose?
Blog Post
Agile Adoption Canvas
July 27, 2016
In this little blog I want to share a simple canvas that I use to kick-off agile adoption and answer the following questions:
Blog Post
Introducing the new PSM assessment family
July 26, 2016
Today we re-structure our Professional Scrum Master assessment (PSM) and certification products changing the focus of PSM II and introducing PSM III.
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Scrum Day Europe 2016
July 25, 2016
During the 5th edition of Scrum Day Europe, Laurens and I facilitated a workshop on how to “Add Visual Flavor to Your Organization Transformation with Videoscribe.”
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Common Mistakes when Scaling Scrum
July 19, 2016
These days scaling Scrum is a hot topic. How can I use Scrum to deliver a big product with multiple teams? The most common approach I see at my customers is scaling Scrum by adding more Scrum teams with a Product Owner and Scrum Master per team.
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The 3 Things Scrum Teams Get Wrong
July 13, 2016
If you’ve learned Scrum and tried to implement it in any large organization you’ve likely run into a few issues. Getting dedicated people on your team is hard. Building cross-functional teams is really hard.
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Scrum Values added to Scrum Guide, so what?
July 9, 2016
This week, co-creators of Scrum, Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, released a new version of the Scrum Guide
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Three Simple Steps to Make Distributed Teams Work
July 8, 2016
As Agility in Mind launch our new training course designed to help distributed teams work effectively, we share our experiences on the
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Are carrots and sticks allowed on Daily Scrum?
July 7, 2016
Recently I came across a post by Mike Cohn “Incentives and Deterrents for Starting Daily Scrum on Time”, on Linkedin
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Updates to the Scrum Guide: The 5 Scrum values take center stage
July 6, 2016
Today Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, the creators of Scrum delivered a webinar on their latest update to the Scrum Guide. The update was a simple one, adding the 5 values of Scrum to the Guide.
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5 Challenges Creating a Done Increment
July 5, 2016
The purpose of Scrum is to create a potentially shippable Increment by the end of a Sprint. This is so important that people now use many terms to describe this Scrum artifact. Working. Releasable.
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Evolution of the Scrum Master
June 29, 2016
In my last post, I explained the pattern of the evolution of the Product Owner. This blog is about the evolution pattern of a Scrum Master.
Blog Post
Evolution of the Product Owner
June 17, 2016
What is a good Product Owner and am I the right person to fill in this role?
If you have ever struggled with this question, you should probably keep reading.
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What Students Say About The Professional Scrum Developer Class (PSD.NET)
June 8, 2016
Interview after the 3 day training with 3 students, asking them 3 questions:
1. "Why did you take this class?"
2. "What was your personal highlight of the class?"
3. "What will you do differently on Monday?"
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Scrum is the transport not the destination
May 27, 2016
Working with a range of people, it is interesting to observe how many are aiming to “Do Scrum” or “Get Agile”. The issue with this thinking is that people are focusing on the transport, not the destination.
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Use Waterfall to be agile
May 26, 2016
I'm sure you've heard of Waterfall, ever heard of Water-Scrum-Fall? Ever heard someone in a product development group tell you “they use a hybrid-agile approach”? There’s a million ways people continue using a traditional, phase gated, software development lifecycle approach and marry it with an agile framework or methodology.
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Use the Right Tool for the Job
May 17, 2016
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!
Huh? I don’t know; it’s something my father always said.
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The Most Powerful Word in the Workplace
May 11, 2016
As we approach the mid-year point in our jobs, I often find that knowledge workplaces have a tendency to slow down a bit and lose some steam - even the ones that leverage Scrum.
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15 things a Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO) actually does
May 5, 2016
Fifteen crucial responsibilities of an entrepreneurial Product owner. Maximize value & Optimizer, The Product Vision, Value, and Validation, Return of Investment, Reducing the Total Cost of Ownership, Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration, Business Agility.
Blog Post
Good Product Owners Delete Product Backlog Items
April 22, 2016
At a recent course, one of my attendees talked about his use of a "to delete" status for items in his Product Backlog. Where items had been in his Product Backlog for more than 3 months he tagged them as "to delete".
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The Scrum Master as a Change Agent
April 15, 2016
The role of a Scrum Master is one of many stances and diversity. A great Scrum Master is aware of them and knows when and how to apply them, depending on situation and context. Everything with the purpose of helping people understand the spirit of Scrum and hereby apply the Scrum framework better.
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5 Ways To Fail With Scrum
April 14, 2016
Over the past 10 years I have worked with many organisations and helped them to use Scrum to create innovative and sometimes market leading Products. I have seen a lot of Scrum during this time, much of it done well, but some of it done badly.
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What exactly are we Scaling?
April 13, 2016
Scaling Scrum. Agile at Scale. Enterprise Everything. Everyone is using the Scaled Agile Framework SAFe. Scaling, Scaling, Scaling. If you’re working in product development, you’ve probably had a few conversations on this topic.
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The 2 Best Scrum Masters I Ever Worked With - The Master Of Coaching And Facilitation
April 8, 2016
The most common question I am asked at my courses is - what makes a good Scrum Master? I always answer this question with a story from my own experience working with Scrum Masters (good and bad) over the years.
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The Scrum Master as an Impediment Remover
April 7, 2016
The role of a Scrum Master is one of many stances and diversity. A great Scrum Master is aware of them and knows when and how to apply them, depending on situation and context. Everything with the purpose of helping people understand and apply the Scrum framework better.
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Hardware in 30 Days or Less?
April 5, 2016
In the past few months I've been working with a company whose products are most hardware, circuit boards, and firmware.
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Product Backlog Refinement explained (3/3)
March 29, 2016
When do you estimate and what do you do when you need more time for discussion? In this third post of this series on Product Backlog refinement you will find some good practices on how to facilitate an effective and efficient refinement meeting.
Blog Post
The 2 Best Scrum Masters I Ever Worked With - The Master Of Self-Management
March 29, 2016
The most common question I am asked at my courses is - what makes a good Scrum Master? I always answer this question with a story from my own experience working with Scrum Masters (good and bad) over the years.
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Project Mindset or Product Mindset?
March 23, 2016
Last week I participated in a Product Owner course facilitated by Gunther Verheyen. What triggered me was the part where we discussed the difference between having a
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Product Backlog Refinement explained (2/3)
March 21, 2016
In this blog series, you will get some good practices and guidance for having better, more effective and more vivid Product Backlog refinement
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Is It Possible To Be Agile Without Using Scrum?
March 17, 2016
Yes, of course it is! Scrum is a framework to help teams and organisations on their path to agility, but it is by no means the only way to be agile.
Blog Post
Product Backlog Refinement explained (1/3)
March 14, 2016
One of the most challenging activities in Scrum is Product Backlog Refinement. During training courses I get many questions on this activity. What do you do during Product Backlog refinement? How do you prevent discussions going off track or in too much detail? Who should be there? When do you estimate? In this blog series, you will get some good practices and guidelines for having better, more effective and more vivid Product Backlog refinement.
Blog Post
The 11 Advantages of Using a Sprint Goal
March 6, 2016
When facilitating a Scrum Master training, the Sprint Goal is a topic that often causes a good discussion. Participants question the background, purpose and advantages of using a Sprint Goal.
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About self-organizing teams
March 3, 2016
Question from a budding Scrum Master, who is transitioning from a background as a traditional project manager:
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(WHY) WILL AGILE WORK THIS TIME?
March 1, 2016
Last year, I was facilitating a workshop on Agile and began the conversation, as usual with introductions. I asked each attendee what was the most important burning question that brought them to the workshop. One of the attendees replied