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How to Deal with Estimation Problems in Agile Teams

April 20, 2023
Agile development is all about building a collaborative, empowered team that delivers value to the customer. However, upper management may prioritise traditional metrics like deadlines and budgets in some organisations over team dynamics. As a Scrum Master, balancing these priorities and ensuring the team remains psychologically safe while meeting management’s expectations around estimation is essential.
Blog Post

Why is Scrum the Most Popular Agile framework?

April 19, 2023
Scrum is the most popular Agile framework. According to Digita.ai’s 16th annual report, 87% of organizations using an Agile framework use Scrum. That’s up from 58% of Agile teams using Scrum, as documented in the 14th annual State of Agile report. 
Blog Post

Scrum Master Job Description

April 19, 2023
Hiring a Scrum Master? Unfortunately, most Scrum Master job descriptions are not suitable and may not attract the right talent. In this video, PST's Jason Malmstadt and Gregory Crown will provide some helpful ideas and things to consider to help you get started with writing a good job description that will attract the best candidates.
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5 Grundsätze für die effektive Moderation von Scrum Events

April 19, 2023
Unerfahrene Scrum Master glauben, sie müssten möglichst viele Facilitation-Techniken kennen. Dem ist nicht so. Klar, du findest viele hilfreiche Moderationstechniken im Internet. Aber das heißt nicht, dass du auch jeden Ice-Breaker oder Energizer verwenden, jedes lustige Bildchen malen oder andere Moderationstechniken einsetzen solltest. Um zu entscheiden, welche Technik wirklich funktioniert, lasse dich von fünf Grundsätzen leiten. Welche das sind, erkläre ich dir im Artikel:
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O Scrum Master pode ser rotativo?

April 17, 2023
Como tudo na vida, a rotação do Scrum Master tem seus prós e contras. Cada equipe deve avaliar suas próprias necessidades e escolher se terá um papel fixo ou rotativo. Independente da decisão tomada, é imprescindível cultivar uma dinâmica de aprendizado. Algumas vezes será necessário testar as duas abordagens por um tempo para depois concluir sobre o que é mais benéfico e apropriado para o seu contexto.
Blog Post

5 Myths Debunked: What Does a Scrum Master Do?

April 17, 2023
There are many myths about Scrum Masters out there. They can be the most difficult accountability to define in concrete terms. In this video, PST's Jason Malmstadt, Gregory Crown and Robert Pieper will debunk 5 of the myths and answer the question: What does a Scrum Master do?
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Mindful Scrum Mastery

April 15, 2023
Mindful Scrum Mastery is applying mindfulness principles and techniques to Scrum. Mindfulness involves paying attention to your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. Mindfulness has improved focus, reduced stress, enhanced creativity, and fostered a positive mindset.
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3 harte Lektionen, die ich beim Interviewen von Kunden gelernt habe

April 14, 2023
Ich war schon immer ein großer Verfechter davon, dass Expertise mit Erfahrung gleichzusetzen ist. Jedoch ... … ist es gefährlich, Ratschläge zu geben, ohne die Situation genau zu kennen. Schnell werden Meinungen zu Tatsachen. Um dem entgegenzuwirken, interviewe ich regelmäßig meine Kunden. Dabei musste ich 3 harte Lektionen über Interviews lernen.

Welche das sind, erfährst du in diesem Artikel.
Blog Post

The Next Scrum Frontier - Developing the Company as the Product

April 14, 2023
Agile was born in software development and has been widely adopted in IT and Product organizations to the point that there's little argument that product/technology organizations should operate using agility principles. More recently, other functions, such as Marketing, have adopted these agility principles and practices. These are useful stopgap measures on the journey toward real organizational agility. The next frontier in expanding the scope of agility is tackling the complex challenge of developing the company as the Product people use Scrum to manage.
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How Can an Organization Develop its Agile capabilities?

April 12, 2023
Developing Agile capabilities within an organization requires unlearning ineffective practices and aligning the company’s structure, processes, people practices, and reward systems. The importance of these different components to reinforce each other is illustrated through the analogy of developing a healthy lifestyle.
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Activity is Not a Measure of Success in Scrum

April 11, 2023
​​​​​​​Agile coaches have long recognized that busyness does not necessarily equal success. Checking off a to-do list does not mean you are adding value.  You might accomplish many organizational tasks, but the activity likely has little benefit if these tasks don’t contribute to the company’s goals, support operations, or customer satisfaction.
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Building for Agility: The Role of Commodity Platforms

April 10, 2023
At scale, many teams can use the shared platform functionality. When that can be done on a self-service basis, it supports autonomy and improves product delivery flow. But when the platform group holds all the power and the teams need to request the product group to develop product-specific functionality themselves, it can create a bottleneck in the development process. By eliminating reciprocal interdependencies and creating a commodity platform, product groups can focus on their unique features and the platform can provide the necessary functionality without getting in the way. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved, and collaboration and smart processes can keep everything running smoothly.
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Machst du diese Fehler bei Produkt-Zielen?

April 10, 2023
Vergiss, was du über Produkt-Ziele gehört hast. Ignoriere die Ratschläge, dass Ziele SMART, FAST oder ein OKR sein müssen. Denn Fakt ist: Diese Methoden bewahren dich nicht vor den typischen Fehlern, die in der Praxis passieren. Welche das sind, erfährst du, wenn du weiter liest!
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Agile OKRs to Measure Improvement in Flow and Value Outcomes OKRs

April 10, 2023
The lack of a standard and evidence-based mechanisms to measure performance and agility leaves many organizations in the dark regarding what activities are needed to not only lead to agility, but what activities leaders should support and promote help to make enterprise agility sustainable, repeatable and scalable. This is where Agile OKRs come in.
Blog Post

Mitosis and Express Kickoff

April 4, 2023
In this article I share the case of mitosis – splitting a large team of 19 people into two independent feature teams working from a single Product Backlog. After the division, I helped the teams create a common identity and agree on norms of conduct. This case is just an episode of Agile transformation in a business unit of several hundred people.
Blog Post

Maximizing Scrum with the Scrum Values

April 4, 2023
The Scrum values help create a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement, guiding the team toward better results and a more satisfying work experience. I’ve written and talked a lot about the Scrum values over my consulting and coaching career because I’ve seen how they can galvanize teams to achieve their best work. I’ve also seen how they are often misunderstood. I hope this article will provide an easy way for readers to learn about the importance of the Scrum values and find helpful links to other Agile Socks posts for those who want to dive deeper.

Quality Angels in your Scrum Team

April 3, 2023
Who are the Quality Assurance (QA) experts in the Scrum Team and what do they have to do with guardian angels? Who is responsible for the quality of your product? What practices can you use to positively impact collaboration within the Scrum Team and the quality of solutions created? You will find it out in this blog post!
Blog Post

Answer These 3 Questions to Determine If You're Getting Value from Scrum

April 1, 2023
With the widespread adoption of Scrum, variation in how teams practice Scrum has inevitably evolved. At the same time, some organizations that have turned to Scrum wonder if they are getting its full benefits. So, how do you know if Scrum is working? In this article, I outline 3 questions that can help determine if you're getting value from Scrum. Your answers might point to adjustments you can make to your practice to improve outcomes.