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Blog Post

Non-Technical Leaders in Scrum

September 20, 2023
Scrum is utilized in various industries, and as a result, leaders from diverse backgrounds are tasked with guiding Scrum Teams. While technical expertise can be an asset, it's not always a prerequisite for effective leadership in an Agile environment.
Blog Post

Can Developers be on More than One Scrum Team?

September 11, 2023
One question that often arises in the context of Scrum is whether individuals can be part of more than one Scrum Team. While there is no explicit rule against this in Scrum, it's essential to explore the implications of such arrangements on productivity and adherence to Scrum values.
Blog Post

The Power of Facilitation: Liberating Structures for Effective Collaboration

September 6, 2023
In a world marked by constant change and complexity, effective facilitation has become a critical skill for individuals and organizations alike. Whether you're leading a Sprint Planning event, a brainstorming session, or a strategic planning workshop, the ability to guide conversations, foster inclusivity, and elicit valuable insights is paramount. Facilitation is not just about orchestrating discussions; it's about creating an environment where everyone's voices are heard, ideas are explored, and decisions are made collaboratively. This is where Liberating Structures come into play, offering a toolkit of powerful facilitation techniques that can transform the way groups work together.
Blog Post

New Features vs. Technical Debt: A Product Owner's Dilemma

September 6, 2023
The Product Owner is the bridge between corporate strategy and the Scrum Team. The Product Owner must balance the demands of users against the need to ensure that the product remains up to date from a technical perspective. This often means that the Product Owner may need to choose between developing new features to satisfy customer requests and fixes for technical debt.
Blog Post

The Art of Prioritization: Coaching for Incremental Change in Teams

August 24, 2023
Coaching plays a pivotal role in guiding teams toward greater efficiency, collaboration, and overall success. It’s important to remember that you can't coach people out of every bad practice all at once. This article explores the wisdom behind focusing on the highest impact opportunities rather than attempting to create a perfect team overnight.
Blog Post

The Importance of Measuring Employee Satisfaction During Retrospectives

August 24, 2023
At the heart of Scrum lies the Retrospective, a crucial event where teams reflect on their work and identify areas for improvement. One often overlooked opportunity at the Retrospective is measuring employee satisfaction. This article highlights the opportunity of incorporating employee satisfaction measurement into Retrospectives and how it can contribute to team success.
Blog Post

The Surprising Impact of Limiting Work in Progress on the Flow of Work in a Scrum Team

August 11, 2023
The concept of limiting work in progress revolves around the principle that focusing on fewer tasks at a time leads to better outcomes. In a Scrum context, this involves setting a cap on the number of user stories, features, or tasks that the development team is actively working on during a sprint. By doing so, teams prevent themselves from spreading thin and promote a concentrated effort on a select number of items.
Blog Post

The Scrum Master Balancing Act

August 3, 2023
How do you uphold Scrum without becoming a Scrum dictator? How do you lead the Scrum Team to ever greater adoption of Scrum within the organization… without direct authority? This article explores the challenges faced by Scrum Masters in their balancing act and how they navigate through it to ensure effective team performance and continuous improvement.
Blog Post

The Indispensable Scrum Master Accountability in Scrum

July 31, 2023
At the heart of Scrum is a unique and indispensable accountability: the Scrum Master. This enigmatic figure may not possess the traditional authority associated with managers, nor do they hold executive powers. Yet, they play a vital and indispensable accountability in the success of the Scrum Team and the organization as a whole.
Blog Post

10 Interview Questions for the Scrum Master

July 17, 2023
The purpose of the Scrum Master is to enhance the efficiency and productivity of the Scrum team. It’s an important accountability for the success of the Scrum team, and yet, it is surprising that many people are uncertain about the qualities they should seek when hiring a Scrum Master. In this article, we will present ten interview questions that will aid you in selecting the perfect Scrum Master for your team.
Blog Post

10 Characteristics of a Great Scrum Master

July 10, 2023
The purpose of the Scrum Master is to improve the effectiveness of the Scrum Team. And yet, so many people don’t know what to look for in a Scrum Master or how to evaluate the Scrum Master’s performance. A great Scrum Master possesses a unique blend of technical expertise, leadership skills, and interpersonal qualities. In this article, we will explore the ten characteristics that define a remarkable Scrum Master.
Blog Post

5 Reasons Not to Skip the Nexus Sprint Goal

June 13, 2023
Nexus is a scaling framework that can be used to scale Scrum when there are three or more Scrum teams working together on the same Product. Teams using Nexus create a Sprint goal not only for each Scrum team, but also for all teams working together in the Nexus. This shared Sprint goal is called the Nexus Sprint Goal, and it should not be skipped.
Blog Post

Using Catharsis and the Silent Sprint Retrospective

June 6, 2023
In this article, we explore the concept of catharsis and how its intentional, occasional integration into the Sprint Retrospective can foster emotional release, team bonding and ultimately drive higher team performance. We’ll also look at a practice that supports catharsis called the silent retrospective.
Blog Post

Scrum: The Goldilocks Agile Framework

June 1, 2023
In the agile world, Scrum stands out as a Goldilocks framework. Scrum strikes a delicate balance, providing enough structure to guide teams without stifling their creativity and adaptability. Unlike traditional project management methodologies with rigid processes and exhaustive documentation, Scrum empowers teams to find what works best in their unique environments. Let's delve deeper into what makes Scrum the Goldilocks framework: Not too rigid, not too loose, but just right.
Blog Post

What Does Being a Cross-Functional Team in Scrum Mean?

May 30, 2023
In Scrum, the emphasis is on collaboration and flexibility. In this context, a cross-functional team refers to a group of individuals with diverse skills and expertise necessary to complete a software project. These teams self-organize and self-manage and are empowered to make decisions collectively.
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

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.
Blog Post

Why Your Team’s Scrum Genius Might be Holding You Back

March 13, 2023
A dogmatic approach to Scrum tends to close down discussion and inhibit collaboration. If it’s in the Scrum framework described in the Scrum Guide, it’s there for a reason. But if it is not outlined in the framework, Scrum teams can innovate how to apply Scrum in their unique environment.
Blog Post

Scrum is Not an Excuse to Ignore Emergencies

March 7, 2023
How do the Product Owner and the Scrum Team navigate unexpected customer requests? What happens when a high priority customer issue is discovered mid-Sprint? Should the Scrum Team ignore the emergency or interrupt the Sprint? Like so many things in Scrum, the answer is that it depends.
Blog Post

Self-Managing: Scrum’s Most Misunderstood Phrase 

February 1, 2023
Self-managing doesn’t mean that the Scrum Team — or the Scrum Master — is all-powerful.  (Sorry, not sorry!)  It means that the organization gives the Scrum Team the mandate to deliver value according to the product vision and goal within a set of guardrails.  
Blog Post

Make the Most of Sprint Planning

December 12, 2022
Sprint Planning is one of those events that even experienced teams don’t use to its fullest potential.  Here’s why. Many teams see the Sprint Planning event as the time for selecting which Product Backlog items (PBIs) they will deliver in the upcoming Sprint.  And that’s it.  There is so much more that teams can do to maximize the value they get from Sprint Planning.
Blog Post

How Scrum Event Timeboxes make your Team More Effective

November 28, 2022
Every Scrum event has a maximum allowable time period to carry it out, called a timebox.  While Scrum events have a maximum amount of time, they do not have a minimum amount of time. Let’s look at all of the event timeboxes and how they make Scrum Teams more effective.
Blog Post

What happens if a Scrum team becomes too large?

October 31, 2022
According to the Scrum guide, Scrum teams typically have 10 or fewer people, including Developers, Scrum Master and Product Owner.  But what happens with a Scrum team that includes more than 10 people?  What if the Scrum team has 10, 15 even more people?
Blog Post

A deep dive into the purpose of each Scrum artifact

October 24, 2022
Understanding the “why” behind the Scrum framework can help Scrum teams improve their ability to deliver value to the organization.  We previously discussed the purpose behind each Scrum event and the purpose behind each Scrum accountability.  In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the purpose of each Scrum artifact. 
Blog Post

A Deep Dive into the purpose of each Scrum Accountability

October 17, 2022
​​​​​​​Scrum Teams that understand the “why” behind the Scrum framework can better increase value delivery to the organization. Internalizing the purpose behind the events, artifacts and accountabilities of Scrum allows the team to get the most benefit from them.  In this article, we will discuss the purpose of each of the three accountabilities in Scrum.
Blog Post

How to get the most from your Sprint Retrospective Event

October 10, 2022
​​​​​​​According to the 2020 Scrum Guide, “The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective is to plan ways to increase quality and effectiveness.”  Scrum Teams must take the Retrospective seriously to achieve these outcomes.  In this article, we will look at four tips for getting the most from your Sprint Retrospective and provide several agenda ideas that you can use to keep this event fresh.