We teach the most awesome courses, but is a certification really needed to be a great Scrum Master?

The Daily Scrum can be reduced to a status meeting where likely a Scrum Board or a Burn Down chart is referenced perhaps… but do these tools help with transparency? They certainly can, but how are you using them? If your stakeholders and other product participants could know what the progress is at ...

In this article, we'll explore some popular tools and apps, including Jira, Team Foundation Server, Rally, and others, that Scrum Masters can leverage to help teams visualize their work, increase Transparency and increase team efficiency.

Embarking on a journey as a Scrum Master is a challenging and rewarding endeavor. As you step into this accountability within a Scrum Team, you'll find yourself at the crossroads of collaboration, leadership, and continuous improvement - a position that is necessary to deliver value effectively. ...

Determining whether a Scrum Master is effective can be challenging, as their impact is often indirect and not always easy to measure quantitatively. In this article, we will explore key indicators that can help you evaluate the effectiveness of a Scrum Master.

A lot of Scrum Teams are struggling to get stakeholder engagement in their Sprint Reviews. Without the proper engagement from stakeholders, Product Owners run the risk of not properly adapting the Product Backlog. There are many different ways to spawn better stakeholder engagement. This article is ...

In this video, I, Martin, delve deep into the pivotal role of a Scrum Master or Agile Coach in motivating a Scrum Team. 📈🤝 I emphasise the importance of empathy, connection, and understanding the essence of a team's purpose. 🎯

Does your Scrum Team find itself locked into destructive conflicts where each team member is convinced that their way is the only way, the best way and that everybody else who dares to disagree is crazy? Are you interested in shifting the dynamic from an "us vs. them" adversarial conflict to an "...

🚀 Dive into the world of empiricism in Agile development! 🌍 Discover how inspecting and adapting, deeply rooted in Agile practices like Scrum, ensures organisations stay ahead of the curve. 🔄 Join me on this journey through the Scottish Highlands of Agile development 🏞️, where change is the only con...

Scrum Values make the use of Scrum successful. How can you and your Team live these values during the Daily Scrum? Check it out!

In this recording of a live session of Ask a Professional Scrum Trainer, PST Ciprian Banica answers questions about the Scrum Master accountability, Product Ownership, measurement, how to improve your Sprint Retrospective and more!

When we talk about desired stances of a Scrum Master - Change Agent is one of them and we emphasize that a Professional Scrum Master should be an effective Agent of Change. However, in my subjective point of view, we rarely mention the domain of Change Management explicitly and we do not emphasize t...

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 inclu...

In this vlog, join your hosts Andreanna Marshall, a professional Scrum Trainer at scrum.org, and the fantastic Scrum Master, Scott, as they dive deep into the Sprint Retrospective and provide several facilitation techniques to improve the event.

Going beyond autonomy, mastery & purpose. 10 intrinsic motivators that can help your team.

In this conversation on the Women in Agile podcast Stephanie Cully and host Emily Lint talk about the role of the Scrum Master. (36:57 Minutes)

What are the biggest reasons to use Scrum? What should a team or an organization expect to gain when implementing this framework? Why should anyone care? In this short Q&A session, PST'S Robert Pieper and Jason Malmstadt tackle the value proposition of Scrum, exploring the real, tangible benefits...

Thoughts and ideas on how to prevent, resolve, or simply accept it

How does your Scrum Master supports adaptation in order to minimise deviations from agreed goals? Each of the Scrum Accountabilities has a role to play. So does the Scrum Master. Check it out!

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...

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...

In this Scrum Pulse webcast, PSTs Ravi Verma and Tony Lee share a simple, 9 step approach that they have started using to integrate the Co-Active coaching model into navigating resistance to Agile principles, values and practices.

Ser un Scrum Master efectivo que ayude a un equipo a ser exitoso puede tener sus complicaciones y llevar a un Scrum Master a mal interpretar la forma adecuada de ayudar y dar soporte. En este artículo presentamos tres errores comunes que muchos Scrum Master asumen.

Those newly introduced to the Scrum framework often have the same first question: What’s the difference between Scrum and traditional project management? Most people are familiar with the basics of traditional project management, so the question is a great place to start for understanding Scrum and ...

Working virtually can be challenging when it comes to feeling you truly working as a team. This guest asked us what you could do or try to create a team feeling in a remote environment.

Test which rules really matter and trigger a wave of change in your organization

This must be one of the most asked questions that we get; what books do we recommend.

Organizations don't change overnight. Going from for instance waterfall to Scrum is a complicated process, with lots of people involved. Scrum Masters can be the right people to support this transition.

A personal experience and a tangible exercise to show why complexity requires ‘doing’ instead of ‘thinking’

In this recording of a live session of Ask a Professional Scrum Trainer, PSTs Gregory Crown, Robb Pieper and Jason Malmstadt of Responsive Advisors, answered questions about the Scrum events, the accountabilities in Scrum, Scrum outside of software, metrics and more!

It's common practice to ask the Scrum Master to take on the role of facilitator in the 5 Scrum events. Let's go beyond this and move towards more learning strategies, for both the Scrum Master and the Scrum Team.

In this article, we will explore some tactics which I found valuable when I was in need to align Scrum with Project Management practices.

In this episode of the Agile Within Podcast, host Greg Miller chats with the one and only Gunther Verheyen. Gunther has quickly gained worldwide acclaim as a strong proponent of the Scrum Values.

In these 2 episodes of the Agile within podcast, PST Mark Wavle joins to dissect the intricate dynamics of team conflict.

Explore a series of carefully curated collections of essential books, newsletters, podcasts, and tools to elevate your agile expertise.

Use the Liberating Structure “Purpose-to-Practice” to create a plan for the Sprint, and revisit & update the P2P canvas during each Scrum event

How does your Increment support adaptation in order to minimise deviations from agreed goals? Each of the Scrum Artifacts serve to adapt. So does the Increment. Check it out!

In this webinar Professional Scrum Trainer Stephanie Ockerman and Jorgen Hesselberg, Co-founder of Comparative Agility, discuss the key competency areas of the Scrum Master role and walk through the new Scrum Master Improvement self-assessment

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 ensu...

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 ...

The Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide, nearing completion, categorizes over 180 anti-patterns by roles, events, artifacts, and commitments. However, it lacks a meta-level taxonomy to address Scrum anti-patterns on broader levels, raising the question of developing such a comprehensive strategy.

Managers in Agile organizations often struggle when their teams don't evolve into high-performing, self-managing teams. The struggle is to find the right balance between command and control management and being completely hands-off, letting the teams do whatever they want. How might a manager discov...

How does your Sprint Backlog support adaptation in order to minimise deviations from agreed goals? Each of the Scrum Artifacts serve to adapt. So does the Sprint Backlog. Check it out!

Does your Scrum Team often find itself with carryover work from the previous Sprint? Does that make your team an unproductive one? Whose fault is it? In this episode, Jeff and Mike share how to limit sprint-to-sprint carryover.  Listen and share with your team so things get DONE.

Find a better balance between solving problems and enabling growth and autonomy

ATTITUDE is the composition of our way of thinking, feeling, and acting. Every team member has an attitude defining their way of being in the Scrum Team. The question is if it is a constructive attitude or not.

The essence of a team is that people collaborate. Else it's incredibly hard to perform as an actual team, rather they just happen to work simultaneously and not together. What to do in such a case?

Time off and vacations/holidays are a reality for all Scrum Teams. What does Scrum say about this and how do you deal with a missing Scrum Team member under these circumstances?

Part of the Scrum Master's job is to work with the Product Owner. This specific person has tried OKRs, but asked us what else is available to work with. There are many things and areas that you could try! In this video, Evelien and I dive into this question.

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 arti...