Many self-managing teams struggle to reach a truly high-performing state. When an organisation moves to a self-management model, a key service centralised management traditionally played – giving feedback – is often ignored, leaving teams struggling to truly grow. In this article, we share how to g...

A culture of feedback is a critical element of an adaptive organisation. While people have talked about how to give effective feedback, little has been said on how to receive it, until now.

It might surprise you that even those with years of Scrum practice sometimes make statements about the framework that are, well, inaccurate. The Scrum Guide outlines how teams can learn to work together to deliver complex work. It’s not a how-to list of instructions, and perhaps that’s what leads to...

Want fabulous teams that build great products? Great teams don’t happen by accident. And they don’t have to take a long time to build. Learn more from Richard Kasperowski on employing core protocols for psychological safety and emotional intelligence from this Hands-on Agile session.

In this Scrum Pulse webinar, Professional Scrum Trainer Mary Iqbal discusses the common signs of pretending to be agile and how you can use Empiricism to stop pretending.

​​​​​​​According to the 15th annual State of Agile Report, there has been a tremendous increase in the adoption of agile frameworks this year.  Within software teams, agile adoption grew from 37% in 2020 to 86% in 2021.  This rapid growth undoubtedly means many individuals working within agile frame...

In this episode of Ask a Professional Scrum Trainer, PSTs John Riley and Ben Thorp answer questions related to regulating workflow effectively and developing a test-first mindset. They provide insight on practices and techniques useful to kickstarting continuously delivering software and non-softwar...

Is your preferred approach to starting an Agile "Transformation" sending a bunch of worker-bees to Agile Training and then waiting for the magic to happen?

As long as the Scrum team has the drive to learn and to run experiments to figure out what works for them, Zombie Scrum (or fake Agile) won’t find futile ground and can’t take root!

There is a lot going on when it comes to delivering complex products in an uncertain and constantly changing world. In this webinar, Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainer Stephanie Ockerman breaks it down to 5 ways Scrum Teams can discover their opportunities to improve the many different aspects of ...

In this Unstuck Leadership Moment, PST Mark Wavle explores one of the challenges that many servant leaders face.

Iterative, incremental delivery is critical to a successful Agile team.  Without it, Agile is really just window dressing.  Here are five examples that attempt to illustrate the concept of iterative, incremental delivery in a single image.  No example is perfect.  Let me know what you think in the c...

In a recent episode of Your Daily Scrum, Professional Scrum Trainers Todd Miller and Ryan Ripley teach you the Scrum Framework in 7 minutes!

In today's vlog, PST Joshua Partogi will show you how your Scrum Team can save time and make a forecast during Sprint Planning with #NoEstimates & Kanban metrics.

​​​​​​​The Sprint Review meeting is one of the Product Owner’s most important events.  But even the most important events can become a little stale over time.  Here are five ideas to spice up your Sprint Review meeting. 

In this Unstuck Leadership Moment, PST Mark Wavle explores the question, "How do I help an unmotivated team?"

The 2020 version of the Scrum Guide dropped the classic “three questions” of the Daily Scrum. Yet many teams stick with the practice, even when it doesn’t produce the collaboration that is the hallmark of a valuable Daily Scrum. When a Scrum Team I worked with said that their Daily Scrum was lacklus...

(And that should benefit experienced Scrum Masters too)

TL; DR: My Top Ten Worst Scrum Anti-Patterns I recently was invited to a Scrum.org Webinar, and I picked a topic close to my heart: the worst Scrum anti-patterns.

Let me share some of the controversial findings and discussions with you. As always, there are no simple answers in complex environments.

The term 'Scrum Master' seems to have been around as long as Scrum. But has it? In this article I talk about where the term came from and why it was initially used.

Why hire a professional Scrum Master? They cost extra and you can always get one of the developers to do the work, part-time. Big saving, right? Not so much. Here's why.

The Applying Professional Scrum class is frequently overlooked when it comes to public classes.  People tend to go for the Professional Scrum Master class or the Professional Scrum Product Owner class instead.  And those are really great classes.  That is… they’re great for those who already have an...

When you first start to use Scrum you will need to decide which day to start your first Sprint, and there will be implications to that decision. Here are some possibilities and their implications to help you make the best decision.

All elements of the Scrum framework play a role in enabling empirical process control. Sprint Goal is a commitment that reinforces empiricism, however, it remains a part of Scrum which often is being neglected or causes challenges to many Scrum Teams.

In a recent episode of Your Daily Scrum, Professional Scrum Trainers Todd Miller and Ryan Ripley address a general question in Scrum circles: How Do You Increase the Velocity of a Scrum Team?

Agile isn’t the right fit for every business problem–it’s simply a tool in the toolkit–one of many.

Many Scrum Teams make use of Velocity. In the right hands, it's an incredibly useful measure. In the wrong hands, it can become a tool of obfuscation and even oppression.

In a recent class, a student asked, “What are the common difficulties teams face when starting with Agile?”  To  answer this question, I refer to the Tuckman Model of group development. Psychologist Bruce Tuckman discussed team performance in his 1965 paper, Developmental Sequence in Small Groups...

Have you ever completed a multi-billion-dollar project only to see it blow up in your face?  Twice?  If you answered yes, you’re in good company with the Galactic Empire.  The Rebel Alliance destroyed two Death Stars as well as their successor, the Starkiller Base, using similar tactics.  If the ...

In this blog post, Derek Davidson shares advice on launching a career in Scrum.

On a recent episode of Your Daily Scrum, Professional Scrum Trainers Todd Miller and Ryan Ripley address a frequent question in Scrum circles: Why Do Organizations Fail at Scrum? 

I have had the opportunity to work with some truly amazing teams that have achieved pretty amazing outcomes. One thing that every team has had in common is that, at one time, they were new to Scrum. When I engage with teams to discuss implementing the Scrum framework, they often raise potential imp...

The past 18 months have been a whirlwind. Coronavirus, elections, inequality and conflict – a quagmire of micro and macro complexities that impact the feelings and behaviours of Scrum Teams. In my opinion, it would be fair to say that teams who consistently attempt to mitigate environmental and soci...

If I were to summarize the purpose of a Sprint, I would say that it’s to deliver a Done, usable increment that meets the Sprint Goal.

In this episode of Ask a Professional Scrum Trainer, John Coleman answers the audience's burning questions about Scrum and the challenges their teams are facing. He answers questions about Product Goals, Sprint Goals, Refinement, Team Dynamics, Performance metrics, Scrum with Kanban and more!

If you are looking to fill a position for a Scrum Master (or agile coach) in your organization, you may find the following 54 interview questions useful to identify the right candidate.

One frequent question that I often get from candidates that I train is - Venkatesh, what is the career path of a Scrum Master? I am a Scrum Master now. How can I build my career to the next level? Even though I don’t believe in calling out how the Scrum Mastery is done, I tried to give recommendatio...

Do We Need Agile Coaches when Practicing Scrum? I do believe that this construct is flawed: When practicing Scrum correctly, Scrum Masters are all you ever need.

It is a common question that do we still need a Scrum Master for a mature Scrum Team. I would like to use the metaphor of a Soccer Referee to explain.

It's hard to be a good Scrum Master. It's even harder to be a great Scrum Master! So, what sort of things should you be doing to be great? Here are some Scrum Master tips to help you get started on day one in a new job.

There are plenty of failure possibilities with Scrum. Since Scrum is an intentionally incomplete framework with a reasonable yet short “manual,” this effect should not surprise anyone.

According to the 15th annual State of Agile report, there has been a tremendous increase in the adoption of agile frameworks over the last year. Within software teams, agile adoption grew from 37% in 2020 to 86% in 2021.

This workshop was delivered on 19th August 2021 and focused on introducing the core concepts of Scrum & Empiricism. I used a combination of Liberating Structures, Microsoft Teams, and Mural to deliver an interactive session.

What is an Agile Coach? Are Scrum Masters agile coaches? How do they coach teams, the Product Owner and the enterprise?

On a recent episode of Your Daily Scrum, Professional Scrum Trainers Todd Miller and Ryan Ripley address a prevalent question in Scrum circles: What is the Best Scrum Master Certification Path?

In a recent blog post, I addressed whether a Can Scrum Master and a Product Owner be the same person? You can remember the answer from the blog; Even though it is not outright in the Scrum Guide but not a recommended option.

Of late, I've been noticing an interpretation of the Scrum Master role - the Scrum Master as An FFFCDO for Developers - a Fierce, Ferocious, Fearsome Chief Defense Officer!

In this Scrum Tapas video, Professional Scrum Trainer Ryan Brook describes the Daily Scrum, ways to facilitate it, examples of discussion and outcomes, and why it is such an important event in Scrum. (3:42 Minutes)

In this Scrum Tapas video, Professional Scrum Trainer Chuck Suscheck uses a simple exercise to explore how silence can be valuable to those doing work and why it is important for a Scrum Master for example to sometimes remain quiet rather than over explaining. (4:35 Minutes)