David Ingram, VP of Global R&D at Gillette continues a discussion with Dave West, CEO at Scrum.org about how they developed a new exfoliating razor using Scrum, some of the challenges they have faced with scaling Scrum, and how they were able to adapt and evolve from a waterfall focused culture. The...

David Ingram, VP of Global R&D at Gillette chats with Dave West, CEO at Scrum.org about how they developed a new exfoliating razor using Scrum, why they chose to use Scrum to develop it and how they adapted to Scrum. They discuss how Gillette mitigated risks and made some culture shifts in the proce...

Being an effective Scrum Master or team member inevitably involves difficult conversations. How we approach challenging discussions can mean the difference between a transformative moment and one that goes sideways. Fortunately, there is a lot we can do to prepare for those times when we need to wad...

Empiricism is one of the underlying concepts of the Scrum framework. Scrum is founded on empirical process control, and transparency is the first of the three pillars. How does this show during Sprint Planning?

There are many ways to facilitate Daily Scrum. In this Introduction to Facilitating a Daily Scrum, you will learn three different techniques along with the benefits and challenges of each. Your team can experiment with these as they see necessary and choose whichever method helps them best focus on ...

In the heat of "the battle" teams tend to forget why they use the Scrum framework after all and what the foundations are of it. Why do we have Sprint Planning sessions every other week, why does our Product Owner has these or those accountabilities, why did we started using a team board after all, w...

In this article, I will try to give you some ideas on how a Scrum Master can serve the organization and also some practical examples.

Does the following situation ring a bell? You enter a room and immediately get involved in a situation, listen how a problem is described, see a task or read a request. A single look, a single sentence, a small wink makes you think you perfectly know what is going on. This blogpost invites you ...

This is the second part of the four-part series on conflict. In the first part, we explored why we need conflict. In this post, we explore how to establish clear boundaries at the start of the event to provide the environment that will enable you as a facilitator to navigate through conflict. 

This ScrumPulse Webcast moderated by Dave West, CEO of Scrum.org, Tomasz Maj, Expert at McKinsey, and Rishi Markenday, Professional Scrum Trainer, discuss their research and initial findings as presented in the new paper titled - “In pursuit of value, not work.” They will describe how companies typi...

As a facilitator, your purpose is to hold the space to allow the people in the event to achieve the agreed outcomes. This will require distance from the participants as the focus is on helping the people work through the agenda to deliver the outcomes. This is the first of a four part series.

In this vlog, PST Joshua Partogi explains Scrum using visualisation in under 7 minutes but without cutting down its core principles

In this vlog, PST Joshua Partogi visualises what the Scrum Master do all day using the 8 Scrum Master hats.

In this vlog, PST Joshua Partogi shares the accountability of a Scrum Master and the challenges behind it.

Get to know your new Scrum Team now! Explore these 7 facilitation tips to start your Scrum Team.

Join Professional Scrum Trainers Evelien Roos and Laurens Bonnema for Scrum Pulse webinar focused on 50 Scrum Master frequently asked questions. In this session, they will share the answers to some of the most popular questions they get from students during their training courses.

In this vlog, PST Joshua Partogi breaks down the 8 hats the Scrum Master wears as a true leader who serves. This topic is discussed in the Professional Scrum Master course with case studies.

In this vlog, PST Joshua Partogi shares a simple guideline that he used to help teams improve their Sprint and to get them out of mini-waterfall.

In this session, Ferzeen Anis and Toby draw lessons from lived experience in applying Scrum, building businesses and working toward achieving an Olympic dream. 

Is your organization having trouble instilling self-management? Then this is the article for you!

In this vlog, PST Joshua Partogi share his opinions on how to be a Scrum Master without any prior experience.

Duane Girard learned to help build strong teams as a Sergeant in the US Army. In this podcast, Duane has a discussion with host, Dave West, and shares those parallels, talks about his career journey as a Scrum Master, and more. (18:32 Minutes)

Join PST Andy Hiles, Jessica Martin, Agile Coach and PST Ravi Verma in a panel discussion hosted by Patricia Kong, where they share their experiences with creating psychological safety in teams by using effective facilitation skills in conversations and other interactions.

I gotta say, refining work items is usually, by far, the Scrum Team’s least popular activity.  No one gets up in the morning saying, “I can’t wait to refine the Product Backlog!” In this article, we will discuss five reasons why refining your Product Backlog is worth the time.

A short 3 case studies of transparency and a story on where it might lead..

Scrum is not designed to solve all problems in all business domains. There are times when Scrum used properly is a great fit for complex problem solving. But when and where does Scrum not work? When should we not be using Scrum? When would it be too much overhead for the value derived?

The Scrum Events are in place to support empiricism and the delivery of value. You need to run them at least once per Sprint. But could we do them multiple times in the same Sprint? Find out in this article!

How the various ways of getting into a swimming pool are similar to how teams and organizations start with Scrum.

As this article hopefully makes clear, the mental well-being of the workforce is important. Being transparent about what happens after someone shares what they feel could improve is needed to ensure proper follow-up.

Team effectiveness suffers when teams are too large. We explain how to make adjustments to fix this problem.

What would happen if Superman wasn't around to save the earth? We, as mere mortals, would perish quickly, and the superhero movies would be super short. Wouldn't it be more helpful if the flying solver-of-all would teach out to save ourselves?

Scrum Masters are accountable for effectiveness of Scrum and yet many things are beyond their control. Let's unpack how to navigate this.

In this podcast episode, PST Joshua Partogi share his personal experience in making Scrum enticing for people at the senior executives level.

Usable, Useful and Valuable are attributed to the Increments in Scrum and these terms should not be used interchangeably. A product cannot be useful if its not usable and in addition, a product cannot be valuable if it's not useful.

The scrum guide has been thoughtfully crafted and frequently updated to help teams and organizations be more successful. While aimed primarily at individual teams it also speaks volumes to the type of environment organizations can create to help their teams to thrive.

An exploration of what scientific studies and a large dataset of Scrum teams tell us about the benefits of agility

​​​​​​​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 th...

Suppose you are looking to fill a position for a Scrum Master (or agile coach) in your organization. In that case, you may find the following 73 interview questions helpful in identifying the right candidate.

In this Introduction to Facilitating the Sprint Retrospective video, you'll learn step-by-step how to guide your team through a Sprint Retrospective with techniques such as the Prime Directive, the Perfection Game, Dot Voting and Affinity Mapping so that your team can leave the Sprint Retrospective ...

In this webinar, Patricia Kong and PST David Spinks discuss the group dynamics involved in decision making and how facilitation skills can help a Scrum Team navigate through periods of frustration, confusion or disengagement to reach true alignment on their collective decisions.

In this article I will focus on both the theoretical aspects of true leader who serves as well as practical.

​​​​​​​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 R...

Motivation matters! If you have a suitably motivated team, who are empowered, resourced and focused they will likely overcome most obstacles in their way.

Scrum and Digital are not the same things, but often Digital Transformations comprise some sort of agile change. In this blog, Dave West discusses a recent Dare To Lead Podcast where the overlap between Scrum and Digital was apparent. He discusses the six elements of a digital strategy and their rel...

The Mid Sprint Check-in, Demo, or Review: these meetings make Scrum much less effective while giving the illusion of control and predictability and may be masking other problems. Does your Scrum Team need another meeting?

In this Introduction to Facilitating a Sprint Review, you will learn a facilitation technique that can help turn the Sprint Review into a more engaging and collaborative session so that you can gather valuable feedback from stakeholders to determine future adaptations of your product. (5:51 Minutes)

The backlog was a great idea until it wasn’t. Many successful teams deliver backlog items daily, but their backlogs aren’t getting smaller. Learn more about Allan’s remedy for oversized product backlogs in less than an hour.

Are you in the market for a new Scrum Master or Agile Coach? Do you need any help in preparing questions for the job interviews? Here is a short video with 10 questions I would like you to consider based on what I have learned about the art and craft of Scrum Mastery and Agile Coaching from Scrum.or...

Is having specialists on Scrum Teams a good or bad thing? Find out as we discuss the pros and cons of specialized skills on a Scrum Team.

The purpose of this anonymous Scrum Master salary report 2023 is to create a clear, data-backed benchmark that allows everyone in the agile community to understand whether their compensation is adequate.