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

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 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)

In this vlog, PST Joshua Partogi explains the differences between project management and product management and how to use Scrum from a product perspective.

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.

Done is a fundamental part of bringing transparency. How does this relate to Sprint Retrospective? Check it out! Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (70)

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.

Within the Scrum community, Open Space Technology is a common practice. This post can be useful to make the most out of it! 

In this Scrum Pulse webcast, PST Mary Iqbal will explore the accountability of the Product Owner and walk the audience through characteristics of an effective Product Owner.

Given that the Product Owner may represent the needs of many stakeholders, these stakeholders will lobby for their requests.  Unfortunately, some stakeholders often intimidate others as a means to get what they want.  Some will argue publicly, and some will take it offline. Facilitation skills will help you successfully navigate difficult conversations.

In its theory section, the Scrum Guide refers to the three elements of empiricism: transparency, inspection, and adaptation. However, a fourth element, foundational to enable empiricism, is hidden in a sentence on Scrum Values.

Tips and tricks to make Sprint Planning easier, master the "Groan Zone" and achieve strong outcomes.

Facilitation plays an important part in helping people to understand and achieve their shared goals and objectives. Here are 5 ways to improve your meetings and Scrum events whether you are new to facilitation or developing your skills to help your Scrum Teams thrive in the pursuit of value.

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast, Patricia Kong leads a discussion with PSTs Todd Miller and Glaudia Califano focused on how Facilitation can help Scrum Teams, the importance of Facilitation Skills for Scrum Team members and the themes that inspired the creation of the new Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills training course. 

Learn more about good Product Backlog practices, from ‘Do We Need One’ to the Product Owner as a Dictator to its Growth Rate and Size

The concepts of iterative and incremental development are central to Scrum. What do they mean, and why are they important?

Done is a fundamental part of bringing transparency. How does this relate to Sprint Planning? Check it out! Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (67)

Gaining knowledge for your future requires intentional effort. With current technology there is little excuse to not level up every week and lock new information in. Discover what works for you and make a routine of it because as Louis Pasteur said, "Chance favors the prepared mind"

The Scrum Team consists of three accountabilities: Developers, Product Owner, and Scrum Master. Yet Scrum Team accountabilities and responsibilities can be confusing, misunderstood, and lack shared understanding between its members and the organization. This exercise makes transparent the accountabilities of each team member by driving conversations about what team members agree on and where there are gaps. Use this exercise when new teams are formed, or when you see misunderstandings and knowledge gaps around Scrum Team accountabilities and expectations.

What is your take on the Retrospective: A routine exercise at the end of a Sprint, supported by standard operating procedures? Or a critical part of a Scrum team’s journey of continuous improvement?

A do-it-yourself workshop that uses Appreciative Interviews to share success stories from the past, Ecocycle Planning to create transparency about the present, and 15% Solutions to identify improvements for the nearby future.

Use the Liberating Structure "Social Network Webbing" to find people in your organization who are facing similar impediments and work together to remove them.

Agile for Humans has launched a new YouTube series called SUCCESSFUL FACILITATION. Episode 4 explores a facilitation technique: Training From the Back of the Room.

This case study highlights how Hospital Sírio-Libanês based in Brazil used Scrum to drive its agile transformation across departments and pivot during the Covid-19 pandemic, reducing losses and expediting critical services, while also incorporating elements of SAFe.

Agile for Humans has launched a new YouTube series called SUCCESSFUL FACILITATION. Episode 3 explores a facilitation technique: Liberating Structure 1-2-4-ALL

In this episode of Ask a Professional Scrum Trainer, PSTs Daria Bagina, Shirley Santiago and Mary Iqbal answer your burning questions about Scrum and the challenges you or your teams may be facing when using Scrum in a setting that is not software-based, such as marketing, energy, insurance, finance and more.

Agile for Humans has launched a new YouTube series called SUCCESSFUL FACILITATION. Episode 2 answers the question: "What are Liberating Structures?"

In this vlog, PST Joshua Partogi break down and maps the project management activities done by the Scrum team.

Innovation and creativity are crushed by common organizational practices. Urgency, stress, multitasking, back-to-back meetings, all contribute to the issue. Break the rut by creating intentional space for innovation and unlock your creativity.

How often have you thought: "This Sprint Review is useless and boring!" or "We are just reviewing internally what we already have seen before as a Scrum Team. We have no new feedback. Let's skip this event. Waste of time."

Scientific insights into what creates stress, and how motivation can buffer it. With 5 practical ways to reduce stress and increase motivation

So you recently started using Scrum and are struggling to get the most out of the Scrum events? Or, maybe your journey with Scrum has been going on for some time and you still feel that something is missing in your meetings. I hear you! It might be challenging to switch from well known and understood habits and practices, and introduce changes to your process of complex problem solving. In this blog post you will find some tips and tricks that will boost facilitation of your Daily Scrum. Perhaps some of the tools and techniques will help you when facilitating other events too.

Everyone on the Scrum Team should level up their facilitation skills. In this video, Todd and Ryan explore why this skill is essential to a Scrum Team and how to improve in this critical area of complex work.

I think of the three accountabilities in the Scrum framework as creating a balance of power.  But what happens when an individual fulfilling one (or more!) of the accountabilities in Scrum gets a bit — um — power hungry?  In this article, we will discuss a few examples of how people fulfilling each of the three accountabilities can overstep their bounds. 

A quoi correspond la facilitation dans une Scrum Team ? Qui s'assure que les événements sont correctement facilités, et comment ? Comment le Scrum Master peut servir la Scrum Team en passant le relais à ses co-équipiers ?

In this vlog, PST Joshua Partogi elaborates the synergy between the Product Owner and Scrum Master when collaborating together.

A cross-functional team is a fundamental part of effectivity. How does this relate to the Product Owner? Check it out! - Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (64)

Daily Scrum events are filled with 3 questions and meandering discussions about tickets that are in progress. Too many topics and not enough time is the typical opinion. So, how about that Sprint Goal? Likely it’s missing or it’s the token “get all the work done” goal. Stop dividing and conquering. Create a legitimate Sprint Goal and collectively measure progress. When you have a good Sprint Goal, 15 minutes is plenty of time to make a collective plan for the day.

The Sprint Review is an integral event in Scrum as it gives the platform to Scrum Team to showcase the product to stakeholders and invite feedback from them. But often find the seats with the shareholder’s name on them empty.

In this blog post, we describe the purpose of Generative Relationships STAR, how it works, and when you could use it with your Scrum Team.

Epics and features are complementary Scrum practices that some Product Owners use to organize their Product Backlog. Like a folder structure, they are a convenient way to group PBIs into meaningful groups.

In this podcast we feature Professional Scrum Trainers and other Scrum Practitioners sharing their stories and experiences to help learn from the experience of others. In this episode, host Dave West interviews David Ingram, VP of Global R&D at Gillette about developing razors using Scrum and how they transitioned to Scrum to do so. (21:16 Minutes)

This post is the first in an ongoing series revisiting the principles behind the Agile Manifesto. This post is focused on the following important principle – “Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential.”

Why did the Scrum Guide 2020 add commitments? What is a commitment? Let's look into ths!

Many people using Scrum today have no formal training or are new to agile frameworks. It’s the perfect environment for myths and misconceptions to spread.

How often have you been exposed to the conflict or different objectives between departments? If never, congratulations! You have probably seen and experienced healthy environments, meaningful shared goals, and true leaders. Keep on!

Why a good strategy is still needed with a good product.

As a minimalist framework, Scrum contains only what is needed. Every piece of the Scrum framework is there for a reason. When teams modify any part, they won’t get the full benefits of Scrum. In this article, we will discuss three of the worst Scrum “customizations.” Warning: don’t try these in your organization!

Agile micromanagement: A pseudo-commitment to agile principles only to be overridden whenever it seems beneficial from a stakeholder’s or manager’s perspective.

Can Scrum be used outside software development? Absolutely.