When you admit that you don’t have all the answers as a Scrum Master, you’re not losing credibility—you’re gaining trust. You’re telling your team, “It’s okay not to know everything. What matters is how we tackle the unknown together.”

Learn why too much transparency can have a detrimental effect and why strategic opacity may sometimes be necessary to protect the team’s autonomy and maintain a healthy dynamic.

In this blog post from PST Piyush Rahate, he explores the reasons why Project Management can be a useful tool to the Product Owner and Scrum Master.

In this article, we address a myth that seems to be about words. “Products” or “projects,” who cares? But words have meaning and exist within a broader context. The purpose of the Scrum framework is much broader and deeper than merely changing the words we use to talk about work. And if you find you...

Explore the key differences between self-organizing and self-managing teams in Scrum, and discover how these concepts enhance team autonomy, creativity, and productivity. Learn how to implement these approaches effectively for greater business agility and shorter time-to-market.

By centering the development process around the user's needs and wants, teams are better equipped to create functional products that truly resonate with the people they serve.

The Product Community’s Criticism of Scrum Is Unjustified.

Discover the essential steps and reflections for project managers evolving into Scrum Masters. Explore how to utilize your strengths and navigate challenges effectively in our concluding piece of the “From PM to PSM” series.

How to Elevate Your Standing as a Scrum Master or Agile Coach

Managing uncertainty by embracing and adapting to them through short feedback cycles, enhancing adaptability and responsiveness to user needs and market changes.

For the following article, I aggregated exercise suggestions on how to “best” game velocity.

The Sprint timebox helps to foster a sense of urgency that creates a low tolerance for organizational impediments or wasted effort. The Sprint timebox forces the team and the organization to identify the things that have been holding back delivery - so they can solve them.

This article provides actionable insights on leveraging alignment tools to build trust, enhance collaboration, navigate risks, and maximize value creation, ultimately leading to more successful product outcomes aligned with organizational goals.

Scrum is often implemented at the team level, which can limit achieving business agility at scale. Moving beyond this "team-level agility" to a more holistic approach fosters in-team and inter-team collaboration, aligning with the "second wave of Agile".

Transitioning from a traditional project manager to a Scrum Master involves moving from sole responsibility for project work and reliance on formal status reports to fostering a culture of team collaboration, shared ownership, and empirical progress tracking.

Every Scrum Team wishes they had time each Sprint to accomplish more. By leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), teams can get that time back and become more effective. AI is revolutionizing various industries, and its potential to enhance how people and teams work is becoming increasingly evident....

What is Market Share?Market share is the portion of a market controlled by a particular company or product.* It is calculated by dividing the company's total sales or revenue by the industry’s total sales or revenue over a specific period of time. Sometimes, market share is calculated by dividing t...

One of the accountabilities that a Scrum Master has to fulfill is to make the Scrum Team effective. This includes the Scrum Master, as well. However, in my experience I have come across only a handful of Scrum Masters who understand the concept and who focus on improving and making themselves effect...

Agile Teams as Investors: A Deeper Dive into Maximizing Organizational Value by Trusting Your Teams to Find Solutions to Your Customers Problems.

Organizations can foster a more productive, innovative, and responsive work environment by recognizing what a Scrum Team is Not and embracing what it truly is. What kind of Scrum Team do you have? Pick your favorite from the list.

It is rare that teams get the full value that they should from their Sprint Reviews. We and others have experienced Sprint Reviews more as performance reviews or demos that feel like one-way presentations from the team. The opportunity for Scrum Teams and their stakeholders to explore the current an...

Story points could be a great tool when combined with planning poker for getting estimation related conversations started. However, there has been quite a backlash and debate on whether to use story points or not.

In this post from PST Stefan Wolpers, how to elevate your candidacy by detailing how you successfully applied Scrum in challenging environments, showcasing advanced practices and techniques, and sharing your engagement with the agile community.

Estimating is more than just numbers and techniques. It's about understanding human psychology, which influences our decisions!

Strobbo, an HR platform, faced challenges with its software development processes. The company’s initial mechanical approach to Scrum, coupled with poor communication and lack of trust, hindered progress and morale. To address these issues, Co-Founder Bert Neels brought in Professional Scrum Trainer...

While a variety of skills are needed to become a successful Product Owner—analytical skills, leadership qualities, creativity, problem-solving skills, strategic thinking, adaptability, and resilience—one key skill that is often overlooked is public speaking. This article from PST Joanna Plaskonka ex...

Scrum Master JobGPT is a free tool available with a paid ChatGPT account. It delivers actionable insights on job hunting, interview prep, and evaluating potential employers' Agile maturity.

Done is a fundamental part of bringing transparency. How does this relate to the Developers? Check it out! Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (76)

Predictive management and empirical management offer distinct approaches to handling complex work. Predictive management operates on the premise that the future course of work can be anticipated at the outset. Empirical management acknowledges that not everything about complex work can be known from...

From boardrooms to water coolers, organizations across industries proudly tout their commitment to Agile principles and frameworks. However, for many companies, being "Agile" often masks a deeper reality: a lack of true Agile mindset and practices.

The Meta-Retrospective is an excellent exercise for fostering collaboration within the extended team, creating a shared understanding of the big picture, and immediately creating valuable action items.

How do you overcome resistance to Scrum? PSTs Greg Crown and Jason Malmstadt share insights and strategies to handle pushback and smoothly transition your organization to Scrum.

In this article, PST Alex Ballarin explains how discovering and validating product features saves a lot of time and money invested in developing unnecessary features. He also recommends concrete actions to integrate product discovery and validation into Scrum.

Avoid five common rookie mistakes Scrum Masters make. Instead, discover how to set clear Sprint Goals, build trust, balance metrics, and empower your team to make independent decisions.

Does your facilitation support Diversity and Inclusion? Discover how diversity and inclusion can transform your team dynamics and drive success. Unlock the benefits of diverse perspectives and improve team morale.

Done is a fundamental part of bringing transparency. How does this relate to your Increment? Check it out! Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (74)

In this article, PST Alex Ballarin discusses how OKRs align teams with strategy, moving away from the IT services model. They provide clarity and direction for Product Owners and foster transparency with stakeholders. OKRs promote a results-oriented team approach, reduce hierarchies, and give teams ...

This blog post explores the implications of merging these roles and asks: Might there be exceptions where this approach is temporarily justified?

Done is a fundamental part of bringing transparency. How does this relate to your Sprint Backlog? Check it out! Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (73)

Are you a Scrum Master Or a Product Owner? How is it going? Read the blog to know the challenges and foundation of the Scrum Master and the Product Owner partnership.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about how exactly to use Agile frameworks to deliver projects. Should you have a charter? Should the Project Manager also be the Scrum Master? This article will discuss 10 common FAQs for Project Managers seeking to use Agile frameworks—like Scrum—to deliver proj...

Done is a fundamental part of bringing transparency. How does this relate to the Sprint? Check it out! Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (71)

My recent article Debunking ten Common Objections to Incremental Delivery for Software Teams introduced ten of the most common objections to incremental delivery. In this article I introduce and debunk ten more objections to you guessed it, incremental delivery.

In this blog post PST Mary Iqbal discusses the question - Who Writes Product Backlog items Scrum?

Incorporating the Product Vision into Scrum events is not just about keeping the product vision alive in everyone’s minds; it’s about creating a shared language and understanding that propels your team forward. Learn how this useful tool could be used across Scrum events.

Scrum Teams use feedback as a compass to improve and innovate their product. Here are 5 strategies to help teams gather better feedback.

Emergent leadership thrives when every team member knows they have the power to lead, guided by the needs of the moment rather than the titles of yesterday.

Does this scenario sound familiar? Your company has embraced agile and teams now enjoy greater focus and clearer collaboration. Yet the anticipated business benefits have not materialized. Delivery is slow, expensive and a source of frustration. Although agile has markedly improved organisations,...

In the dynamic world of product development, articulating a clear and compelling product vision is paramount. It’s the North Star that guides every aspect of product strategy, design, and execution. It serves stakeholders and teams alike.

A Scrum Master empowers and facilitates a team's effectiveness, enhances their ability to deliver value, and guides them through the complexities of product development.