In this article, PST Stefan Wolpers explores what practices and tools for collaboration and team building are not helpful when used with Scrum.

Teams solving complex problems need creativity to figure out how to deliver value.  Traditional “command and control’ techniques are less impactful in this environment and can even harm the team’s ability to deliver value. 

In this video, Martin 🎥 breaks down the common misconceptions about Scrum Masters. He sheds light on the actual role and responsibilities, challenging the popular myths with practical insights. Discover the true essence of being a Scrum Master and how it impacts team dynamics. 🚀🤔

More and more Managers are taking on the Scrum Master accountability. Are they ready for this?

The Scrum Master is the “Scrum Police.” They enforce Scrum rules.Why is this a myth? There are very few “Scrum rules.” Scrum is designed to be a framework for helping teams execute complex work. When Scrum Masters guide teams in understanding the principles of Scrum and purpose of its elements, the ...

Scrum Masters support their colleagues in many different ways. The Scrum Guide outlines some of the service that Scrum Masters provide to others:The Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team in several ways, including:Coaching the team members in self-management and cross-functionality;Helping the Scrum Te...

In this video, Martin delves into the significance of openness in Scrum teams, illuminating how it fosters transparency and trust. 🗝️🤝 He articulates its practical aspects, the emotional context, and the impact on team dynamics. A must-watch for those navigating the complexities of Scrum! 🌀📈

In a significant shift from their previous stance, Ryan Ripley and Todd Miller, hosts of "Your Daily Scrum," now advocate for integrating the role of Scrum Master with delivery managers and directors, countering their earlier advice to avoid this practice.

In this post, Stefan Wolpers shares ideas on how to support your Scrum Team transforming from output-focused workers to value-driven innovators

In this recording of a live session of Ask a Professional Scrum Trainer, PST Steven Deneir based in Belgium answers questions about Scrum, the Scrum Master and the challenges people often encounter with their Scrum Teams and Stakeholders. (59:27 Minutes)

Scrum Values make the use of Scrum successful. How can the Scrum Master use these to grow trust within the team even more? Check it out!

Many organizations are striving to become more adaptive a means not just to survive, but to thrive.  The success of an adaptive organization hinges significantly on the capabilities of its people, which often raises the question of how to select people for agile teams.

Scrum Values make the use of Scrum successful. How can the Developers use these to grow trust within the team even more? Check it out!

If you or your team are new to Scrum, you can use this as a starting point to answer, “what should we be doing and why?” for each Scrum Event. If your team is more experienced but you feel like you’re drifting away from healthy behaviors and patterns and you’re not sure how to course correct - you c...

In this article, we delve into common anti-patterns at the Scrum Team level: from planning and process breakdown to conflict avoidance and miscommunication to inattention to quality and commitment.

How can you help increase engagement in your team — or can you? Is engagement something you can support, influence, or force? PST's Gregory Crown, Jason Malmstadt, and Robert Pieper tackle this frequently-asked question in today’s Scrum Lightning Round.

Scrum Values make the use of Scrum successful. How can the Product Owner use these to grow trust within the team even more? Check it out!

When facing challenges in team composition or skills, the answer is not always to upskill or improve cross-functionality. Sometimes the answer is to reteam. But what if the Scrum Team doesn't see those options themselves yet?

Scrum Teams work best when all the team members can devote 100% of their time to the work of the team. But what about when organizational constraints prevent us from having fully-dedicated team members? Can Scrum still work? What are the challenges of this less-than-ideal scenario? PST's Jason, Greg...

Scrum is a framework to reduce risk, increase predictability, and deliver value to your stakeholders sooner. But what when is something actually valuable?

In order for a Scrum Team to be successful, they should be: Cohesive - They should work together as a tight-knit collaborative team, supportive of one another and fostering trust among team members Focused - Scrum Teams are focused on creating value and achieving the Product Goal Cross-fu...

The Scrum framework describes Scrum Master, Product Owner and Developers as “accountabilities” and not “roles.” This puts emphasis on the fact that Scrum Teams are results-oriented, with clear accountabilities among team members, rather than an organizational construct. Product Owner, Scrum Maste...

Common complaint: “Scrum is not working in today‘s software engineering industry.” Response: If Scrum isn‘t “working” in today’s software engineering industry, then perhaps there are counter-signals in the industry that are preventing teams from employing Scrum effectively.

Design Thinking helps us to better understand the problem space and in particular to understand the needs of the users. Based on this, our User Stories become significantly better, which is illustrated with an example.

Or is it a sacrilege to tweak the ‘immutable’ framework to accommodate our teams’ and organizations’ needs?

Nexus is the simplest, most lightweight framework available. Nexus can be considered an extension of Scrum because it preserves the simplicity that makes Scrum great.

Estimating Product Backlog Items is not easy. Discover a practice that has helped a lot of the teams I coached.

The Scrum Master accountability extends far beyond guiding the Scrum team through Scrum events and facilitating meetings as requested or needed. Scrum Masters are change agents who transform not just the team, but also the entire organization.

Teams tend to get in the nitty gritty details of expectations. A waste of valuable time. This blog posts provides a simple practice to start dealing with this.

How to develop trust through self-management, psychological safety and Transactional Analysis as tools for improving relationships and communication within the Scrum ecosystem.

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.

Discover how effective leaders can nurture team autonomy and decision-making capabilities by transitioning from control to collaboration through a structured mentoring process. Learn the key steps to empower your team and foster a transparent system for delegation.

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.

Learn why ineffective collaboration at the stakeholder level often results in an unsuited reporting system based on misaligned metrics.

In this video, Martin discusses the tell-tale signs of a Product Owner who might be missing the mark. 🚫🎯 From products of poor quality or low value to inconsistent delivery, these are indicators that shouldn't be ignored. If a product owner is merely jotting down requirements without truly understan...

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

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast, Dave West chats with Helen Swift from Simplyhealth, a health solutions provider about how they implemented using Professional Scrum with Kanban in their organization after the Professional Scrum with Kanban training course. They talk about the tran...

Scrum is utilized in various industries, and as a result, leaders from diverse backgrounds are tasked with guiding Scrum Teams. While technical expertise can be an asset, it's not always a prerequisite for effective leadership in an Agile environment.

One question that often arises in the context of Scrum is whether individuals can be part of more than one Scrum Team. While there is no explicit rule against this in Scrum, it's essential to explore the implications of such arrangements on productivity and adherence to Scrum values.

For agility to thrive, the culture of the organization must support the fundamental concepts of agility. The Scrum Values - Focus, Respect, Openness, Commitment, and Courage - create an environment where empiricism, self-management and continual improvement are more successful.

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...

6 Advanced stances / perspectives a scrum product owner needs to understand in order to excel in Product Ownership & Management.

Agile is over 20 years old, and the Agile conference has been running since 2005. But are we seeing any changes? Has agile adoption stalled? This blog discusses enterprise adoption challenges and the environment necessary for Agile to succeed.

🎯📝 Master the delicate balance of crafting a #ProductBacklog! 🚀 Our latest blog post guides you through the path of keeping it lean💡, but not too lean, anticipating the future🔭 without overcrowding. 🔄 Embrace the power of regular reflection meetings to turn surprises into golden insights! 🤔💼 Be the ...

Surveys are one of the most common research methods and another way Scrum Teams can find more about their customers and users. For example, to determine customer satisfaction. Although surveys can be a cost effective way to gather data and insights from a large group of people, if they are not...

By taking the time to observe users in their environment, you can learn a lot about how they interact with your product allowing you to explore how to make it better. During an observation session, ask users to interact with a lightweight prototype or observe them using the latest product Increm...

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

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...

🔥 Navigating the Product Backlog just got more exciting! 🚀 Unravel why hierarchy might be your ship's anchor ⚓ in the stormy seas of complexity. 🔍 This article unveils the pitfalls of hierarchy and demystifies the complexities in product development. Learn how streamlining your backlog enhances inno...

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 ...