Blog Post
True Certification - Earned or Purchased?
March 24, 2015
“Eventbrite Order Notification” – This is probably one of the best mails I receive as a ScrumTrainer It usually means I have another student with whom I can share my p
Blog Post
Can rituals help agile teams bond?
March 20, 2015
Years ago I was complimented on “improving the group dynamic” by bringing in a cafetiere for the my agile team to use. We developed a bit of a ritual around this object. One person had made it clear that the kettle needed to be left to cool
Blog Post
Agile and Scrum, entwined and related
March 16, 2015
"Agile" (the label) is all over the place. Who would have guessed in early 2001?
Blog Post
Are Your Leaders Promoting Courageous Communication?
March 2, 2015
Have you ever been in a meeting where you felt afraid to share a difficult and truthful statement? Was "the obvious" in the room the whole time, but no one would speak up and talk about it?
Blog Post
Techniques for using the Definition of Done (DoD)
February 21, 2015
I always spend time during training classes thoroughly covering the concept of Definition of Done, sometimes abbreviated “DoD.” As a concept it’s fairly eas
Blog Post
Are You a Manager or an Enabler?
February 20, 2015
Are you a Manager that believes in the power of Scrum? There is a difference between thinking, believing and knowing. Don't miss out on a huge opportunity to become the next market leader in your space.
Blog Post
Sprint Review Technique: Videos
February 18, 2015
File this one under: “how do you do Sprint Reviews when you have lots of teams?” Indeed, the traditional presentation format gets long, boring, and ineffective when you have more than a handful of teams presenting at a Sprint Review.
Blog Post
Giving Feedback - A Worse Than Useless Idea
February 17, 2015
One of the favorite activities of HR departments seems to be herding people into teamwork trainings. In these trainings they will have endure learning about all sorts of ideas related to teamwork. Most of them with no scientific validity. Learning to give feedback to other team members has its sure place in sessions like these.
Blog Post
The Scrum Practitioner Open assessment (update)
February 13, 2015
As people and organizations grow and mature their implementation of Scrum, they regularly check with us at Scrum.org about particular points of interest. Recently we have seen an increase in the need for help and inspiration in scaling Scrum and in ways to educate and assess Scrum practitioners.
Blog Post
The Trojan Retrospective - From Crickets To Conversations
February 9, 2015
This blog is part of my series on “Agile Trojan Horses – Covert Appetizers for Agile Discovery”.
Blog Post
7 simple ideas for improving your flip-charts
February 8, 2015
The ability to create high-quality and attractive flip charts is one of the basic skills of any facilitator.
Blog Post
Sprint Review Technique: The Science Fair
February 4, 2015
Young Jimmy is in 3rd grade. He's constructed an immaculate paper-mâché volcano. It took every spare minute of the last to weeks to make. His mom carefully loads it in the back of the minivan.
Blog Post
Agile Coaching: I See Scared People
February 3, 2015
Starting a team new to agility on their first sprint is one of my favorite and most rewarding things to do.
Blog Post
The Agile Trojan Horse Covert Appetizers For Agile Discovery Part 1: Empiricism
February 3, 2015
If I had a penny for every minute I sat in a meeting where teams argued about what was and was not “Agile” I would be a gazillionaire by now. Sometimes, the most vocal and dominant voices are the least aware of the fundamentals of Agile.
Blog Post
Counter pessimism
January 31, 2015
A team that I work with decided one day to improve the general mood in the team. A member of the team (David) bought the Snakes & Ladders board game for the team.
Blog Post
Two Ways to think about Scaling Scrum
January 29, 2015
In the book Scaling Up Excellence by Sutton & Rao, they discuss two different ways to think about scaling: the “catholic or budd
Blog Post
4 Secrets to Great Agile Leadership
January 29, 2015
Are you considered a leader in your organization? Do you spend your day at the top of the tower or in the trenches?
Blog Post
Im an Apprentice Scrum Master! Now What?
January 28, 2015
[Author’s note: I will be a Scrum Day Dallas on 27 March 2015; a great opportuni
Blog Post
How The Road To Agile Coaching Made Me a Gambling Addict!
January 26, 2015
Watch a video version of this blog or scroll down to read a text version…
Blog Post
Simplicity
January 23, 2015
Setting up an enterprise-scale agile department with 200 developers working towards the same vision will ensure you are invited to speak at all of the most prestigious conferences, but is there a simpler solution?
Blog Post
What Does a Great Team Feel Like?
January 19, 2015
Are you part of a Team in the workplace? Odds are the answer is "yes". Do you observe other Teams in your organization doing inspiring work and wonder how they do it?
Blog Post
The 1 Skill Every Agile Leader Must Learn
January 13, 2015
As a leader, your own behavior has a profound effect on the effectiveness of Scrum in the workplace. Want to embody great leadership to elevate your organization's performance?
Blog Post
Customer Value Is Not Enough
January 8, 2015
I was coaching a number of teams and their Sprint Reviews were boring status meetings and few stakeholders attended.
Blog Post
The Scrum.org Professional Series Updates 2015
January 8, 2015
In 2015, Scrum.org will refine the Professional Scrum Master (PSM) assessments, PSM I and PSM II, in line with following objectives:
Blog Post
Empathy in the Air
January 4, 2015
Is 2015 the year for you to expand into a leadership role? Are you focused on becoming a better leader this year? As you head back to the office, consider adding "Develop a sense of empathy" to your list of New Year's Resolutions.
Blog Post
What Does it Take to Change?
December 19, 2014
With the holiday season in full gear, many of us start crafting one or more New Year’s resolutions:
Blog Post
The Brave Tin Soldier
December 18, 2014
He could have wept tin tears, but that would not have been right. He looked at her and she looked at him, but neither spoke a word.
Blog Post
Taking back the Daily Scrum
December 17, 2014
This is what you might know as the daily ‘stand up.’ It is the most abused, tortured and mistreated meeting in Scrum. Or not even Scrum. If nothing else, this is usually the part of Scrum that organizations adopt and keep. If th
Blog Post
My Route to Becoming a Professional Scrum Master
December 16, 2014
My name is Peter Götz. I am an experienced software engineer. I started in 2001 and have worked in several projects and with several teams since then.
Blog Post
Agile is constant change
December 4, 2014
One of the key foundations of helping your business become Agile is the use of empiricism. Empiricism is the scientific approach based on evidence, where any idea must be tested against observations, rather than intuition.
Blog Post
Scrum Master - A "management" position
December 3, 2014
Traditionally an individual is declared a ‘manager’ when having hierarchical control over other individuals.
Blog Post
A Scrum Master's Practical Toolbox
November 13, 2014
“A Scrum Master’s practical toolbox” offers o
Blog Post
Using Scrum for Organisational Change Management
November 4, 2014
When I first started doing Scrum I was focused on project delivery. As a software professional I wanted to find better ways of delivering customer value and Scrum made total sense to me.
Blog Post
Scaling Scrum
October 29, 2014
Jeff Sutherland and I have helped hundreds of organizations scale their projects, enable their entire product development, and thread Scrum through their organizations. For sure, none of them were easy, and each had its own unique challenges.
Blog Post
Temperature Reading Retrospective
October 27, 2014
I decided to conduct a Temperature Reading Sprint Retrospective after watching the video from one of the workshops of a famous American family therapist Virgi
Blog Post
Rory Cubes for the Sprint Retrospective
October 22, 2014
People love stories. We love telling and listening to interesting stories. The need for this is embedded deeply by the nature. The first stories were told by our ancestors and can be seen in the preserved rock paintings.
Blog Post
Accountability is a Quality of Agile
October 21, 2014
Software is created by people; for better or for worse. That is very different from looking at software development as a robotizeable activity.
Blog Post
Monkeys for managers
October 19, 2014
I have found that coaching managers is a different approach than with Scrum teams. While you are (most of the time) involved directly with the Scrum Team as a Scrum Master, managers are less accessible.
Blog Post
The Power of Appreciating Others
October 16, 2014
On more than one occasion over the years, I have encountered software development teams that are working day and night on a "challenged" project - both waterfall *and* Scrum.
Blog Post
Is Strategy Dead?
October 12, 2014
There is a fundamental change in management happening under out feet that is challenging the very need for strategy. Small changes are happening every day and in ten years’ time we won’t recognise management as we have thought of it in the past.
Blog Post
Dont fall in love with ...
October 12, 2014
Your plan. It will change anyway.
Your detailed architecture. It should emerge.
Your code. It will be refactored.
Your document. It doesn’t compile anyway.
Blog Post
In Scrum, Beware of the Re-Write Project
October 7, 2014
I work with a lot of companies to help them to improve their development processes and to either adopt Scrum or improve how they’re currently doing Scrum. Lately, I’ve noticed that a fair number of companies run into problems with a certain kind