Exploring the Human edge in Agile
“Scrum team members have the courage to do the right thing and work on tough problems.” – The Scrum Guide Why should ‘courage’ be mentioned specifically, do you think? Courage in the context of the Scrum values means having the courage to do what needs to be done and not being afraid that it won’t … Read more
“People personally commit to achieving the goals of the Scrum Team.” – The Scrum Guide Commitment as a value sounds rather bit abstract and is often misunderstood. Get out of bed, brush your teeth, come into work with a positive mindset, follow instructions, make it to the deadline – right? In the context of the … Read more
One of my favourite activities is teaching (potential) Product Owners about their roles and responsibilities on a Scrum Team. The thing I spend the most time on is this: “time is rigid, scope is flexible.” In the Scrum projects I’ve been working on at a digital agency for the past few years, quotes don’t contain … Read more
While I was writing an article about the stances of a Scrum Master, I was at first a bit confused about the differences between the roles of coach, mentor and teacher. Not confused in a damaging way. More the kind of confusion you get when you realise you’ve been treating three distinct things as interchangeable. … Read more
In a previous article I talked about the eight stances of a Scrum Master, as described in the whitepaper by Barry Overeem.Overeem also described eight misunderstood stances: the shadow side of the virtues, and the scrum master mistakes most of us have quietly made. As a Scrum Master, these are worth knowing. Not as a … Read more
One of my most fondest memories of my PSM II training was a sheet depicting the various stances (and misunderstandings of the role) of the Scrum Master. This was based on the famous 2016 whitepaper of Barry Overeem, in which he wrote about his personal experiences as a Scrum Master. Last year, when I presented … Read more
Two titles proudly appear at the top of my LinkedIn profile: Project Manager and Scrum Master. It turns out that I am not the only one who fulfills these dual roles and I have noticed a lot of ambiguity about the difference (and the overlap) between the roles. I would like to take you through … Read more
Earlier today a colleague asked me how I facilitate a Sprint Retrospective. It was her first sprint in the role of Scrum Master and in that sense also her first Retro. The Scrum Guide describes the event succinctly: the Scrum Team inspects how the last Sprint went with regards to individuals, interactions, processes, tools, and … Read more
This is it. I spent the last few weeks studying for the PSM III exam. Six books about the exam material are on my bedside table, which I am reading diligently. I even printed out the most recent version of the Scrum Guide, coloring in several words and sentences with different markers. I was filled … Read more