Back in the early days of Scrum, the Scrum Master role was exciting. The days of the pigs & chickens, the days when being a Scrum Master was considered dangerous. In those times there was the saying a dead Scrum Master is a useless Scrum Master  And even today I still use that when selecting a...

The Sprint is one of the five Scrum events.  In my Professional Scrum Courses, this is the event that people often forget about because it is a container event, not necessarily something you distinctly schedule on the calendar.

Specify only the absolute “must dos” and “must not dos” for achieving a purpose. Ideal for creating a Definition of Done, a Minimal Viable Product or a Team Manifest.

It’s been a year since I joined the Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainers Community. 2018 marks my fifth year in teaching Scrum. Allow me to reflect on this journey. In the beginning, I would literally run to another building, which was at least a block away, to meet my colleagues very eager to ...

This document provides an overview of the changes made to the Nexus Guide over time.

“I designed a defined framework for using many Scrum Teams on a single product or problem. The result is Nexus, an exoskeleton that rests on top of many Scrum Teams. Nexus provides information and management information for guiding their working together.” - Ken Schwaber

In August 2015, Ken Schwaber and Scrum.org introduced the Nexus framework to the public via the Nexus Guide, the definitive guide to scaling Scrum. Today, on January 17, 2018, we release the first update to the Nexus Guide.

According to Forrester Research, 90% of Agile teams use Scrum.[1] One reason for this popularity is that Scrum is a simple framework that promotes transparency and empiricism. It is based on a set of principles and values, and consists of three roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Development Tea...

Nexus builds upon Scrum’s foundation and minimally extends the Scrum framework to enable multiple teams to work from a single Product Backlog to build an Integrated Increment that meets a goal.

An online version of The Definitive Guide to Nexus

During some Scrum training classes, I have been asked, can teams practice Continuous Delivery (CD) , using the Scrum Framework? The answer is a resounding yes!   Let's explore why some believe that Scrum only allows you to release at the most, every Sprint against what the Scrum Guide says.   

Diversity boosts innovation in companies in times, when the rate of outside change is high. Diversity of people across culture, gender, religion, physical ability, ethnicity and other individual differences have to offer value for the group. Diversity in teams can generate greater idea flow and help...

In this article we’ll bust the myth that in Scrum too much time is spend in meetings. We’ll not only describe how time-consuming the Scrum events factually are, but also clarify the purpose and importance. After explaining the origins of this myth, we’ll offer some practical tips to prevent or resol...

With Scrum, World Servants Product Owners are able to identify which of their requests are higher priority and should be completed first. In turn, they also use Scrum to help them collectively agree on which backlog items should be assigned to the IT department in the next Scrum Sprint - a time-box ...

Everyone building software products today aspire to be able to seamlessly update the production software in a continuous manner. To be able to deploy code without the ‘normal’ friction of process controls, reviews, test departments and committee meetings.

I often get this question when coaching or training organizations new to Scrum: “I’m a project manager. What do I do?” I’m happy when I get the question; it gives me the opportunity to talk it through. Too many times, people assume or jump to the conclusion that the role of project manager must b...

Every day I wake up and wonder, “Where am I”? Where am I going? I was not clear on where am I heading. I started as a Java developer in EDS- Electronic Data Systems and Progressed through the various assignment. But what my Institution gave me? Institutions are just cloning people, and every...

Do you ever influence or coach people? How? Do you use a gut feel approach or do you have coaching patterns that you use? I have several coaching patterns that I step through when trying to influence people. I also have a strategy for using these patterns. Let me share with you with an example ...

In this article we'll bust one of the more radical myths in Scrum; the belief that plans and planning have no place in Scrum.

Many Scrum Teams use User Stories as a technique for creating their Product Backlog Items (PBIs). But when the teams bring big stories to the Sprint, this causes lots of problems. The common recommendation is to slice stories so that the team can take 6-10 of them to the Sprint. Let's discuss in det...

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame discusses how people can always be learning and why you don't have to be an expert to contribute to the Scrum Team. (2:14 minutes)

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame talks about why diversity in Scrum Teams is so important.  Topics include diverse thinking, capabilities and knowledge. (2:27 minutes)

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame discusses why you need to think and use common sense when working. With Scrum being empirical, you need to leverage common sense in making changes and decisions. Sometimes, you need to make assumptions and moves based on ...

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame talks about how using Scrum with practices from Design Thinking can come together to help deliver better solutions to customers. (3:08 minutes)

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame discusses how many modern practices and techniques have Scrum at their core and why the empiricism of Scrum continues to be so important today. (1:39 minutes)

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame talks about his experiences over many years working in the Agile community and with Ken Schwaber, co-creator of Scrum, founder of Scrum.org and signatory of the Agile Manifesto. David looks at his history with Ken and Ke...

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer Erwin van der Koogh takes you through the Cynefin model that he uses to determine the how to approach problems from simple to complex. (5:03 minutes)

In this post, we’ll explain the Liberating Structure "Troika Consulting" and how we apply this facilitation technique within our Scrum training and coaching engagements.

Flashback to 1995, Jeff and Ken had presented their paper at OOPSLA on Scrum. People recognizes it as one of the new ways of working. Fast forward to Feb 2001, no ski resort gathering and no Agile manifesto. People are trying different methods, frameworks and practices for improving the state of sof...

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer Ralph Jocham describes the Backlog Refinement, provides tips for how to hold and improve refinement sessions. 5:25 Minutes

Yes, you read it right, it was really challenging for me, and may be other PSTs have the same or different experience. A couple of times I thought about quitting it but because of some or the other reasons I continued. This article is an attempt of sharing my journey, may be useful to you before you...

In this post, we'll bust the myth that Scrum requires work to be estimated in Story Points. Although it is a useful technique, and used by many Scrum Teams, it is by no means the only technique. Above all, remember the quote by Esther Derby: “Estimating is often helpful, estimates are often not.”

Scrum Studio creates an environment in which empiricism can thrive. It may exist as a physically separate organization, or it may simply be a protected part of an existing organization, especially when it is just getting started.   Read this paper to learn more.

"That's the problem with so many organizations around entrepreneurship. They're driven by metrics that don't matter." - Brad Feld It's alright Madam, I'm a Doctor Have you ever had your bumps read? No no, don't be alarmed, it's your cranium I'm referring to. At one time it was thought poss...

In this presentation by Professional Scrum Trainer Robert (Robb) Pieper he discusses Agile Transformations and common challenges/solutions to scaling Scrum, issues with individuals and teams, communication challenges and much more. 50:08 Minutes

There is a frustrating misunderstanding of reality when one thinks that the Product Owner can reject a single story at the Sprint Review. This is the fallacy of the rejected backlog item and the misguided belief that this backlog item can just be left out of this delivery. That backlog item that was...

People in the Agile community must have heard or have came across this white paper multiple times. We have been preaching about it in our training classes but I am not sure how many of Agile community members have actually read it thoroughly. The paper was published in Jan 1986 issue of HBR and is v...

"See it all. See it fairly. Be truthful, be sensible and be careful with language" - Henry Grunwald In Scrum we care about the precise and considered use of language, since any obfuscation reduces transparency. When we try to implement Scrum, we can sometimes find that the pressure is on to c...

Do you think people need to be forged into a T-shape? Think again. Focus on the aspects preventing people from employing their intrinsic T-potential. I have never worked with a single person who mastered no more than a single skill. Every individual I worked with had the intrinsic capability to p...

In this podcast Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods of InfoQ, spoke to Dave West, CEO and chief product owner at Scrum.org, about the state of Scrum in 2017 and the future of agile.

In this blog post we’ll bust the myth that “The Scrum Master is a junior Agile Coach”. Effective change is driven from “the inside-out”. The Scrum Master - being part of the Scrum Team  - is in a better position to facilitate this change than an (external) Agile Coach.

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer Hiren Doshi discusses a model to assess and control unplanned work that may come up during a Sprint and reviewing its impact during the Sprint Review. 3:12 Minutes

This short video provides a look into what happens during the Scrum.org Professional Scrum Developer (PSD) course. You can see the class in action as they break into Scrum Teams, deliver working software and go through the different Scrum Events. Course stewards and Scrum.org Professional Scrum Tr...

Use "Shift & Share and Caravan" as facilitation pattern in Scrum for Sprint Reviews, brainstorms and involving stakeholders. Spread novel ideas across groups of any size with "Shift & Share" and rapidly receive feedback with "Caravan".

How to Teach a Scrum Team to Split Stories Many Scrum Teams have difficulties with splitting user stories. Often I hear people saying: "It's absolutely impossible to split this product backlog item.” In order to solve this issue, I recommend organizing a workshop on story splitting for the ent...

In this post I will review what's a Proxy Product Owner, why you can find so often this role in organizations embracing Scrum, and some proposals to avoid this role and achieve a true Product Owner. What is a Proxy Product Owner? A Proxy Product Owner (Proxy PO) is a middleman role between the...

As a Product Owner, you are responsible for Product Backlog management, stakeholder management and forecasting. Therefore, you will probably use a variety of tools and techniques to track progress, manage expectations and keep people informed. One of the tools that may come in handy for you is a pro...

Release Planning As a Product Owner, you are responsible for managing expectations of customers, users and other stakeholders. You are also responsible for Product Backlog Management, for deciding that to built when and what not to built. Also, you'll need to decide what to deliver (release) to cus...

Product Backlog Management As a Product Owner, you are responsible for Product Backlog Management, in order to maximize the value of the Product. The Product Backlog is the single source of truth which contains all the work to be done on the Product. As a Product Owner, you will have to make some c...

And after reading Jeff Gothelf’s and Josh Seiden’s book “Sense and Respond: How Successful Organizations Listen to Customers and Create New Products Continuously”, I realized that the world is full of complex problems. This got me thinking about the relationship between Scrum and modern organization...