Accountability and responsibility are often confused, but the key difference is that responsibility can be delegated, while accountability cannot. This blog explores the distinction with real-life examples, including tax filing and Scrum leadership.

An Increment that isn’t inspectable creates blind spots—decisions are based on assumptions, not evidence. In this post, we explore what makes an Increment truly inspectable, common anti-patterns, and how to ensure your Scrum Team delivers transparency every Sprint.

If you are managing a product, you need to be clear about what drives value and what doesn’t. Not all bug fixes and refactors are worth it.

The only reason for a Product Owner to exist is to maximize the value of the Product. One of the ways a Product Owner can accomplish this is by ensuring that most valuable items remain at the top of the Product Backlog and the Product Goal underscores their importance. So, how does the Product Owner...

Many Scrum Masters see their role as protecting the Scrum Team. But when protection becomes isolation, something is wrong. Shielding a team too much from stakeholders isn't helpful - it hinders collaboration, stifles feedback and erodes trust.

In this webinar, Magdalena Firlit, PST and Patricia Kong, Product Owner of Learning at Scrum.org offer tips on how to negotiate with internal stakeholders and also partners external to your organization. Topics include negotiating budget, managing conflict, dealing with stakeholder expectations and ...

The only purpose of doing Scrum is to create a DONE Increment. To get to a DONE Increment, quality is key. In Scrum Teams Definition of Done enables transparency around quality and releasability of the Increment. However, more often than not the Definition of Done stops at meeting acceptance criteri...

Scrum - when done well - actually promotes even greater accountability than waterfall, because the Scrum team is accountable for value delivery. And great Scrum teams measure - and reflect upon - customer outcomes so that they can adjust course and improve their ability to deliver value.

Struggling with cross-product initiative ownership? Imagine turning complex, strategic bets into streamlined successes with visionary leadership. Discover how product-oriented initiative owners drive outcomes, foster collaboration, and transform challenges into growth opportunities across teams and ...

So bringen Sie Ihr Produkt-Backlog zur Maximierung der Wertschöpfung für Kunden und Organisation in Ordnung.

Many Scrum Masters struggle to coach Product Owners beyond the bounds of the Scrum Guide. This guide offers a practical 30-day approach to building core product management context.

How to Align Teams with Stakeholders, and Finally Fix Your Product Backlog.

In diesem Artikel gibt PST Simon Flossmann 3 Tipps, wie du als Product-Owner Konflikte mit Stakeholdern löst.

Depending on the product and business area, Product Owners might be exposed to external negotiations, such as external investors, strategic partnerships, and/or vendor relationships.The negotiation strategies described in the internal stakeholder section can also be applied when negotiating external...

It is important to recognize the impact of human behavior in negotiations. Humans are emotional and our feelings influence results. Product Owners should be aware of how they conduct themselves and avoid showing bias, especially when others share their input and feedback. This helps create a constru...

Scrum Teams work with stakeholders in their organization to understand their feedback regarding the product. As these stakeholders generally have different responsibilities, needs, opinions and interests, it can be challenging to decide on the future of a product or initiative. For instance, someone...

Effective negotiation for funding requires strategic planning, trust and confidence. This is important in product management for launching and sustaining a product within the financial constraints of an organization.Product Owners should consider scenarios where they may need to negotiate for fundin...

Here are practical strategies, grounded in collaboration techniques, to help Product Owners manage both internal and external negotiations effectively.Use BATNA. One popular negotiating strategy is BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement). This is a backup plan if all negotiations fail.Exa...

Como Scrum Master te puedes preguntar muchas veces: ¿Cómo puedo mejorar la relevancia, efectividad e impacto en el equipo y en la entrega de valor? ¿En qué me puedo enfocar como Scrum Master para ayudar de mejorar manera al equipo? ¿Y que habilidades, conocimiento y experiencia necesito mejorar?. A...

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast, Dave West sits down with Sander Dur and Ryan Brook, authors of Solving for Value: A Journey of Ambition and Stupidity. (32:22 Minutes)

What is the relationship between Scrum and Lean Thinking? Please explain how Scrum enables Lean Thinking or how Lean Thinking fosters Scrum? These are my two favorite questions when I typically want to gauge the knowledge of Scrum Masters. And over the many interviews in the past couple of years I h...

In vielen Organisationen bleibt echte Zusammenarbeit oft eine Wunschvorstellung. Einzelne Teammitglieder arbeiten isoliert, Missverständnisse häufen sich, und die Synergie bleibt aus. Doch wie schafft man es, dass ein Team wirklich zusammenarbeitet und Verantwortung teilt? Die Antwort beginnt beim B...

Scrum Masters are human. And sometimes - even when they are trying to help - they can unintentionally overstep their authority. In this article, we will discuss the most common ways that Scrum Masters overstep themselves, and why.

Selecting work in Scrum isn’t just about picking items from the backlog—it’s a collaborative effort by the entire Scrum Team. Explore how value, risk, effort, and shared understanding guide the selection process, ensuring each Increment brings the team closer to the Product Goal.

The Scrum framework offers clear rules, guidelines, and constraints. Teams can use these as boundaries to self-manage and self-organize their work, minimize risk, and deliver value to their stakeholders. When teams are relatively new to Scrum, strictly following the rules and constraints makes sense...

In diesem Artikel erklärt PST Simon Flossmann, die 3 Versprechen, die Agile Transformationen einlösen müssen.

In Scrum, the Definition of Done (DoD) is a shared understanding of what it means for a Product Backlog item to be considered complete. For example, for a Scrum team that is developing software, a Definition of Done might include things such as 'Complete code review' or 'all standard Regression scri...

The term ‘backlog’ in Scrum refers to more than a list of features—it’s a tool for transparency, collaboration, and delivering value. Learn why shorter, focused backlogs empower teams and how expanding backlog items to include hypotheses, outcomes, and problems can drive innovation.

Adopt one of these New Year's resolutions at your next Sprint Retrospective!

Ordering the Product Backlog in Scrum isn’t just about deciding what’s important—it’s about creating a clear sequence of work for maximum value. Discover the key differences between ordering and prioritizing, and the criteria Product Owners use to arrange backlog items effectively

In diesem Artikel resümiert PST Simon Flossmann über das Jahr 2024 und teilt seine Erkenntnisse und Lektionen.

In this article, we will discuss 3 concepts that work better in simple business problems and not so well in an Agile environment.

The Scrum Guide says a Product Owner ‘orders the work’ into a Product Backlog. But what does ordering really mean in Scrum? It’s not about commands—it’s about creating clarity and alignment. Explore the collaborative nature of ordering and its impact on the Scrum Team.

In this episode of Scrum Master Real Talk, host Dave West chats with Jim Sparks, a Scrum Master from Dayton, Ohio. Jim shares how he discovered a passion for servant leadership, the evolution of his role toward delivery accountability, and how he tackles challenges. (24:57 Minutes)

E.L.E.V.A.T.E. A Transformative Model for Product Owners to Invest in Themselves

In diesem Artikel werden wir die Bedingungen untersucht, unter denen reines Scrum gedeiht, die organisatorische DNA, die zu seiner Unterstützung erforderlich ist, und praktische Szenarien, in denen es am besten funktioniert – zusammen mit einem ehrlichen Blick darauf, wo es Schwierigkeiten bereitet.

Product definition is a complex, political and challenging task in large IT organizations. In this blog we discuss what organizations need to consider when looking at their product model. We discuss why shared services could be candidates to become products and the value of tying product to strategy...

Elevating Katas: Driving Continuous Improvement in Organizational Topologies In the evolving landscape of software development and organizational design, Elevating Katas play a crucial role in fostering continuous improvement. These structured, repeatable exercises help teams refine their workflo...

A common mistake Product Owners (POs) often make is assigning Product Backlog items to specific Scrum Teams or individuals. While this approach may seem efficient - and even helpful - it undermines team dynamics, disempowers Developers, and distracts the PO from their true purpose: maximizing value.

This article explores the conditions under which pure Scrum thrives, the organizational DNA required to support it, and practical scenarios where it works best—along with a candid look at where it struggles.

In questo episodio, Fabio Panzavolta esplora la differenza tra output, outcomes e impatto in Scrum, elementi fondamentali per comprendere il valore generato dal lavoro del team. Scopriremo come questi tre livelli di risultati si collegano tra loro e quale ruolo gioca il Product Owner nel massimizzar...

Patricia Kong is back to flip the script and interview Dave West about Product Definition, answering remaining questions from his webinar on the topic. (40:56 Minutes)

Scrum introduces the accountabilities of Product Owner and Scrum Master. But the Scrum Developer also carries new accountabilities! The Developer is much more than just a coder.

Scrum was designed to be simple—deliberately so. Adding too much too soon can actually slow you down, making it harder to reach the value Scrum is built to deliver.

Many Sprint Review events include a demo, but the Sprint Review is so much more than that.

In diesem Artikel erklärt PST Simon Flossmann, was jeder Product Owner über Wert wissen sollte und geht auf drei gängige Mythen ein.

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast, Andreas Wittler, a Scrum Master from Germany, shares his inspiring journey from transforming an economically troubled hospital with Agile principles to working with diverse organizations across the globe. (23:10 Minutes)

Vague terms like "agility" and "value" lead to misunderstandings in product development. By breaking them down into measurable "supporting attributes," teams can create clearer goals and run experiments to achieve them. The three-step approach described here helps product development move beyond buz...

In questo episodio Fabio Panzavolta risponde a due domande fondamentali dei nostri ascoltatori: la prima riguarda i possibili conflitti di interesse nei doppi ruoli in Scrum (Product Owner + Developer, Product Owner + Scrum Master), mentre la seconda esplora come attivare l'innovazione tecnologica i...

Answer Leveling ist eine simple Technik um AI-Chatbots wie ChatGPT, Gemini oder Claude aus der Reserve zu locken und spannende, tiefergehende Antworten zu erzeugen. In diesem Blogpost erfährst Du, wie Scrum Master diese Technik nutzen können, auch ohne ausgereiftes Prompt-Engineering detailliertere ...