I am the SCRUM MASTER! Please, don’t hold your applause. In fact, I’d prefer if everyone rose from their seats each time I enter the room. It’s probably best if someone on the Development Team acts as a lookout so you’re already standing when I arrive for the Daily Scrum…

Let’s face it — we all have to “manage up” at times. And, with Scrum, if you don’t get the top of the company food chain onboard, you’re in for a painful implementation that will likely result in a pitiful, frustrated semi-Scrum organization. One of the benefits realized by high-performing…

I’m just going to say it — your boss is not your friend. I don’t care how much fun he is, how many times you go out after work together, how much he ‘has your back’ or your team’s back, even how much he praises you. You have a job…

A value proposition for leaders? Is that even a thing? You’ll find the answer in each of your managers’ attrition rates. I was inspired to look at value propositions for leadership after reading articles by Paul Myers MBA and Julia E Hubbel on the topic as it related to products. It’s Time to Think About Your Value Proposition A discussion on the elements of a value propositionmedium.com How to Develop a Value Proposition Let’s take Paul’s discussion a step furthermedium.com

Get dressed every morning for remote work? Are you kidding me? Hell, there may be days I don’t even get out of bed to go work! Maybe it’s because I’ve spent the majority of my career working remotely, but while I appreciate people trying to be helpful, do we need…

Working remotely is new territory for most Scrum teams, yet many of us find ourselves navigating that terrain today. While useful for providing entertainment value, building habits to help reduce embarrassing situations keeps your meetings on topic and helps your team stay focused. “Safety” Habits for Video Conferencing and Instant Messaging Scrum team members working remotely use video…

After three months, I stopped getting value from a Slack group, so I left. As I was clicking the logoff button for the final time, I felt a little bad for not saying goodbye to anyone. But, I figured no one would notice. I was right. Building your tribe is just the first step. Whether you’re a Medium…

The fastest way to a poor Scrum implementation is through a leadership team that doesn’t support, or worse yet, interferes with the process of becoming agile. If you want to avoid “scrumerfall,” or “scrum-ish,” or a “company-ized” version of Scrum, get your leadership team on board first. Set Expectations with Leadership Change rarely happens…

“So, basically, this is just a lie,” said my coworker. My response, “Yep.” He was building a roadmap. Complete with Epics, Stories, dates by month, and quarter — it looked like a very colorful Gantt chart. Then I asked, “Do you have any specific product goals you’re trying to achieve…