5 Workshops To Improve Using Product- And Sprint Goals

The 5 workshops in one overview

You can try these workshops in a random order, although we did give the flow of these do-it-yourself workshops some thought.

Workshop: Scrum Mythbusters: Is The Sprint Goal Optional In Scrum? 

We designed this tried-and-tested workshop to help Scrum Teams think about the value of (Sprint) goals. Although many Scrum Teams consider them optional, Sprint Goals are really at the heart of how you can successfully navigate complex work. With this string, you create transparency around what happens without Sprint Goals or with Sprint Goals that are unclear. And more importantly, what you can do as a team to improve – together!

Workshop: Help Your Team Get Started With A Product Goals And Sprint Goals 

We designed this do-it-yourself workshop to help your Scrum Team get started with a Product- and Sprint Goal. It doesn’t matter if you’re a new team or have already completed multiple Sprints. It’s never too late to get started with how Scrum is intended. But the importance of a Product- and Sprint Goal is something you probably already experienced yourself…

The string of Liberating Structures contains UX Fishbowl to learn from the stakeholders, Conversation Cafe to share ideas & thoughts about the product, Nine Whys to create the Product Goal, and 25/10 Crowd Sourcing to select the Sprint Goals.

Workshop: Formulate A Clear Sprint Goal During Sprint Planning 

We designed this do-it-yourself workshop to help your team define a clear Sprint Goal during Sprint Planning. The string of Liberating Structures contains Celebrity Interview to clarify the Product Goal, 1-2-4-ALL to select a Sprint Goal, Min Specs to create the Sprint Backlog, and What, So What, Now What to define the Sprint plan.

Workshop: Improve How Your Scrum Team Uses Sprint Goals 

To make the importance of the Sprint Goal clear, it’s easy to dictate the Scrum Guide. The term “goal” is one of the most emphasized concepts. Yet we believe it’s more powerful to let your team discover this by themselves. That’s the intention of this do-it-yourself workshop, which contains the Liberating Structures TRIZ, Discovery & Action Dialogue, and 15% Solutions.

Workshop: Create Better Sprint Goals With Powerful Questions 

This workshop is extra special because it’s only available in our book the “Zombie Scrum Survival Guide“. A Sprint Goal helps Scrum Teams self-organize their collaboration. The Sprint Goal also clarifies the purpose and value of the work on this Sprint. It gives flexibility to the Scrum Team to change their Sprint Backlog as needed in response to sudden changes. But creating clear goals is something many teams struggle with, especially in Zombie Scrum environments. This experiment offers ten powerful questions to help your Scrum Team create clear Sprint Goals. The questions are part of the “50 Powerful Questions” card deck. 

22 Scrum Master Anti-Patterns from Job Ads: From Funny to What the Heck?

Job ads for Scrum Master positions reveal great insight into an organization’s progress on becoming agile. I analyzed more than 50 job ads for Scrum Master positions to gain these. Learn more about what makes job ads such a treasure trove with the following 22 Scrum Master anti-patterns derived from job ads.

Mike Cohn’s Most Popular Blog Posts from 2020

10. Use a Pre-Mortem to Identify Project Risks Before They Occur

9. Overcoming Four Common Problems with Retrospectives

8. Are We Really Bad at Estimating?

7. Can There Be Too Much Transparency?

6. How to Estimate Story Points with Multiple Teams

5. Time Pressure Improves Productivity & Quality…Up to a Point

4. Can a Team Vote Someone off the Team?

3. 25 Questions that Will Help You Know Your Teammates Better

2. Is the Distinction Between Outcomes and Output Overdone?

1. Are Estimates Ever Helpful to Developers?

5 Values of Scrum and how can Scrum Masters work with them!!

1. Courage – What can you do as a Scrum Master

  1. Help the team out– If you see one of the members picking up new work, guide them if they need help then ask for it. Encourage the team to become a safe space so that there are no hitches in asking for help.
  2. Have the courage yourself– Lead by example. Stand up if you feel the team is being pressured or you feel the team spirit is not good.

2. Focus – What can you do as a Scrum Master

  1. Facilitate– Coach the team to limit the number of tasks and priorities per person per Sprint to ensure everyone remains focused.
  2. Reiterate the focus in the Daily Scrum– Discuss with the team how aligned are we towards the goal?

3. Commitment – What can you do as a Scrum Master

  1. Facilitate the Sprint Planning– Make sure that the team is comfortable with the planning and there is scope for issue fixes along the way.
  2. Protect the team against scope creeps/changes– As a Scrum Master protect your team from unwanted changes in the Sprint, change to the Sprint Goals, and also undue pressure from the Product Owners.

4. Respect – What can you do as a Scrum Master

  1. Celebrate Accomplishments– As a team, celebrate the achievements of each other.
  2. Respect to individuals– Give the team members their space and respect their contributions to the team.

5. Openness – What can you do as a Scrum Master

  1. Be Honest– This one has to start with you, have honest conversations with the team.
  2. Be the Safety Net– As a Scrum Master, observe things that are not going right. For example- If you see issues not being highlighted in the stand-ups ask the team members if they are on track once in a while.

Read the full article here: https://medium.com/serious-scrum/5-values-of-scrum-and-how-can-scrum-masters-work-with-them-f3b2ff01ec2e

Why most scaling frameworks are a fad that will blow over

Great post from Maarten Dalmijn why he things there isn’t a single successful scaling framework. The post also mentions other articles related to this subject.

https://medium.com/serious-scrum/why-most-scaling-frameworks-are-a-fad-that-will-blow-over-c05d2c24f879

https://www.jeremiahlee.com/posts/failed-squad-goals/

https://dzone.com/articles/survey-results-the-net-promoter-scorereg-of-safere

https://medium.com/serious-scrum/scrum-is-about-inventing-your-own-rules-5a4090a33ebf