20 TOP Agile Blogs for Scrum Masters that you will not (easily) find on google searches (2017 edition)

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Before reading the post, I wanted to share with you a great interview about how we, as Scrum Masters are always starting from Scratch (just like new year! 🙂 Here’s a Podcast episode as a new year gift from the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast archive built over the last 3 years interviewing Scrum Masters from all over the world.

Podcast Topic: We start a new with every team (interview with Lucian Stroie)

Now for the list! 🙂

Here in the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast, we share insights and inspiring stories from Scrum Masters every day of the week because we believe we need inspiration and ideas every day. Therefore we also visit sites and blogs for the same reasons. To end the year with a bang, I wanted to create a list of Top blogs / Sites for Scrum Masters. Was I in for a disappointment… read on to know why…

I searched the internets for the best Agile blogs. I read 100’s of top 100 lists of Agile blogs, including the (now outdated) Oikosofy’s own Top 100 Agile Blogs list and found that none of those lists is useful. Too much corporate gibberish just because they have a good Alexa ranking. Well, ignore all of those! They are mostly static or outdated content with little REAL (and alive) AGILE CONTENT. So I made my own list!

Below is a list of 20 (I can’t believe it was so hard to find even 20!) GOOD™ Agile blogs that you can rely on to feed your need for knowledge, ideas, and challenging views!

PS: I even found lists of Agile blogs that had health blogs listed as “Agile” blogs. GEEEEZZZUUUUSSS, what next? Lists that include dog training tips? Give me a break! So, here it is. A hand-curated, slowly compiled, and generously educational list of blogs for you!

PPS: Check the methodology section below for the details of how to this list was compiled

Here is, the list of TOP 20 Agile Blogs for Scrum Masters that you will not (easily) find on google searches (2017 edition) – NOTE: in no particular order!

1) https://chronologist.com/blog/, Steve Tendon has been on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast before and also introduced the high-performance framework he developed: TameFlow.

[bctt tweet=”A high-performance framework for agile teams by @tendon listed on the Top 20 blogs for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: https://chronologist.com/blog/”]

2) https://agilesensei.com/blog/, Claudio Perrone is the author of PopcornFlow, a method that you must read about, if you haven’t yet.

[bctt tweet=”An experiment-driven product development process #PopcornFlow listed on the Top 20 blogs for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: https://popcornflow.com/ site by @agilesensei”]

3) https://www.reddit.com/r/scrum/, get in the discussion and learn from other Scrum Masters. Yes, you may get involved in a framework, so be careful 😉

[bctt tweet=”Ask Scrum Masters anything, a Reddit listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: https://www.reddit.com/r/scrum/”]

4) http://www.romanpichler.com/blog/, one of the few blogs focused on Product Owners. Roman shares many tools that can help Scrum Masters work with Product Owners

[bctt tweet=”A blog and resource site for aspiring and acting Product Owners listed on the Top 20 blogs for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: http://www.romanpichler.com/blog/ site by @romanpichler PS: check out the Resources section!”]

5) https://agilewarrior.wordpress.com/, a coder’s perspective with lots of insights for Scrum Masters. We, as Scrum Masters work with developers (and check Michael Bolton’s entry for a tester’s view). So we should definitely be aware of what are the issues they struggle with, and the challenges technology poses to them every day.
- [bctt tweet=” Because Scrum Masters are, have been or work with DEVELOPERS! A blog by a developer listed on the Top 20 blogs for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: https://agilewarrior.wordpress.com/ site by @jrasmusson, check his Agile Samurai book: https://pragprog.com/titles/jtrap/the-agile-samurai”]
6) https://ronjeffries.com/, one of the Agile Manifesto signatories and still very active in the Agile conversation, including work on TDD, #NoEstimates, Scrum and more.
- [bctt tweet=”A Scrum pioneer and active Agile blogs: @ronjefferies blog is listed on the Top 20 blogs for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: https://ronjeffries.com/ Check his New Framework series! https://ronjeffries.com/categories/new-framework/”]
7) https://gojko.net/posts.html, Gojko is the creator of Impact Mapping, a popular speaker and also product developer. His views on technology, Agile and product development are regular features in the blog
- [bctt tweet=”The author of Impact Mapping, one of the powerful tools for Scrum Masters, @gojkoadzic is listed on the Top 20 blogs for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: https://gojko.net/posts.html Check #ImpactMappping workshop, it’s open source! https://gojko.net/news/2016/05/09/open-impact-mapping.html”]
8) http://www.funretrospectives.com/, retrospectives are one of the basic tools we use in Scrum. Reading up on new formats, ideas and developments should be part of our weekly diet as Scrum Masters. This is one of the blogs to keep track of!
- [bctt tweet=”A must-have resource for Scrum Masters, FunRetrospectives by @paulocaroli and @caetano_tc is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: http://www.funretrospectives.com/ Need new formats to inspire your team? This is the place to get them!”]
9) https://age-of-product.com/, Stefan, the editor of the blog and Newsletter curates a weekly Agile newsletter (Food for Agile Thought). If you don’t want to search 100’s of blogs and media outlets for Agile news, then this one is for you. Make sure you subscribe to the newsletter as that will help you find the latest important developments in the Agile community.
- [bctt tweet=”The @stefanw’s great blog (and newsletter!!!!) is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: https://age-of-product.com/ His newsletter is a must to keep up-to-date! Don’t miss it!”]
10) http://www.estherderby.com/blog-page Esther is one of the authors of Agile Retrospectives book, a must in any Scrum Masters library. She also writes a regular blog where she shares thoughts, experiences, and challenges our views in a healthy way.
- [bctt tweet=”Author of Agile Retrospectives and popular Agile author @estherderby is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: http://www.estherderby.com/blog-page Check out Esther’s opportunity to schedule a discovery call!”]
11) https://www.jrothman.com/blog/mpd/ Johanna, who’s been in a BONUS episode for the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast writes a (very) regular blog where she shares her insights. As a very prolific writer, Johanna is a constant source of insights and inspiration. Must read!
- [bctt tweet=”Probably the most productive Agile author @johannarothman is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: ttps://www.jrothman.com/blog/mpd/”]
12) http://jpattonassociates.com/blog/ When it comes to understanding Product Ownership I trust Jeff Patton. I have been a loyal follower of his work since I discovered Story Mapping (here’s our facilitation guide, if you want to run a Story Mapping workshop), and recommend his work to anyone working as a Product Owner or working with a Product Owner.
- [bctt tweet=”If I did not know about #StoryMapping by @jeffpatton I’d be a worse Scrum Master. Jeff Patton’s site is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: http://jpattonassociates.com/blog/ “]
13) http://gamestorming.com/blog/ As facilitators, Scrum Masters are always on the lookout for new approaches, games, and visualization. So here it is, Gamestorming by Dave Gray is the place to go. Check it out and prepare an awesome Retrospective for this week already!
- [bctt tweet=”The Gamestorming, inspiring and reference site by @davegray is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: http://gamestorming.com/blog It’s a never-ending library of facilitation gems!”]
14) http://brodzinski.com/ Pavel is a CEO at Lunar Logic, but don’t let the title fool you. He is very much active in Agile Management and has published, and talked about Agile for many years. You can find his estimation cards (#NoEstimates compatible!) in the web-site as well! Check it out!
- [bctt tweet=”A CEO is listed on the list Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast? YOU BET!!!!!: http://brodzinski.com/ @pawelbrodzinski is an awesome agile PRACTITIONER that has hands deep in the business!”]
15) http://www.betterprojects.net/ Craig Brown is an active Agilist down under, and has been a regular feature on my blog diet for many years. He also works on a podcast project called Agile Revolution. Here’s where you can find the podcast: https://theagilerevolution.com/tag/craig-brown/
- [bctt tweet=”Fellow blogger and podcaster @brown_note is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: http://www.betterprojects.net/ Well done!”]
16) http://www.netobjectives.com/blog Al Shalloway runs one of the coolest Agile consulting shops in the world. NetObjectives has been active in the community for at least a decade. They were one of the first to offer a Lean and Agile podcast which I followed religiously (Lean and Agile Straight Talk). So they publish a lot of amazing stuff. It is a corporate blog, but the content is top-notch!
- [bctt tweet=”The NetObjectives blog is one of the few corporate blogs listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: http://www.netobjectives.com/blog Because it is THAT GOOD! Check it out! Site by @alshalloway and crew”]
17) http://www.developsense.com/blog/ Michael Bolton is a reference in the Agile testing community. He has published many posts that got me to re-evaluate my beliefs. And as a Scrum Master that’s something I want to do regularly. Be warned: this blog will make you think!
- [bctt tweet=”A reference for testers and agilists around the world @michaelbolton blog is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: http://www.developsense.com/blog/ For testers: his resources page is a must-read: http://www.developsense.com/resources.html”]
18) https://availagility.co.uk/ Karl Scotland got me started with Kanban. And he’s been busy challenging the status quo since I met him in 2006. He still writes amazing blog posts regularly, and has been working on Agile Strategy, on which we have an interview with him in December 2017 here on the podcast. He talks business!
- [bctt tweet=”A continuous developer of what #Agile is, @kjscotland blog is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: https://availagility.co.uk/ Check out his templates page if you are into #AgileStrategy: https://availagility.co.uk/resources/templates/”]
19) https://www.allankellyassociates.co.uk/blog/ I met Allan in 2008, and have been following his work for a while. His #NoProjects hashtag has (also) fueled many interesting conversations on twitter (be sure to check that), and he is constantly putting out amazing content! Must read!
- [bctt tweet=”A fellow #NoProjects thinker, @allankellynet blog is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: https://www.allankellyassociates.co.uk/blog/ And he has plenty of FREE stuff to offer you: https://www.allankellyassociates.co.uk/freestuff/”]
20) https://blog.coryfoy.com/ Cory is a regular contributor to the Agile community. He’s done some great work with looking at team’s use of velocity and alternative metrics (throughput, cycle-time, etc.)
- [bctt tweet=”Long time #agile blogger @cory_foy blog is listed on the Top 20 blogs and websites for Scrum Masters by @scrumpodcast: https://blog.coryfoy.com/ Check out his October 2017 post on building #Trust”]
- Methodology
  - The blogs above are “alive”: They have published a new post at least once in the last 6 months (there’s only two exceptions – because the content is THAT GOOD!, can you find them?)
  - All the links about are about Agile Product and Software development. Not dogs, or health advice… (don’t get me started on that!)
  - I did not include any blog that mostly publishes promotional content. I get that you must, to make a living, talk about your business. Hey! I do too! But blogs that only, or mostly have that kind of posts are NOT included.
- FAQ
  Why 20 top Agile Blogs, and not 42?
  That’s a great question. I’ll have to think about that…
  Why is my blog not included / Why is blog X not included?
  Hey, maybe next time! Drop me a line at vasco@oikosofy.com and I’ll take that into the raw source list for next year. Make sure you/they have a blog post published recently though because otherwise, I will not include it.
  Your methodology is flawed because (pick your reason)
  I get that. The purpose is not to be perfect, it is to be useful. These sites and blogs are useful to me, therefore I vouch for them. If you have a different list, awesome! Write another post and I’ll promise to post it here (constraint: blogs must be “alive” – see above, and about Agile Software or Product development!).