We start this episode, reflecting on Tim’s journey of realizing the importance of working collaboratively and embracing agile methodologies. Tim noticed early on that he drifted to teaching and providing assistance to others rather than actively developing software. After a while, he moved to consulting in Agile, and in that role, he noticed recurring patterns and struggled with unclogging processes that seemed to be missing something crucial. Over time, frustration set in. He felt like he was fighting an uphill battle and highlighted the disruptive nature of Agile, which aimed to uncover and solve problems but often revealed bigger and deeper underlying issues.
Tag: BONUS
BONUS: How to answer commonly asked Scrum Master interview questions, with Jeff Campbell and Vasco Duarte
Jeff is the author of Actionable Agile tools (available on Amazon, and direct from the author at bit.ly/aatbook).
In this episode, Vasco and Jeff share answers to common Scrum Master interview questions. They also discuss how to address stakeholder resistance to Agile practices.
When it comes to resistance, Jeff suggests focusing on early adopters and individuals who are already open to change. It is important to understand the needs and concerns of those who resist Agile practices, rather than simply dismissing them as being wrong.
Jeff emphasizes the importance of being patient and dancing with the system, as there is no straight line to success. He also recommends building relationships with stakeholders and gaining their trust by being curious and asking questions.
Jeff and Vasco also discuss active versus passive resistance and suggests putting things on the table to differentiate between the two. They also encourages using real stories to illustrate an understanding of stakeholder concerns and focusing on the problems that can be solved. Jeff offers tips for improving storytelling abilities and recommends working with early adopters who can help amplify the impact of Agile practices.
In this episode, they refer to NoEstimates and Mooseheads on the Table, the book by Karin Tenelius.
About Jeff Campbell and Vasco Duarte
Jeff is an Agile Coach who considers the discovery of Agile and Lean to be one of the most defining moments of his life, and considers helping others to improve their working life not to simply be a job, but a social responsibility. As an Agile Coach, he has worked with driving Agile transformations in organizations both small and large and has published a book on the subject: bit.ly/aatbook.
You can link with Jeff Campbell on LinkedIn.
Vasco is a leading voice in the agile community, known for his contributions to the development of agile methodologies and practices. He is the co-founder of Agile Finland and the host of Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast, the most popular Agile podcast in the world, which has more than 8 000 000 unique downloads. He is also the author of “NoEstimates: A novel look at how Agile can transform software development, making it both more sustainable, as well as incredibly profitable.” Vasco is a keynote speaker at many conferences and events, sharing his knowledge and experience with the agile community. With his passion and expertise in agile, Vasco has made a significant impact on the way software development is done today, helping organizations to become more efficient, flexible, and responsive to changing requirements.lYou You can link with Vasco Duarte on LinkedIn and connect with Vasco Duarte on Twitter.
BONUS: Mastering the Product Backlog, lessons for Product Owners with Jeff Bubolz and Chad Beier
Jeff and Chad start the podcast by describing the key differences between a frantic and stressful backlog vs a strategic and focused one. In this segment, Jeff and Chad describe their observations of product backlogs in many of the clients they work with, noting that the backlogs tend to be task-based and the Product Owners try to please everyone.
They emphasize that saying “yes” to something in the backlog means saying “no” to something else, and they suggest that focusing on outcomes and impacts and thinking about options can help prioritize backlog items.
They caution against task-based backlogs leading to a project management pattern for the Product Owner and suggest that helping the team get clarity while focusing on setting goals can be more effective.
They introduce the idea of “strategic distance”, i.e. how far from strategy is a certain backlog item. They determine that distance by asking the “why” question for any item on the backlog, and they give an example of how it might take many “why” questions to get to the essence of a backlog item.
They suggest zooming out and capturing more of the what and the why for backlog items and caution against using the backlog as a “catch-all” in an anti-pattern.
Creating Strategic and Focused Backlogs with Impact/Outcome Statements
BONUS: Community day, how do we create a community of people who help each other?
In this very special Christmas BONUS episode, Vasco explores the impact communities can have in our professional lives, and how we can support those communities.
In this episode, Vasco also announces the Product Owner Summit, a new project by the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast, to help you learn as you expand your community. If you are interested in participating, email Vasco at Vasco@Oikosofy.com, he’s calling on volunteers to help organize that summit in 2023!
Speaking of communities, you can join our Slack, where Scrum Masters and past guests of the podcast share their lessons learned and answer your questions. Join us and ask your questions!
The reflection question
As you finish this episode, reflect on what is the hardest problem, or struggle you face right now. Turn that struggle into an opportunity by asking questions from your community. Ask that question in a local community, or on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Slack channel. This is the challenge, and reflection that Vasco leaves us at the end of the episode.
Resources for this episode
- Meetup.com a platform that helps you find local communities and meetups that you can take part of
About Vasco Duarte
Author of http://NoEstimatesBook.com, and daily podcast host at https://scrum-master-toolbox.org/. I try to give back to the community every single day in an effort to improve the IT and product industry all over the world.Product Manager, Scrum Master, Project Manager, Director, Agile Coach are only some of the roles that I’ve taken in software development organizations. Having worked in the software industry since 1997, and Agile practitioner since 2004. I’ve worked in small, medium and large software organizations as an Agile Coach or leader in agile adoption at those organizations.
BONUS: The Product Owner role is still the hardest role in Scrum, and other Agile lessons from 2022
In this special Christmas BONUS episode, we cover some of the key lessons that Vasco collected throughout 2022. You get an insight into his lessons learned, but also the thinking process that led to them.
Listen in to learn about:
- The results of a change management poll for Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches, and what that says about our community
- Product Ownership in 2022, and why the PO role needs a new approach in the Agile community
- Why the concept of Antifragile can, and should be applied to the work we do as Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters
- A BONUS reflection question for you to reflect on at the end of this year.
You can send your questions to podcast@oikosofy.com!
If you are interested in being part of a volunteer team that will be working on helping Product Owners during the year 2023, contact Vasco at Vasco@Oikosofy.com, and share why you’d be interested to be part of this work to help Product Owners!
Resources from this episode
- The Create a Compelling Vision workshop facilitation guide e-course
- The User Story Mapping workshop facilitation guide
About Vasco Duarte
Author of http://NoEstimatesBook.com, and daily podcast host at https://scrum-master-toolbox.org/. I try to give back to the community every single day in an effort to improve the IT and product industry all over the world.
Product Manager, Scrum Master, Project Manager, Director, Agile Coach are only some of the roles that I’ve taken in software development organizations. Having worked in the software industry since 1997, and Agile practitioner since 2004. I’ve worked in small, medium and large software organizations as an Agile Coach or leader in agile adoption at those organizations.
