Esther Schmit Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

Esther Schmit: The Power of a Positive Product Owner in Agile Teams

The Great Product Owner: The Power of a Positive Product Owner in Agile Teams

In this segment, Esther shares an inspiring story about a Product Owner who truly excelled in his role. This PO was a student who brought enthusiasm, a willingness to learn, and a supportive attitude to the team. Esther discusses how his positive energy and eagerness to help had a ripple effect, boosting the team’s morale and performance.

The Bad Product Owner: Customer First, How to Avoid PO’s from Focusing on Technical Details

In this segment, Esther shares how Product Owners who come from a technical background can become micro-managers for the team. She explains how these POs can sometimes get too involved in technical decisions, which can negatively affect the team’s autonomy and effectiveness. Esther also shares tips on how Scrum Masters can help Product Owners can shift their focus from technical details to customer goals and business outcomes.

The Ultimate Guide to Supporting Product Owners as a Scrum Master

Are you having trouble helping the team work well with their Product Owner? We’ve put together a course to help you work on the collaboration team-product owner. You can find it at bit.ly/coachyourpo. 18 modules, 8+ hours of modules with tools and techniques that you can use to help teams and PO’s collaborate.

About Esther Schmit

Esther is a freelance Agile Coach and Scrum Master, leading Agile Pro Center, which provides online Agile Coaching, Training, and Mentoring for Scrum Masters. Esther also hosts the Online Scrum Master Summit.

You can link with Esther Schmit on LinkedIn, and visit her site Agile Gatherings.

Esther Schmit: Setting and Achieving Goals with an Agile Approach to the Scrum Master Role

When it comes to defining Scrum Master success, Esther talks about the importance of setting personal goals and regularly checking in on them. She offers practical tips, such as defining your own success criteria, making your goals visible, and asking for feedback from teams and stakeholders. Esther also talks about the value of reflecting on each ceremony and how you can use metrics like Return on Time Invested (ROTI) to gauge effectiveness.

Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Story Cubes Retrospective

When it comes to retrospectives, Esther believes that varying retrospective formats helps to keep team members engaged. She shares practical tips, such as using Story Cubes and encouraging team members to talk about themselves to build better relationships.

How can I, as a Scrum Master, supercharge my facilitation?

Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he’s learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy Actionable Agile Tools on Amazon, or directly from the author, and supercharge your facilitation toolbox!

About Esther Schmit

You can link with Esther Schmit on LinkedIn, and visit her site Agile Gatherings.

Esther Schmit: Tips for Effective SAFe Implementation, Even if Teams are Already Using Agile Processes

In this episode, we discuss scaling in Agile, and the challenges of transitioning teams from Scrum or other team-level Agile processes, to SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework). Esther describes common anti-patterns and resistance to change. She also shares insights on how to support teams, managers, and Scrum Masters through Agile coaching and other support groups, like community of practice.

Want to Improve Your Change Management Results? Discover the Lean Change Management Approach Today!

As Scrum Master we work with change continuously! Do you have your own change framework that provides the guidance, and queues you need when working with change? The Lean Change Management framework is a fully defined, lean-startup inspired change framework that can be used as the backbone of any change process! You can buy Lean Change Management the book at Amazon. Also available in French, Spanish, German and Portuguese.

About Esther Schmit

You can link with Esther Schmit on LinkedIn, and visit her site Agile Gatherings.

Esther Schmit: Bridging Communication Gaps Between Agile Teams, The Communication Challenge

In this episode, Esther shares a challenging experience with two teams that struggled due to poor communication and unwillingness to collaborate. She provides tips on facilitating retrospectives and one-on-one conversations to address communication issues and set clear expectations. Listen to learn a method to improve communication in your teams.

Featured Book of the Week: Mister Mindset by Michael Pilarczyk

Esther discusses “Master your Mindset, Live a Meaningful Life: A book about mental health and personal success” by Michael Pilarczyk, a book focused on changing your mindset to improve the quality of life. She explains how understanding and altering one’s mindset can positively influence professional and personal lives, especially for Scrum Masters who facilitate and support teams.

Transform Your Agile Teams with Hard-Earned Lessons from Super-Experienced Scrum Masters

Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches – Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM’s that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!

About Esther Schmit

You can link with Esther Schmit on LinkedIn, and visit her site Agile Gatherings.

Esther Schmit: The Power of Feedback, Lessons from a New Scrum Master

In this episode, Esther talks about her initial experiences as a Scrum Master, feeling overwhelmed when her colleagues sought her guidance even if she only had a few months on the job. She discusses the importance of seeking feedback and asking for help, even when feeling uncertain. Esther emphasizes starting our work from a place of curiosity and validating understanding among team members. How do you overcome the fear of asking for help and ensure effective communication within your team?

The inspiring story of how a failing hospital turned things around with Agile and Lean

Recovering from failure, or difficult moments is a critical skill for Scrum Masters. Not only because of us, but also because the teams, and stakeholders we work with will also face these moments! We need inspiring stories to help them, and ourselves! The Bungsu Story, is an inspiring story by Marcus Hammarberg which shows how a Coach can help organizations recover even from the most disastrous situations! Learn how Marcus helped The Bungsu, a hospital in Indonesia, recover from near-bankruptcy, twice! Using Lean and Agile methods to rebuild an organization and a team! An inspiring story you need to know about! Buy the book on Amazon: The Bungsu Story – How Lean and Kanban Saved a Small Hospital in Indonesia. Twice. and Can Help You Reshape Work in Your Company.

About Esther Schmit

You can link with Esther Schmit on LinkedIn, and visit her site Agile Gatherings.