monday Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

Jean Coetzee: Unpacking Ownership, Accountability, and Responsibility in Scrum

In this episode, Jean shares a pivotal moment in his role as a Scrum Master with a newly formed team. With limited experience in Scrum, the team struggled to grasp the concepts of ownership, accountability, and responsibility. Jean recognized the need for experimentation and introduced the idea of pushing a car from point A to B, emphasizing that the task was about getting the car to its destination, not just pushing it. Through this analogy and patient guidance, Jean successfully shifted the team’s focus from tasks to delivering true value in their Agile practices.

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 Jean Coetzee

Jean is passionate about humans, and how they work together from a psychology and neuroscience perspective.

Jean, credits the early ScrumMaster podcasts for shaping his Agile career. These insightful episodes provided vital guidance during the early days, boosting confidence in serving others effectively. Jean learned to navigate uncertainties and gain confidence in their Scrum Master role, all thanks to this and other podcast contributors.

You can link with Jean Coetzee on LinkedIn.

Annu Paganus: Navigating Complex Collaborations, And Strategies for Handling Difficult PO Dynamics

Annu recounts a challenging situation where a new Product Owner, previously a manager, struggled to adapt to the role. The team sought more support, leading to organizational discussions on prioritization. Annu, responsible for addressing the issue, found that the conversation turned personal. She advises involving a third party for mediation and emphasizes improving conversational skills. The experience impacted her relationship with the PO, who eventually transitioned to a different role. Annu underscores the importance of self-awareness and offers tips for handling conflicts, including managing cortisol levels and referencing resources like Nonviolent Communication and the book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.

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

About Annu Paganus

Annu is a passionate software team Scrum Master who wants to help her team to create an environment where different kind of people can find a smooth way to work together and enjoy their work and private life. Also worked as teacher, software developer, chapter lead and Product Owner.

You can link with Annu Paganus on LinkedIn.

Armin Mandara: Breaking Change Resistance with Dialogue and Collaboration, A New Scrum Master Story

Armin shares a story from his early days as a Scrum Master, leading a team in developing an ecommerce platform for a major corporation. Despite initial challenges, he sought to introduce project retrospectives for broader learning. However, faced with resistance from project managers, he reflected on the experience and found strength in seeking support and open communication. Armin emphasizes the inevitability of resistance and advocates for transparent, honest conversations in the workplace, acknowledging the power of addressing concerns openly.

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

About Armin Mandara

Armin is the Head of Scrum Masters at IBM iX, a leading digital agency. With a career spanning seven years as a Scrum Master, Armin has partnered with numerous teams to successfully deliver top-notch digital products. His passion lies in enabling agile teams to achieve their goals and unleash their true potential.

You can link with Armin Mandara on LinkedIn.

Aria Omidvar: Rebuilding Trust In Your Scrum Team, After A Big Disappointment

Aria, a Scrum Master, recounts a challenging situation where his team faced significant changes, including losing key members and transitioning to remote work. He attempted to address the issues through a retrospective but faced resistance in setting up follow-up sessions. This led to a team member deeming the retro “useless,” which left Aria feeling disheartened. As a developer and Scrum Master, Aria reflects on the importance of open communication and acknowledges his loss of faith in the team at that time. Ultimately, he grapples with regaining faith in his team, highlighting the complexity of his role in this critical juncture.

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

About Aria Omidvar

Aria has 4+ years of experience serving as Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Agile Coach (CSM, A-CSM, CSPO) from single teams to multiple teams and the whole software organization. He’s a Software Engineer turned Software Developer turned Peopleware Developer and Agilist.

You can link with and connect with Aria Omidvar on Twitter.

Chris Garvey: When Agile Alone Can’t Save the Day, Avoiding The Temptation To “Save” A Scrum Team

In this episode, Chris recounts a challenging experience as a Scrum Master in emergency services product development. Faced with exploding software development and delayed deliveries, the team turned to Agile for a solution. The immense pressure led Chris to take the role too seriously, causing a detrimental shift in focus. To top it all, three team members were experiencing burnout. Chris emphasizes the importance of coaching by invitation and avoiding the temptation to micromanage the team. Ultimately, this episode raises questions about leadership’s openness to change in such high-pressure situations.

In this episode, we refer to the book Shift From Product To People, a book that explores the need to focus on working with people first, before being able to work with the product.

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

About Chris Garvey

Chris is passionate about people, and creating empowering spaces where people can thrive. He is a coach at heart having been a Life Coach before becoming an Agile Coach. For close to 10 years he has been working in the agile space as a Scrum Master, then Agile Coach, then trainer, and now as an Enterprise Agile Coach.

You can link with Chris Garvey on LinkedIn.