project manager Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

Sofi Simonyan: Transforming Agile Team Engagement With OKRs

Sofi describes a project involving two Scrum teams working on the same product but struggling with engagement and alignment. By involving the team in product definition and creating a product map linked to OKRs, Sofi transformed the team’s perspective. Regularly revisiting the product map and involving the team in strategic discussions led to a more motivated and cohesive team, contributing significantly to the product’s success.

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 Sofi Simonyan

Sofi is a Scrum Master with 6 years of experience in tech startups and a diverse work background. Passionate about people, her mission is to build teams where active listening and growth mindset are essential values. Currently on maternity leave, Sofi practices agility in a completely different dimension.

You can link with Sofi Simonyan on LinkedIn and connect with Sofi Simonyan on Twitter.

Milica Lubinic: Product Owner Anti-Pattern, The Renamed Project Manager

The Great Product Owner: Balancing Involvement and Authority in Product Ownership

Milica highlights how great Product Owners involve their teams in decision-making while maintaining responsibility for final decisions. She discusses tools for prioritization and the importance of structured approaches to processing team input. Scrum Masters can help PO’s balance ownership and shared decision making with the teams and stakeholders.

The Bad Product Owner: The Renamed Project Manager

Milica discusses a common anti-pattern in Product Ownership: simply renaming project managers as Product Owners, without role clarity or team involvement. She shares tips for distributing cognition between PO’s and their teams. She also emphasizes the importance of clear role definitions and external training for PO’s, stakeholders, and teams.

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 Milica Lubinic

Milica is a Mom and Professional and Organizational Coach who is all about dealing with complexity, whether it’s child development or organizational/team/individual transformation and growth. She found her true calling in the world of Agile, Cynefin, and Progressive organizational cultures. Creating safe spaces for innovation, nurturing trust, and sparking engagement is her true passion.

You can link with Milica Lubinic on LinkedIn.

Doug Rabow: Agile Governance, Creating Transparency and Overhauling Project Management to Fit Agile Product Development

In this episode, Doug shares his strategies for improving visibility and governance in project management through tools like JIRA. He explains how creating transparency enhances governance and accountability in agile teams. This episode also offers a practical look at setting up light governance frameworks that enable real-time, pull-based reporting to facilitate better decision-making and project management.

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

About Doug Rabow

Doug is a passionate practitioner of Lean-Agile strategic management with a focus on developing empowered teams and Lean process improvement.

You can link with Doug Rabow on LinkedIn.

Aria Omidvar: The Product Owner vs. Project Manager Dilemma, A Difficult Balance

The Great Product Owner: People-First Product Ownership

Aria describes an exemplary Product Owner known for his unwavering commitment to learning and professional development. This PO’s proactive approach included avid reading and active participation in workshops and seminars. He invested heavily in his own growth, and his presence within the team was palpable, emphasizing a people-first mindset. The PO’s belief in the team, coupled with his fearlessness in addressing conflicts, set him apart as a remarkable Product Owner.

The Bad Product Owner: PO vs. Project Manager Dilemma, A Difficult Balance

Aria delves into a common anti-pattern where a Product Owner takes on project management responsibilities, which can hinder agile software development. He highlights the mismatch between these roles, referencing insights from Marty Cagan. Aria notes the temptation for POs to become intermediaries for upper management. He shares a success story where open communication and willingness to listen enabled a positive shift in the PO’s approach. This episode provides valuable guidance on avoiding pitfalls in the Product Owner role.

The Ultimate Guide to Supporting Product Owners as a Scrum Master

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 Aria Omidvar on LinkedIn and connect with Aria Omidvar on Twitter.

Rohit Ratan Mani: Breaking Free from the Command & Control Mindset, and Embracing Agile Mindset as a Scrum Master

In this episode, Rohit shares his journey from a project management mindset and a need for control to a Scrum Master mindset. As he learned more about being a Scrum Master, he realized he was a bottleneck for the team’s progress. Going on leave highlighted the team’s dependence on him, and he felt frustrated. This experience led him to embrace the art of letting go and find new ways for the team to work independently. He emphasizes the importance of doing things differently to foster a mindset change. We discuss the conflict between control and empowerment, with the key takeaway being the significance of awareness and a willingness to change.

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 Rohit Ratan Mani

Rohit is an Enterprise Agile Coach, helping Leaders, individuals and teams to develop a growth mindset to be top achievers in their respective work area and in personal life.

You can link with Rohit Ratan Mani on LinkedIn and connect with Rohit Ratan Mani on Twitter.