Tom Suter Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

Tom Suter: The Caretaker Product Owner

From saying “no”, to not saying “no”. Two contrasting patterns by Product Owners and their impact on the team’s and product’s success.

In this episode, we talk about People OS, a product that Tom is involved in.

The Great Product Owner: Saying “no” with a smile

One of the most impactful activities a Product Owner can perform is to decide what NOT to develop. In this segment, we talk about a PO pattern that helps them, and their team succeed: knowing how to say “no”, and still keep the support from stakeholders!

The Bad Product Owner: The Caretaker Product Owner

When Product Owners don’t have a clear goal for their products, they run the risk of becoming simply “caretakers” for their product. In this segment, we explore the “caretaker” PO anti-pattern and what that means for their teams and products.

Are you having trouble helping the team working 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 Tom Suter

As our workforce changes rapidly, Tom suggests it is going to be more and more challenging to attract and keep talent and knowledge, and that’s why we need a healthy and sustainable working environment. Tom is passionate about improving the industry for his children and their generations.

You can link with Tom Suter on LinkedIn and connect with Tom Suter on Twitter.

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Tom Suter: 5 Requirements for great Agile Retrospectives

When it comes to having a positive impact on the teams, and companies we work with, the way we help teams focus on value delivery is critical.

In this episode, we talk about how Scrum Masters can enable teams to focus on business value creation with different techniques.

Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: 5 Requirements for great Agile Retrospectives

Tom’s approach to the Retrospectives is informed by 5 requirements he tries to fulfill for every retrospective. In this episode, we explore what those are, and how to prepare and host impactful retrospectives.

In this segment, we refer to Retromat, and Fun Retrospectives, two websites that help you get more exercises for your retrospectives.

About Tom Suter

You can link with Tom Suter on LinkedIn and connect with Tom Suter on Twitter.

Tom Suter: Gamification for Scrum teams

Bugs happen. And sometimes teams get overwhelmed by the number of bugs they need to deal with. How can we help teams change their approach to bugs and recover from that quality debt? In this episode, we talk about using a gamification technique to help a team that was struggling completely turn their situation around and become a better team, while “killing” many of the bugs that had previously burdened them.

In this episode, we refer to a video that Tom created about the technique he explained.

About Tom Suter

You can link with Tom Suter on LinkedIn and connect with Tom Suter on Twitter.

Tom Suter: Helping Scrum teams get out of a negative spiral

It’s impossible for us to go an entire career without having to face difficult anti-patterns by management. We need to be ready to tackle those. In this episode, we talk about a team that wasn’t ready, and how the bad decisions by management triggered a negative spiral for that team.

In this segment, we refer to “external locus of control” as a way to explain the team’s resignation when they should react.

Featured Book for the Week: Scrum and XP from the Trenches

In Scrum and XP from the Trenches by Kniberg, Tom found a source of inspiration that gave him the energy and belief he needed at the start of his career.

In this episode we also refer to Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Adkins, and Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan.

About Tom Suter

You can link with Tom Suter on LinkedIn and connect with Tom Suter on Twitter.

Tom Suter: Agile adoption beyond Scrum, and what that means in practice

Many of us start our Agile journeys with Scrum. It is only later that we start putting Scrum in the Agile context, and there’s much to learn and change when we do. In this episode, we talk about what changes when we focus on enabling our teams to be Agile, and not only follow Scrum.

In this episode, we refer to the book Scrum and XP from the trenches by Kniberg.

About Tom Suter

You can link with Tom Suter on LinkedIn and connect with Tom Suter on Twitter.