Annu Paganus: Navigating Complex Collaborations, And Strategies for Handling Difficult PO Dynamics   Read the   full Show Notes  and search through the world’s largest audio library on Scrum directly on the   Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website:  http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   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.     [IMAGE HERE]  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 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.

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

Every week day, Certified Scrum Master, Agile Coach and business consultant Vasco Duarte interviews Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches from all over the world to get you actionable advice, new tips and tricks, improve your craft as a Scrum Master with daily doses of inspiring conversations with Scrum Masters from the all over the world. Stay tuned for BONUS episodes when we interview Agile gurus and other thought leaders in the business space to bring you the Agile Business perspective you need to succeed as a Scrum Master. 
Some of the topics we discuss include: Agile Business, Agile Strategy, Retrospectives, Team motivation, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Backlog Refinement, Scaling Scrum, Lean Startup, Test Driven Development (TDD), Behavior Driven Development (BDD), Paper Prototyping, QA in Scrum, the role of agile managers, servant leadership, agile coaching, and more!

Technology

Tech News

Podcasting

Gadgets

Software How-To

News

Jaques Smit: Beyond the Drama Triangle, Patterns in Conflict Resolution for Agile Teams   Read the   full Show Notes  and search through the world’s largest audio library on Scrum directly on the   Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website:  http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   Jaques shares the story of a long-term game development team's recurring issues despite changes in personnel. Several Product Owners had left because of burnout. However, with every new PO the team cycled through the same patterns, eventually leading to the PO’s leaving. Jaques realized the team was stuck in a Persecutor-Victim-Rescuer dynamic, and tried to help the team by bringing in outside assistance. Through this story, Jaques discusses the importance of addressing underlying conflicts, enhancing conflict resolution skills, and avoiding the drama triangle.   Featured Book of the Week: Leadership is Language by David Marquet   How can the language we use as leaders influence team dynamics? Jaques discusses  "Leadership is Language" by David Marquet  (David Marquet has been a previous guest on the show) and its impact on his approach to workplace challenges. The book helped him realize the importance of language in shaping behavior and leadership conversations. Jaques shares how the book helped him facilitate leadership discussions and improve team communication.     [IMAGE HERE] 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 Jaques Smit   Jaques is a seasoned Agile coach and Scrum Master with extensive experience in leading and transforming teams in the game development industry. His expertise lies in fostering team collaboration, resolving conflicts, and facilitating effective retrospectives. Jaques is passionate about continuous learning and empowering teams to achieve their full potential.     You can link with  Jaques Smit on LinkedIn  and connect with  Jaques Smit through his website.

Beyond the Drama Triangle, Patterns in Conflict Resolution for Agile Teams | Jaques Smit

Jaques Smit: Sprint Goals Gone Wrong, Leadership Lessons from a Game Development Team   Read the   full Show Notes  and search through the world’s largest audio library on Scrum directly on the   Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website:  http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   Jaques shares an experience with a game development team struggling to meet their goals. Despite his efforts to implement sprint goals and keep the team accountable, he faced resistance. Apparently lost with the process of setting goals, the Product Owner (PO) stepped back, pushing Jaques to take ownership and set the goals, which further re-enforced the team’s attitude of not taking ownership. Jaques reflects on the importance of coaching with an open mind and the challenges of directive leadership. He shares insights on enabling constraints and the  Cynefin framework.   In this episode we also refer to  Clinton Keith’s work  as well as  the #NoEstimates book.     [IMAGE HERE]  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 Jaques Smit   Jaques is a seasoned Agile coach and Scrum Master with extensive experience in leading and transforming teams in the game development industry. His expertise lies in fostering team collaboration, resolving conflicts, and facilitating effective retrospectives. Jaques is passionate about continuous learning and empowering teams to achieve their full potential.     You can link with  Jaques Smit on LinkedIn  and connect with  Jaques Smit through his website.

Sprint Goals Gone Wrong, Leadership Lessons from a Game Development Team | Jaques Smit

BONUS: Incorporating Planet Earth as a Stakeholder in IT Development with Marjolein Pilon   In this BONUS episode, we talk to Marjolein Pilon about her innovative approach of considering Planet Earth as a key stakeholder in software development. Through practical examples and actionable tips, she inspires teams to make meaningful changes towards a greener future.   How to Bring Sustainability To Our Work As Scrum Masters   "Frustration about climate change and wanting a better future for my children led me to explore the carbon footprint of our IT work."   Marjolein's passion for environmental sustainability began with personal frustrations about climate change. Feeling that she had done all she could at home, she extended her concerns to her professional environment by asking about the carbon footprint of IT. This led to the creation of a 'planet retrospective,' where her team brainstormed ways to reduce their environmental impact. This approach proved to be so effective that she began facilitating these retrospectives for other teams, spreading the importance of seeing the planet as a stakeholder.   Reframing Projects for Sustainability   "Taking a simple first step can break down complexity and build motivation."   Marjolein shares a story of a team that significantly reduced their carbon footprint by taking small, easy steps. Starting with the elimination of an unnecessary test environment, the team moved on to more substantial changes, such as optimizing database queries and shutting down unused applications outside office hours. Their efforts culminated in a 45% reduction in their carbon footprint, serving as an inspiration for other teams.   Considering Planet Earth as a Stakeholder   "We started looking at our software from the Planet Earth's perspective."   For Marjolein, considering Planet Earth as a stakeholder means incorporating environmental considerations into every stage of software and product development. This perspective shift encourages teams to think about the long-term impacts of their work on the environment.   Measuring Environmental Impact   "Use costs as a proxy to convince managers to run sustainability sprints."   Marjolein explains that measuring the environmental impact of software decisions can be straightforward. For on-premise servers, energy bills provide clear data, while cloud services like AWS and Azure offer carbon footprint dashboards. She advises teams to monitor metrics like disk access, memory versus disk usage, and query times to understand and reduce their carbon footprint.   Making Sustainability Relatable For Agile Teams   "We include planet earth and climate impact in the sprint reviews and definition of done."   Marjolein emphasizes integrating sustainability into daily workflows, such as sprint reviews and definitions of done. This makes the concept of sustainability more tangible and actionable for smaller teams and startups. She explains how even small actions can have a significant collective impact.   Balancing Innovation and Sustainability   "Simple steps can align innovation, speed to market, and sustainability."   Marjolein highlights the importance of balancing innovation, speed to market, and sustainability. By taking simple, actionable steps, teams can align these seemingly competing demands effectively.   Recommended Resources   Marjolein recommends the book  "The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long Term in a Short-Term World" by  Roman Krznaric   For teams looking to integrate long-term environmental considerations into their development processes, this book provides a framework for thinking beyond immediate goals and considering the impact on future generations.   About Marjolein   Marjolein is an enthusiastic freelance Scrum Master and Agile Coach, committed to making the IT community more carbon-efficient. With a passion for Planet Earth and a knack for facilitating creative teams, she embodies agile and scrum values, promoting team autonomy and continuous improvement. Marjolein shares her insights on her website  https://theagileplayground.com/.  You can link with  Marjolein Pilon on LinkedIn.

BONUS: Incorporating Planet Earth as a Stakeholder in IT Development | Marjolein Pilon

Kirsi Sahlstén: A Great Product Owner who Encouraged Experimentation and Built an Inspired Team   Read the   full Show Notes  and search through the world’s largest audio library on Scrum directly on the   Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website:  http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   The Great Product Owner: Encouraging Experimentation and Building an Inspired Team, How Great POs work!   Kirsi highlights the qualities of an exemplary Product Owner who inspires and guides their team effectively. This PO was modest yet visionary, capable of simplifying complex requirements and fostering a collaborative environment. Kirsi shares how this PO encouraged experimentation and learning, creating an inspired and productive team. Discover the traits that make a Product Owner truly great and how they can positively impact their team's performance.   The Bad Product Owner: The Indecisive Product Owner   Kirsi discusses the anti-pattern of an indecisive Product Owner who lacks direction and decision-making skills. She explains how this leads to a lack of progress and team direction. Kirsi shares tips on how to coach Product Owners to make time for the team, avoid excessive meetings, and focus on the product vision. Learn the common pitfalls of an indecisive PO and how to overcome them.   In this episode, we refer to   the Sprint Checklist,  a tool you can use to help the PO better manage their time to be available for the team when necessary.   You can download the Sprint Checklist tool for Scrum Masters, here.     [IMAGE HERE] 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 Kirsi Sahlstén   Kirsi is a wanna-be neuroscientist and full-stack developer who, in real life, ended up as an Agile coach. She is passionate about sparking and enabling learning and unlearning, working together across boundaries, and focusing on the essential. Her favorite question is "Why?" and she is fascinated by the complexity of simplicity.   You can link with  Kirsi Sahlstén on LinkedIn.

A Great Product Owner who Encouraged Experimentation and Built an Inspired Team | Kirsi Sahlstén

Kirsi Sahlstén: The Role of Psychological Safety in Scrum Mastery   Read the   full Show Notes  and search through the world’s largest audio library on Scrum directly on the   Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website:  http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   In this episode, Kirsi defines success for Scrum Masters through her experience. She discusses the joy of seeing teams achieve their goals independently and the importance of psychological safety. Kirsi shares a story of how practicing prioritization techniques with Product Owners led to improved collaboration and decision-making. She emphasizes the need for Scrum Masters to create a safe environment for teams to practice and grow, ultimately leading to their success.   Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Start/Stop/Continue   Kirsi shares her favorite Agile retrospective format, "Start/Stop/Continue." She explains how its simplicity leads to actionable results, especially when time is limited. Kirsi also highlights an anti-pattern where retrospectives run out of time for discussing improvement actions. She provides tips on how to open retrospectives with a focus on the team's ways of working to ensure meaningful outcomes.     [IMAGE HERE]  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 Kirsi Sahlstén   Kirsi is a wanna-be neuroscientist and full-stack developer who, in real life, ended up as an Agile coach. She is passionate about sparking and enabling learning and unlearning, working together across boundaries, and focusing on the essential. Her favorite question is "Why?" and she is fascinated by the complexity of simplicity.   You can link with  Kirsi Sahlstén on LinkedIn.

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

Download our free app to listen on your phone