The Liberators Podcast

Does your Scrum Team use Sprint Goals? If not, why? Perhaps your team finds it hard to identify a goal for the Sprint out of the patchwork of items on the Sprint Backlog? Or perhaps your Product Owner doesn’t know how to balance the requests from many different groups of stakeholders?

In this episode, we bust one of the most persistent myths in Scrum; the notion that Sprint Goals are optional in Scrum. That they are nice-to-have, but hardly ever practically possible. We will show that the reverse is true. It is very hard, maybe even impossible, to do Scrum well when you don’t have Sprint Goals.

This episode is based on this blog-post (where you can find the other things we reference):
http://bit.ly/2kZhh0V

Donate to support our work
https://bit.ly/supportheliberators

Follow us on Medium:
https://medium.com/the-liberators

Support the show

We're building Columinity to help teams improve continuously based on scientific insights:
https://columinity.com

Check out our webshop for tons of powerful exercises and workshops to run with your team(s):
https://shop.theliberators.com

The music for episodes 91 and onward was written and produced for us by Basanite. The music for episodes 1-90 was acquired through Yummy Sounds. Post-production by Jasper Huiskamp.

A simple way to understand Scrum would be to emphasize that its all about releasing faster and sooner. But what if everything that is released isn't valuable or useful? How beneficial is Scrum then?

In this episode, we explore the curious case of the missing customer in Scrum. It's a case we often see in the Scrum Teams we work with. Even the Scrum Guide itself makes no direct mention of 'users' and 'customers'. What might be going on here?

This episode is based on this blogpost:
http://bit.ly/2Ft67bu

Donate to support our work
https://bit.ly/supportheliberators

Follow us on Medium:
https://medium.com/the-liberators

Support the show

We're building Columinity to help teams improve continuously based on scientific insights:
https://columinity.com

Check out our webshop for tons of powerful exercises and workshops to run with your team(s):
https://shop.theliberators.com

The music for episodes 91 and onward was written and produced for us by Basanite. The music for episodes 1-90 was acquired through Yummy Sounds. Post-production by Jasper Huiskamp.

A good start for a new Scrum Team is really half the work. This is where you can start building the psychological safety and self-organizing skills that are so vital to the further success.

In this episode we share our approach to starting new Scrum Teams. And we offer 10 practical things you can do with a new team. Or even with teams that have been going on for a while, but can use a refresher.

This episode is based on this blog-post (where you can find the posters and examples):
http://bit.ly/2PBowJw

Donate to support our work
https://bit.ly/supportheliberators

Follow us on Medium:
https://medium.com/the-liberators

Support the show

We're building Columinity to help teams improve continuously based on scientific insights:
https://columinity.com

Check out our webshop for tons of powerful exercises and workshops to run with your team(s):
https://shop.theliberators.com

The music for episodes 91 and onward was written and produced for us by Basanite. The music for episodes 1-90 was acquired through Yummy Sounds. Post-production by Jasper Huiskamp.

"By indulging in their own desire to 'try new structures' or dazzle the group with amazing riffs and mashups of Liberating Structures, facilitators may actually be preventing users from becoming skilled at them themselves.

This episode is a reflection on Liberating Structures, and in particular, an insight that we developed during the Liberating Structures Learning Gathering in 2019 in Hamburg.

Instead of facilitation methods, Liberating Structures are more like communication skills. And just like learning how to give feedback, ask questions and actively listen, it takes time for groups to become comfortable with Liberating Structures. So instead of falling into the trap of making it more about the facilitator, start simple, practice, and repeat.

This episode is based on this blogpost:
http://bit.ly/36x1kSf

Donate to support our work
https://bit.ly/supportheliberators

Follow us on Medium:
https://medium.com/the-liberators

Support the show

We're building Columinity to help teams improve continuously based on scientific insights:
https://columinity.com

Check out our webshop for tons of powerful exercises and workshops to run with your team(s):
https://shop.theliberators.com

The music for episodes 91 and onward was written and produced for us by Basanite. The music for episodes 1-90 was acquired through Yummy Sounds. Post-production by Jasper Huiskamp.

Almost everybody sees the value of Sprint Goals. But most teams struggle with them nonetheless. In this short episode, we offer 10 Powerful Questions that we've found to be very helpful. Where some of the questions focus on identifying the general direction for the Sprint Goal, others are more about selecting the work that is needed for that. Or narrowing down to the Sprint to what is possible.

This episode is based on this blogpost:
http://bit.ly/2w6M3Km

Donate to support our work
https://bit.ly/supportheliberators

Follow us on Medium:
https://medium.com/the-liberators

Support the show

We're building Columinity to help teams improve continuously based on scientific insights:
https://columinity.com

Check out our webshop for tons of powerful exercises and workshops to run with your team(s):
https://shop.theliberators.com

The music for episodes 91 and onward was written and produced for us by Basanite. The music for episodes 1-90 was acquired through Yummy Sounds. Post-production by Jasper Huiskamp.

When you work in a team or with others, you'll recognize that conflict is a natural part of our work with others. Where some conflicts are visible, most remain below the surface and manifest only as tension and frustration. They happen, regardless of our intentions and experience.

There are different ways to deal with conflict. The Dual Concern Model for Conflict is a helpful way to look at this. It distinguishes five distinct styles that people (can) use to navigate conflict. But not all styles are equally effective.

In this episode we explore the five styles as well as what scientific research says about their effectiveness. And as the cherry on top, we share how Liberating Structures can help.

You can read the original blogpost here:
http://bit.ly/2TLmdmZ

Sign up for our upcoming 'Addressing the Elephant'-workshop here:
http://bit.ly/2JVSHcg

Follow us on Medium:
https://medium.com/the-liberators

Donate to support our work
https://bit.ly/supportheliberators

Support the show

We're building Columinity to help teams improve continuously based on scientific insights:
https://columinity.com

Check out our webshop for tons of powerful exercises and workshops to run with your team(s):
https://shop.theliberators.com

The music for episodes 91 and onward was written and produced for us by Basanite. The music for episodes 1-90 was acquired through Yummy Sounds. Post-production by Jasper Huiskamp.

Conflicts are fascinating. They are a natural part of working with other people and can drain significant amounts of energy way from our work together.

Yet, for something that is so natural, we're often pretty bad at recognizing conflicts when they happen. For most us, 'conflicts' are those moments when people throw with doors, raise their voices or openly express their disagreement. But more often than not, conflict happens entirely below the surface. These are the "Elephants" that need to be addressed.

In this episode, we explore different types of "elephants" and our beliefs about conflict in general. We also share some of our own experiences, as well as what scientific research tells us.

Read the blogpost here:
http://bit.ly/2LSD99g

Sign up for the next 'Addressing the Elephant'-workshop here:
http://bit.ly/2JVSHcg

Follow us on Medium:
https://medium.com/the-liberators

Donate to support our work
https://bit.ly/supportheliberators

Support the show

We're building Columinity to help teams improve continuously based on scientific insights:
https://columinity.com

Check out our webshop for tons of powerful exercises and workshops to run with your team(s):
https://shop.theliberators.com

The music for episodes 91 and onward was written and produced for us by Basanite. The music for episodes 1-90 was acquired through Yummy Sounds. Post-production by Jasper Huiskamp.

What is the Scrum Framework? How does it work? What is its purpose? And how do all these roles, events and artifacts work together?This episode of our podcast is for everyone who wants to learn what Scrum is, or wants to refresh their understanding.

Recently, we noticed that we don't have an episode dedicated to explaining the Scrum Framework itself. We often touch on elements or bust 'myths' about it, but we never talk about the whole. In part, this is because there is an excellent official Scrum Guide at scrumguides.org. But there is often value in hearing it explained in other words and with different metaphors. Plus, we often do this as part of our work as stewards and Professional Scrum Trainers for Scrum.org.

We created this content as part of our upcoming book, the Zombie Scrum Survival Guide. In it, we use the tongue-in-cheek metaphor of Zombie Scrum to understand Scrum from the perspective of what it absolutely shouldn't be (but often is): Zombie Scrum. It contains over 40 helpful experiments to make Scrum work and explains both Scrum, and why it sometimes turns into Zombie Scrum.

The official Scrum Guide:
https://scrumguides.org

Follow us on Medium:
https://medium.com/the-liberators

Donate to support our work
https://bit.ly/supportheliberators

Support the show

We're building Columinity to help teams improve continuously based on scientific insights:
https://columinity.com

Check out our webshop for tons of powerful exercises and workshops to run with your team(s):
https://shop.theliberators.com

The music for episodes 91 and onward was written and produced for us by Basanite. The music for episodes 1-90 was acquired through Yummy Sounds. Post-production by Jasper Huiskamp.

Technical debt, or the accumulation of low-quality code, seems to be inevitable when you create software. It is one of the biggest frustrations and demotivators of Development Teams. They are often acutely aware of technical debt, but feel powerless and unable to explain why technical debt should be a priority. Instead, they feel that ‘business keeps adding more features over stabilizing the foundation’.

In this episode we offer four practical tips on how to make technical debt transparent and how to help ‘business’ make a better trade-off between code quality and new features.

This episode is based on this blogpost:
http://bit.ly/2T1jqYD

Donate to support our work
https://bit.ly/supportheliberators

Follow us on Medium:
https://medium.com/the-liberators

Support the show

We're building Columinity to help teams improve continuously based on scientific insights:
https://columinity.com

Check out our webshop for tons of powerful exercises and workshops to run with your team(s):
https://shop.theliberators.com

The music for episodes 91 and onward was written and produced for us by Basanite. The music for episodes 1-90 was acquired through Yummy Sounds. Post-production by Jasper Huiskamp.

One of our patrons, Chris Davies, shares with us a challenge that he and his team are facing. What should you do when your team is unable to deliver done and working software within a Sprint? When is it okay to lengthen a Sprint? And what considerations come into play.

In this episode we use the Liberating Structure "Troika Consulting" to offer help. In true Troika-fashion, Chris first shares his challenge. We then explore the challenge with Chris with some open-ended questions. Then, we start exchanging ideas, suggestions and questions for 10 minutes while Chris listens. Afterwards, Chris shares some of his takeaways. Although our ideas are based on many assumptions, the idea of Troika is that simply listening to other people talk about your challenge can already generate ideas that you haven't considered before. Learn more about Troika Consulting here.

Have a challenge for us?
If you have a challenge you are facing, and you'd like to hear our perspectives through Troika Consulting, let us know. You can email us at [email protected] or connect wit us through other means.

Donate to support our work
https://bit.ly/supportheliberators

Follow us on Medium:
https://medium.com/the-liberators

Support the show

We're building Columinity to help teams improve continuously based on scientific insights:
https://columinity.com

Check out our webshop for tons of powerful exercises and workshops to run with your team(s):
https://shop.theliberators.com

The music for episodes 91 and onward was written and produced for us by Basanite. The music for episodes 1-90 was acquired through Yummy Sounds. Post-production by Jasper Huiskamp.