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

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

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!

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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.

The Role of Psychological Safety in Scrum Mastery | Kirsi Sahlstén

Kirsi Sahlstén: Understanding the Complexities of Driving A Large Scale Agile Transformation   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 helps us understand the complexities of leading change in a large organization. She shares how a change team with representatives from various roles and a virtual setup facilitated a smooth transition to new teams. The use of pulse surveys, questionnaires, and a transparent Kanban board helped maintain alignment and trust throughout the process. Kirsi offers practical tips, such as starting with a common cadence and allowing teams to adjust later, and the importance of self-reflection surveys for continuous improvement. Discover the techniques that made this reorganization a success.     [IMAGE HERE]  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 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.

Understanding the Complexities of Driving A Large Scale Agile Transformation | Kirsi Sahlstén

Kirsi Sahlstén: When Protection Hinders Progress, A Guide to Tackling Psychological Safety in 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.   In this episode, Kirsi shares an insightful story about a large team working on regulatory reporting that struggled with psychological safety. Even if the team tried to shut out Agile coaches, leadership noticed alarming employee satisfaction scores and helped the change get started. Kirsi reveals how the Product Owner's protective approach stifled team growth and collaboration. She explains the anti-patterns observed and offers tips on how to address such challenges by taking a more directive stance and encouraging continuous improvement. Learn how small changes can make a big difference in a team's dynamics and success.   Featured Book of the Week: Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coaching by Bob Galen   Kirsi discusses  Bob Galen's book, "Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coaching,"  highlighting its comprehensive approach to Agile coaching. She emphasizes the importance of the Agile coaching contract, even for internal coaches, and shares how it helps in setting clear expectations. Kirsi also explores the significance of journaling for self-reflection. This book is not just for coaches but also for Scrum Masters seeking to deepen their understanding and practice of Agile coaching.   [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 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.

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

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