TL; DR: Scrum 2022 — Getting You Started as Scrum Master or Product Owner
Probably, you are considering how to further your Scrum Master career or Product Owner career in 2022. Maybe, I can support you in that regard with a set of articles, documents, and LinkedIn polls I authored that proved to be the most popular in 2021. They range from Product Owner and Scrum Master interview questions to a variety of Scrum anti-patterns to the most engaging polls on seemingly simple questions on “agile” in general and Scrum in particular. All articles feature free ebooks that delve into the problems and provide hands-on advice on how to solve them. Good luck with Scrum 2022—just stick to first principles!
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Most Popular LinkedIn Polls of 2021 for Scrum Masters and Product Owners
Last year, I ran more than 20 polls on LinkedIn on topics that allow everyone in the agile community to participate in the ensuing discussions. In total, the polls gathered more than half a million views, resulting in more than 1,600 comments which offer a wide range of perspectives, including the occasional trolling. The polls prove that even seemingly undisputed topics are not evident at all. Maybe, they can provide new insight to you, too.
Here some of the most popular polls from 2021:
- Can a Scrum team decide to skip the Retrospective?
- Would you recommend SAFe?
- Should managers attend team Retrospectives?
- Congratulations on your new Scrum Master position! Now what? How do you start learning?
- Do we need agile coaches when practicing Scrum?
- The strange management obsession of a team’s commitment meeting its velocity.
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Most Popular Posts of 2021 for Scrum Masters and Product Owners
76 Product Owner Interview Questions to Avoid Imposters
If you are looking to fill a position for a Product Owner in your organization, you may find the following 76 interview questions useful to identify the right candidate. They are derived from my sixteen years of practical experience with XP and Scrum, serving both as Product Owner and Scrum Master and interviewing dozens of Product Owner candidates on behalf of my clients.
So far, this free Product Owner interview guide has been downloaded more than 10,000 times.
Learn more: 76 Scrum Product Owner Interview Questions to Avoid Agile Imposters.
54 Scrum Master Interview Questions to Identify Suitable Candidates
Scrum has proven time and again to be the most popular framework for software development. Given that software is eating the world, a seasoned Scrum Master is nowadays in high demand. And that demand causes the market-entry of new professionals from other project management branches, probably believing that reading one or two Scrum books will be sufficient. Which makes any Scrum Master interview a challenging task.
If you are looking to fill a position for a Scrum Master (or agile coach) in your organization, you may find the following 54 interview questions useful to identify the right candidate. They are derived from my sixteen years of practical experience with XP as well as Scrum, serving both as Product Owner and Scrum Master as well as interviewing dozens of Scrum Master candidates on behalf of my clients.
So far, this Scrum Master interview guide has been downloaded more than 22,000 times.
Learn more: 54 Scrum Master Interview Questions to Identify Suitable Candidates.
27 Sprint Anti-Patterns Holding Back Scrum Teams
Welcome to the Sprint anti-patterns article from our series on Scrum anti-patterns, covering not just the three Scrum roles, but also the stakeholders as well as the IT management.
So far, the free corresponding Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide has been downloaded more than 11,000 times.
Learn more: 27 Sprint Anti-Patterns Holding Back Scrum Teams.
20 Questions New Scrum Masters Should Ask Their Teams to Get up to Speed
Twenty questions for you — the new Scrum Master — that fit into a 60 minutes time-box. Start learning how your new Scrum Team is currently delivering the product and get up to speed: from Product Backlog forensics to metrics to team challenges and technical debt. Download a printable template for your convenience.
Learn more: 20 Questions New Scrum Masters Should Ask Their Teams to Get up to Speed.
Scrum Guide 2020 — The Development Team Is Dead; Long Live the Scrum Team!
The Scrum Guide 2020 is available now: Change is coming to make Scrum more accessible and inclusive beyond software development. Learn more about the changes, download the brand new and free Scrum Guide 2020 Reordered to spot patterns quickly, and join the Scrum community discussion.
So far, the Scrum Guide Reordered has been downloaded more than 10,000 times.
Learn more: The Scrum Guide Reordered — understand the Scrum Guide’s patterns and concepts.
Product Owner Anti-Patterns — 31+2 Ways to Improve as a PO
If you are working as a Product Owner, there is—very likely—room for improvement. This list of some of the most common Product Owner anti-patterns might be a starting point. Hence, if you recognize some anti-patterns in your daily work, why don’t you ask the rest of the Scrum Team for support? The Product Owner anti-patterns list is a good starting point for a retrospective.
Learn more: Product Owner Anti-Patterns — 31+2 Ways to Improve as a PO.
20 Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns
Sprint Planning is a core event, defining how your customers’ lives will improve with the next Product Increment. Learn more on how to improve its effectiveness by avoiding 20 common Sprint Planning anti-patterns.
Learn more: 20 Sprint Planning Anti-Patterns.
Three Wide-Spread Scrum Master Failures in 5:31 Minutes—Making Your Scrum Work #1
There are plenty of Scrum Masters failures. Given that Scrum is a framework with a precise and concise yet short “manual,” this effect should not surprise anyone.
Explore with me three widespread examples of how Scrum Masters fail their team in three short video clips, totaling 5 minutes and 31 seconds.
Learn more: Three Wide-Spread Scrum Master Failures in 5:31 Minutes—Making Your Scrum Work #1.
👉 🎓 Check out the whole making your Scrum work article series—23 posts and counting.
Scrum Master Anti-Patterns — 20 Signs Your Scrum Master Needs Help
The reasons why Scrum Masters violate the spirit of the Scrum Guide are multi-faceted. They run from ill-suited personal traits and the pursuit of individual agendas to frustration with the team itself.
Read on and learn in this post on Scrum anti-patterns how you can identify if your Scrum Master needs support from the team.
Learn more: Scrum Master Anti-Patterns — 20 Signs Your Scrum Master Needs Help.
Agile Metrics — The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Suitable agile metrics reflect either a team’s progress in becoming agile or your organization’s progress in becoming a learning organization.
At the team level, qualitative agile metrics often work better than quantitative metrics. At the organizational level, this is reversed: quantitative agile metrics provide better insights than qualitative ones.
Learn more: Agile Metrics — The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Conclusion: Scrum 2022 — Getting You Started as Scrum Master or Product Owner
Scrum will be Scrum in 2022, too. I find this continuity helpful as it allows us to reflect on challenges and problems more thoroughly. Scrum 2022 is not about reinventing the wheel or chasing the next shiny “Agile” object. 2022 is about showing up, embrace what is ahead of us, and get your hands dirty while making your Scrum work, one anti-pattern at a time.
How are you planning to get started in 2022? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments.
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📖 Scrum 2022 — Related Posts
76 Scrum Product Owner Interview Questions to Avoid Agile Imposters
Product Owner Anti-Patterns — 31 Ways to Improve as a PO.
54 Scrum Master Interview Questions to Identify Suitable Candidates.
The Scrum Guide Reordered — understand the Scrum Guide’s patterns and concepts.
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