Scrum Master Anti-Patterns — 20 Signs Your Scrum Master Needs Help

TL; DR: Scrum Master Anti-Patterns

The reasons Scrum Masters violate the spirit of the Scrum Guide are multi-faceted. Typical Scrum Master anti-patterns run from ill-suited personal traits to complacency to pursuing 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.

Scrum Master Anti-Patterns — 20 Signs Your Scrum Master Needs Help
Continue reading Scrum Master Anti-Patterns — 20 Signs Your Scrum Master Needs Help

How to Pass the Scrum Master Certification — PSM I, PSM II, and PSM III

TL; DR: How to Pass the Scrum Master Certification

The first article of this mini-series established that you do not need a certificate to become good at what you do, for example, working as a Scrum Master. However, getting certified may be a piece of sound investment advice, as documented by the Scrum Master Salary Report 2022: There is a statistical correlation between your remuneration and the certificates you hold. If you want to take advantage of this signaling power that Scrum certificates seem to have, the question is how to pass the Scrum Master certification?

How to Pass the Scrum Master Certification — PSM I, PSM II, and PSM III — Age-of-Product.com
Continue reading How to Pass the Scrum Master Certification — PSM I, PSM II, and PSM III

Scrum Master Success: How Do You Identify a Successful Scrum Master?

TL; DR: Scrum Master Success — My Top-Nine Indicators

How would you know that your Scrum Master is competent? What are indicators for Scrum Master success? Is the regular use of the Confluence retrospective template one of the desired signals? Or is the quest to understand contributing factors futile, as success reasons are so diverse? Probably, there is no direct connection between a Scrum Master, not having authority anyway, and the overall Scrum team’s performance.

Read on and learn more about how Scrum Masters can contribute to the success of a self-managing team in nine simple lessons.

<Scrum Master Success: How Do You Identify a Successful Scrum Master? Age-of-Product.com

Continue reading Scrum Master Success: How Do You Identify a Successful Scrum Master?

Scrum Certification: Is It a Sound Investment for Your Career?

TL; DR: Is a Scrum Certification a Sound Investment Advice?

Do you need a Scrum certification to become good at what you do? Not really. It took me nine years after I started working in this industry to get my first certificate.

What are the benefits then of having a Scrum certification? Well, becoming certified by a recognized Scrum certification organization such as Scrum.org is sound investment advice, as documented by the Scrum Master Salary Report 2022: There is a statistical correlation between your remuneration and the certificates you hold.

Also, prospective clients and employers use, for example, PSM and CSM as search terms on LinkedIn. Scrum certificates are hence an affordable way of signaling competence and dedication. However, be smart about where to become certified and avoid investing in Scrum certificates that have no brand recognition.

Scrum Certification: Is It a Sound Investment for Your Career? Age-of-Product.com
Continue reading Scrum Certification: Is It a Sound Investment for Your Career?

Scrum Master Interview Questions: How to Make Your Scrum Master Fail

TL; DR: Scrum Master Interview Questions on How to Make Your Scrum Master Fail

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. A good starting point, though, is to ask a candidate to walk in the shoes of an imaginary opponent trying to make the Scrum Master fail by culturally accepted means.

Suppose you are looking to fill a Scrum Master (or agile coach) position in your organization. In that case, you may find the following interview questions helpful 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 my training experience as a Professional Scrum Trainer with Scrum.org. Also, I have interviewed 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.

Scrum Master Interview Questions: How to Make Your Scrum Master Fail — Age-of-Product.com
Continue reading Scrum Master Interview Questions: How to Make Your Scrum Master Fail

Scrum 2022: Getting You Started as Scrum Master or Product Owner

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!

Scrum 2022: Getting You Started as Scrum Master or Product Owner — Age-of-Product.com
Continue reading Scrum 2022: Getting You Started as Scrum Master or Product Owner