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Should the Product Owner ‘close’ Product Backlog items?
When Scrum Teams experience a work quality issue, they sometimes shift the responsibility for quality control to the Product Owner as a...

Mary Iqbal
Mar 22, 20234 min read
442


Why your team’s Scrum Genius might be holding you back
Do you have a Scrum Genius on your team? Someone who always chimes in with the “right way” to do things. Maybe you’re the Scrum Genius —...

Mary Iqbal
Mar 13, 20235 min read
156


Scrum is not an excuse to ignore an emergency
In Scrum, the Product Owner is accountable for maximizing product value for the customer. That’s the focus of the entire Scrum framework,...

Mary Iqbal
Mar 7, 20234 min read
590


Using Surveys to Improve Scrum Team Success
Outcome-based metrics are an essential measure of Scrum Team performance. But they can be lagging indicators. In other words, it can...

Mary Iqbal
Feb 28, 20234 min read
2,379


How Product Owners can maximize value with stakeholder input
In Scrum, the Product Owner’s purpose is to maximize the value of the Scrum Team’s work (the product). Delivering value to the customer...

Mary Iqbal
Feb 21, 20235 min read
317


Spain, Trains, and Incremental Delivery
A very interesting (and sad) piece of news made headlines in Spain recently that provides some lessons about agile product development...

Mary Iqbal
Feb 12, 20234 min read
362


Self-managing: Scrum’s most misunderstood phrase
According to the Scrum Guide, Scrum Teams are “self-managing, meaning they internally decide who does what, when, and how.” It seems...

Mary Iqbal
Feb 1, 20234 min read
963


Why "no" is part of a Scrum Product Owner’s love language
Who finds it easy to say "no" to stakeholder requests? Anyone? I don't see many hands up. We are hardwired to want to help others, and...

Mary Iqbal
Jan 17, 20233 min read
310


The Surprising Benefits of Pair Programming for Software Teams
Several years ago, I was the Scrum Master for a team working on a technology product. Two of the team’s Developers told me they would...

Mary Iqbal
Jan 11, 20234 min read
297


When stakeholders bypass the Product Owner
Maybe I’m naive, but I believe that most people mean well. If someone asks for help, most of us are inclined to lend a hand if we can. ...

Mary Iqbal
Jan 5, 20235 min read
1,020


Your team is losing out if it's not maximizing this Scrum event
In my experience, Sprint Planning is the most misused event in Scrum. There is a lot of competition for this dubious title. Many teams...

Mary Iqbal
Dec 12, 20224 min read
1,043


Don't plan how to deliver PBIs during Refinement
The refinement process for those practicing Scrum determines the detail, order and size of the items in the Product Backlog. The purpose...

Mary Iqbal
Dec 6, 20223 min read
528


How Scrum event timeboxes make your team more effective
Every Scrum event has a maximum allowable time period to carry it out, called a timebox. When I tell someone that the Sprint Planning...

Mary Iqbal
Nov 28, 20225 min read
400


How to facilitate a self-organization session for your Scrum Team
According to the 2020 Scrum Guide, Scrum teams are “self-managing, meaning they internally decide who does what, when, and how.” ...

Mary Iqbal
Nov 22, 20224 min read
741


How to handle unplanned work in Scrum
It’s a myth that Scrum Teams don’t plan. Scrum Teams plan at the Sprint Planning event and when refining work items. They also create a...

Mary Iqbal
Nov 18, 20226 min read
3,552


5 reasons why refining your Product Backlog is worth the time
I gotta say, refining work items is usually, by far, the Scrum Team’s least popular activity. No one gets up in the morning saying, “I...

Mary Iqbal
Nov 8, 20227 min read
732


What happens if a Scrum team becomes too large?
According to the Scrum guide, Scrum teams typically have 10 or fewer people, including Developers, Scrum Master and Product Owner. But...

Mary Iqbal
Oct 31, 20225 min read
1,057


A deep dive into the purpose of each Scrum artifact
Understanding the “ why” behind the Scrum framework can help Scrum teams improve their ability to deliver value to the organization. We...

Mary Iqbal
Oct 23, 20224 min read
724


A deep dive into the purpose of each Scrum accountability
Scrum Teams that understand the “ why” behind the Scrum framework can better increase value delivery to the organization. Internalizing...

Mary Iqbal
Oct 17, 20223 min read
1,169


How to get the most from your Sprint Retrospective Event
According to the 2020 Scrum Guide, “The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective is to plan ways to increase quality and effectiveness.” ...

Mary Iqbal
Oct 10, 20227 min read
688
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