#157. Rethink the role of the scrum master. Two recent events—a thought-provoking article by agile coach Maarten Dalmijn and a leave of absence by Matthew, a beloved scrum master in my team—prompted me to question if scrum masters might be overrated.

Comparing scrum teams to sports teams like Ultimate Frisbee, where players self-regulate without referees. Imagine a world where your scrum team operates the same way, holding each other accountable and mastering the game without a dedicated scrum master.

You'll learn about Maarten's controversial stance: in startups and scale-ups with fewer organizational impediments, having a scrum master might be unnecessary overhead. Instead, Martin suggests that with a deep understanding of scrum, your team could self-manage effectively.

I share my own team's bold experiment—replacing a traditional scrum master with a hybrid scrum master-developer. Spearheaded by Sapan, who has extensive experience in both development and scrum, this experiment offers surprising results.

It's not a one-size-fits-all solution for all Power Platform teams. But it does highlight the importance of being open to new practices and continuous experimentation in agile development.

Keep experimenting 🧪

-Neil

RESOURCES

• Maarten Dalmijn on LinkedIn
• Maarten Dalmijn, 'Are Scrum Masters Too Much Overhead?'

#156. Neil Benson dives into the essentials of continuously improving Scrum practices in this episode of the Amazing Apps podcast.

Drawing on the book "Mastering Professional Scrum" by Stephanie Ockerman and Simon Reindl, Neil outlines critical areas for team success, such as creating valuable products and understanding organizational influences. He emphasizes five core capabilities needed for continuous improvement: teaching, facilitation, coaching, technical excellence, and servant leadership.

Neil discusses the continuous improvement process recommended by Ockerman and Reindl, which includes self-assessment questionnaires and root cause analysis to address team issues. He highlights the importance of the Scrum pillars—transparency, inspection, and adaptation—and shows how sprint events like planning and review foster a culture of empiricism, allowing teams to run experiments and refine their practices based on real-world outcomes.

Celebrating the traits of high-performing scrum teams, Neil underscores the significance of being cross-functional, self-managing, and collaborative. He touches upon practices that bolster collaboration within these teams, such as backlog refinement and pair programming, while also stressing the freedom scrum teams have to define their workflows within Scrum guidelines.

Neil also addresses common challenges, such as the absence of key roles during refinement sessions, and recommends using the Five Whys technique to tackle root causes. He provides practical tips like conducting multiple short refinement sessions to prevent release delays.

With actionable insights and a call to action to use the self-assessment questionnaire from the book, this episode is a goldmine for Power Platform and Dynamics 365 teams looking to elevate their Scrum practices. Tune in to learn practical strategies for continuous improvement and master the art of agile with your team.

Don't miss out—subscribe to the Amazing Apps podcast to stay updated on more insightful episodes in the Mastering Professional Scrum series.

RESOURCES

• Simon Reindl on LinkedIn
• Stephanie Ockerman on LinkedIn
• Mastering Professional Scrum from Amazon (affiliate)
• Mastering Professional Scrum audiobook on Audible (affiliate)
• Stephanie Ockerman's site, Agile Socks
• Mastering Professional Scrum on InformIT

#155. In this episode of Amazing Apps, host Neil Benson explores the importance of rethinking our approach to building business applications. Join us as we delve into the benefits of questioning our assumptions and adapting to new information in the dynamic landscape of app development.

• Unpacking the concept of "thinking like a scientist" and its impact on creating agile business apps.
• Understanding cognitive entrenchment and how it can hinder our progress in app development.
• Examining how embracing new tools like Power Automate or Azure Data Factory can outdo outdated practices.
• Learning from personal experiences and external experts to reassess long-held beliefs about health and productivity.
• Discovering how to stay open-minded to new methods for building Power Platform and Dynamics 365 apps without losing sight of effective agile approaches.

Keep experimenting 🧪

-Neil

RESOURCES

• Microsoft Power Platform Conference, 18 to 20 October 2024
• Peter Attia’s The Drive podcast
• Outlive by Peter Attia
• Peter Attia’s website
• Adam Grant’s podcasts
• Adam Grant’s website

Subscribe to my new Estimating Business Apps podcast mini-series

Estimating Business Apps is a five-part podcast that will help you quickly, accurately and confidently estimate complex Power Platform and Dynamics 365 apps in minutes. Listen now: https://estimating-business-apps.captivate.fm/listen