The Agile Coach: An Infographic

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Update: Scott M. Graffius' 'The Agile Coach' infographic visual was updated. The newest edition is here.

Agile is an iterative and incremental approach for the development and delivery of products and services, and organizations are increasingly embracing it to best meet their business needs. An agile coach can increase the chances of a successful agile adoption or improvement. [1] [2]

Some define the agile coach role as “an individual who coaches agile teams” or a similar self-descriptive representation. A more detailed definition along with examples are presented in this article.

Scott M. Graffius—author of
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change—defines the agile coach as:

"The individual is an agile expert who provides guidance for new agile implementations as well as existing agile teams. The agile coach is experienced in employing agile techniques in different environments and has successfully run diverse agile projects. The individual builds and maintains relationships with everyone involved, coaches individuals, trains groups, and facilitates interactive workshops. The agile coach is typically from outside the organization, and the role may be temporary or permanent."
[3]

The agile coach illustration, shown above, provides additional information such as values, guiding principles, focus areas, tools, and activities for agile coaches.

Values include respect, courage, focus, openness, and commitment.

Principles include collaboration, technical excellence, transparency, continuous improvement, simplicity, fast and frequent delivery, and high satisfaction.

Focus areas include company; division or segment; product; tribe, squad, or team; and individuals.

Tools include data collection, visualization, best techniques, feedback, and agile process tools.

Activities include coaching, teaching, facilitating, and mentoring.

A downloadable, hi-res version of the image is available from Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions.

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Sources:

[1] Dikert, K., Paasivaara, M. & Lassenius, C. (2016). Challenges and Success Factors for Large-Scale Agile Transformations: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Systems and Software, 119, 87-108. DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2016.06.013.

[2] Sureshchandra, K. & Shrinivasavadhani, J. (2008). Moving from Waterfall to Agile. Proceedings from Agile, 2008: AGILE ’08 Conference. Toronto, ON, Canada. DOI: 10.1109/Agile.2008.49.

[3] Graffius, S. M. (2019): Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.2652976.

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Let's Connect

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Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2020 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

BookAuthority Named "Agile Transformation" One of the Best New Scrum Ebooks

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BookAuthority named Scott M. Graffius' second book,
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, as one of the best new Scrum ebooks!

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About Agile Transformation



Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits. Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a revealing behind-the-scenes account of a successful agile implementation at a global entertainment company.

Scott M. Graffius' first book,
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, provides readers with practical information they can use to get benefits from the most popular agile framework, Scrum. It presents top practices from successful implementations based on Scott's hands-on experience and 116 diverse sources such as the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute, MIT, the IEEE, Gartner, and the Software Engineering Institute. The publication garnered 17 first place awards from national and international competitions. Scott and his book have been featured in Yahoo Finance, Computer Weekly, the PM World Journal, Learning Solutions, Innovation Management, and additional media publications.

In
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, Scott shares a behind-the-scenes account of a successful agile implementation at a global entertainment company. The story is based on actual events and it's told from Scott's perspective as an agile coach. The transformation dramatically improved the way the organization works and delivers business value. New capabilities and practices enabled the enterprise to adapt to its changing environment, move faster, and drive innovation, which made it more competitive and prosperous.

Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change by Scott M. Graffius is offered in digital and print formats.

The ebook (ASIN:
B07R9LJLPJ) is available in:


The paperback (ISBN-13:
9781072447962) is for sale at:

  • Amazon,
  • Barnes & Noble,
  • and other retailers and partners in the United States and around the world.

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About Author Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a project management expert, consultant, international speaker, and award-winning author. He is a Principal Consultant and the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, a professional services firm, where he helps clients strengthen their project management capabilities and realize their strategic objectives and business initiatives. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private companies with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. Scott's first book on agile project management, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, garnered 17 first place awards. Scott and his book have been featured in Yahoo Finance, Computer Weekly, the Boston Herald, Learning Solutions, Informa, Innovation Management, and additional media publications. His second title, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, was published in April 2019. Scott regularly speaks at conferences and other events around the world. For additional information on Scott, see his bio.

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About BookAuthority

BookAuthority curates the books recommended by the world's most successful CEOs, business leaders, and domain experts such as Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, Sheryl Sandberg, and David Allen. Only the very best books are featured on BookAuthority. To keep BookAuthority's site objective and unbiased, ratings are calculated purely based on data. BookAuthority uses a proprietary technology to identify and rate the best nonfiction books, using dozens of different signals, including public mentions, recommendations, ratings, sentiment, popularity and sales history. BookAuthority does not accept requests to feature books, nor does BookAuthority conduct business with publishers or authors.
BookAuthority has been featured on CNNForbes and Inc. The preceding information in this section is based on content from BookAuthority.org.

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Let's Connect

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Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

Multi Award-Winning "Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" Available in Paperback and Ebook/Kindle Worldwide

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This is a brief update on the distribution of the multi award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius,
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. It's available in 45 countries. Check out the links below.

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Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
— in ebook/Kindle format (ASIN: B01FZ0JIIY):

🇦🇺 Australia from Amazon.com.au
🇦🇹 Austria from Amazon.de
🇧🇪 Belgium from Amazon.fr
🇧🇷 Brazil from Amazon.com.br
🇨🇦 Canada from Amazon.ca
🇫🇷 France from Amazon.fr
🇩🇪 Germany from Amazon.de
🇮🇳 India from Amazon.in
🇮🇪 Ireland from Amazon.co.uk
🇮🇹 Italy from Amazon.it
🇯🇵 Japan from Amazon.co.jp
🇱🇮 Liechtenstein from Amazon.de
🇱🇺 Luxembourg from Amazon.de
🇲🇽 Mexico from Amazon.com.mx
🇲🇨 Monaco from Amazon.fr
🇳🇱 Netherlands from Amazon.nl
🇳🇿 New Zealand from Amazon.com.au
🇸🇲 San Marino from Amazon.it
🇪🇸 Spain from Amazon.es
🇨🇭 Switzerland from Amazon.de
🇬🇧 United Kingdom from Amazon.co.uk
🇺🇸 United States of America from Amazon.com
🇻🇦 Vatican City from Amazon.it

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — in paperback (ISBN-13: 9781533370242):

🇦🇼 Aruba from The Book Depository (via UK/Australia)
🇦🇺
Australia from Amazon.com.au
🇦🇹 Austria from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇧🇸 Bahamas from The Book Depository (via UK/Australia)
🇧🇪 Belgium from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇨🇦 Canada from Amazon.ca
🇨🇿 Czech Republic from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇩🇰 Denmark from The Book Depository (via UK/Australia)
🇫🇯 Fiji from The Book Depository (via UK/Australia)
🇫🇮 Finland from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇫🇷 France from Amazon.fr
🇩🇪 Germany from Amazon.de
🇬🇷 Greece from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇭🇺 Hungary from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇮🇸 Iceland from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇮🇳 India from Amazon.in
🇮🇪 Ireland from Amazon.co.uk
🇮🇱 Israel from The Book Depository (via UK/Australia)
🇮🇹 Italy from Amazon.it
🇯🇲 Jamaica from The Book Depository (via UK/Australia)
🇯🇵 Japan from Amazon.co.jp
🇱🇺 Luxembourg from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇲🇽 Mexico from Amazon.com.mx
🇲🇨 Monaco from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇳🇱 Netherlands from bol.com
🇳🇿 New Zealand from Fishpond.co.nz, Amazon.com (via USA), and Booktopia.com.au (via Australia)
🇳🇴 Norway from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇵🇪 Peru from The Book Depository (via UK/Australia)
🇵🇭 Philippines from The Book Depository (via UK/Australia)
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico from The Book Depository (via UK/Australia)
🇸🇬 Singapore from OpenTrolley Bookstore
🇿🇦 South Africa from Loot.co.za
🇰🇷 South Korea from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇪🇸 Spain from Amazon.es
🇸🇪 Sweden from Adlibris.com
🇨🇭 Switzerland from Bokus.com (via Sweden)
🇺🇦 Ukraine from The Book Depository (via UK/Australia)
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates from Amazon.ae
🇬🇧 United Kingdom from Amazon.co.uk, Blackwell's, and The Book Depository
🇺🇸 United States of America from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, AbeBooks, Books-a-Million, Diesel Bookstore (Santa Monica, California), Laguna Beach Books (Laguna Beach, California), Warwick’s (La Jolla, California), The Booksmith (San Francisco, California), University Press Books (Berkeley, California), Compass Books at SFO/Books Inc. (San Francisco, California), University of Arizona Bookstore (Tucson, Arizona), Strand Books (New York, New York), Hudson Booksellers (New York, New York), Harvard Book Store (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Savoy Bookshop & Café (Westerly, Rhode Island), Books & Books (Miami, Florida), and others
🇻🇳 Vietnam from U-buy.vn

Get your copy today!


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About Scott M. Graffius, Author of Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions Author

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Scott M. Graffius is an agile project management consultant, practitioner, award-winning author, and keynote speaker. Content from his books, speaking engagements, workshops, and more has been used by businesses, governments, and universities, including Gartner, Cisco, RSA, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Bayer, the United States Department of Energy, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, Texas A&M, and others. Thinkers360 named Scott a Top 20 Global Thought Leader and Influencer. His full-length bio is available at https://www.scottgraffius.com/bio.html.

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Let's Connect

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Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.


Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

"Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" Placed on BookAuthority's List of Best Scrum Books of All Time

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Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions was named one of the Best Scrum Books of All Time by BookAuthority. A screen shot is available here.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

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Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


book-authority-best-scrum-book-loweerres



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About Author Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a technology leader, project management expert, consultant, international speaker, and award-winning author.

Scott is the CEO of
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, a professional services firm, where he partners with client companies to help them achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. The consultancy provides project, program, portfolio, and PMO management services inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid development and delivery frameworks. Business results include upgraded responsiveness to business needs, faster delivery and time-to-market, improved on-budget performance, higher customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and greater competitive advantage.

A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with a client in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott’s book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. It helps technical and non-technical teams develop and deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage. The book has garnered 17 first place awards from national and international competitions. Scott and Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions have been featured in Yahoo Finance, the Boston Herald, NBC WRAL, the Dallas Business Journal, the PM World Journal, BookLife by Publisher’s Weekly, Learning Solutions, Innovation Management, and additional media publications. A trailer, high-resolution images, reviews, a detailed list of awards, and more are available in the digital media kit.

Scott is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets, as well as experience spanning 20 countries.

Scott has a bachelor's degree in Psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds six professional certifications: Certified Scrum Professional (CSP), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL). He is a member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Within the IEEE, Graffius is a member of the Computer Society, the Consumer Electronics Society, the Broadcast Technology Society, the Internet of Things Community, and the Consultants Network.

He has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional global standards. He was a member of the team which produced the
Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Scott was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition and The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Congress 2019.

Scott regularly speaks at conferences and other events in the United States and internationally where he delights audiences with presentations on agile, traditional, and hybrid project, program, portfolio, and PMO management. He integrates content on professional standards, best practices, and his first-hand experience with successful implementations. Scott uses everyday language and custom vibrant visuals to make complex topics clear and understandable, and he provides audiences with practical information they can use. Scott spoke at Techstars Startup Week and at events in London and Las Vegas. He also delivered talks at the Los Angeles chapter of the PMI, the California Central Coast chapter of the PMI, the California Inland Empire chapter of the PMI (two events), and the California Central Valley chapter of the PMI. Attendees have said “Scott is an amazing speaker,” “fantastic presentation,” and “highly recommended!” Scott’s upcoming appearances include the Project World conference in Canada and more. For additional information, visit
here.

Scott resides in Los Angeles, California.

About BookAuthority (the following includes content from BookAuthority.com)

BookAuthority is the world's leading site for nonfiction book recommendations, helping you find the best books on various topics to develop your skills. It covers topics that range from startups, marketing and finance, through javascript, artificial intelligence and bitcoin, to fitness, history and personal development.

BookAuthority uses a proprietary technology to identify and rate the best nonfiction books, using dozens of different signals, including public mentions, recommendations, ratings, sentiment, popularity and sales history. This includes maintaining the most comprehensive collection of book recommendations from domain experts such as Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, Daniel Kahneman, Sheryl Sandberg, and David Allen.

Only the very best books are featured on BookAuthority. To keep BookAuthority's site objective and unbiased, ratings are calculated purely based on data. BookAuthority does not accept requests to feature books, nor does BookAuthority conduct business with publishers or authors.

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Let's Connect

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Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

The Story Behind “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” - Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company | Part 1

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The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, helps companies achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. A fantastic agile transformation outcome with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott's award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is the story behind the book—told by Scott. Identifying details have been changed and certain elements are not included.

This article is the first installment of the eight-part story.

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Part 1: The Call

The assistant to the executive vice president (EVP) of technology for a division of a global entertainment company contacted me by phone. I was told that I was referred by someone who knew me and thought I would be a good fit for contract work. A one-hour consultation with the EVP was scheduled for the next day. I then received an email with several attachments including a non-disclosure agreement which needed to be executed and brought to the meeting.

I brought the documents to the session. The EVP explained that his division of the company was experiencing an alarming trend of problems with project management. He reported that deliverables were not meeting expectations, there was a marked decline in satisfaction, and
this was characterized as "the straw that broke the camel's back"a highly skilled and very well-respected team member quit, citing the problems as her reason for departure.

After an hour with the EVP, we agreed to extend the meeting (initially, my complimentary consult) an additional hour (billable time). I learned that this division of the company previously used a traditional plan-driven/waterfall approach for development and delivery. The EVP explained that things worked reasonably well then and that they were "close enough" to being on-scope, on-budget, and on-time that team members and stakeholders were satisfied.

The EVP explained, however, that he wanted to adopt a model (Scrum) employed by some of the other divisions of the company. The EVP said that he conducted a search for a value-added reseller (VAR) to help his group move to agile. A VAR-partner of a popular software solution was selected, and the VAR transitioned the group to Scrum. Reportedly, very few problems surfaced during the VAR's contractual engagement, which ended two weeks into the first sprint (then, the duration for sprints was four weeks). Many problems surfaced subsequently, however. The VAR had been gone for two months at the time of my meeting with the EVP.

The EVP asked me to make things right. I explained that change depends on many people and multiple factors and that a specific end result could not be guaranteed. I suggested, however, that I'd be honored to work with his group in the first step
an assessmentwhich would help inform the subsequent work of foundational planning. The objectives of the assessment include working closely with the EVP, the Scrum Team and stakeholders to understand their goals—and the environment, roles and practices. He asked me when I could start. I asked him when he needed me, and he replied "immediately." I agreed to start the next day.

The Story Behind “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company continues with Part 2: The Goals.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

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Connect with
AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

The Story Behind “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” - Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company | Part 2

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The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, helps companies achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. A fantastic agile transformation outcome with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott's award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is the story behind the book—told by Scott. Identifying details have been changed and certain elements are not included.

This article is the second installment of the eight-part story. If you haven't already read the first post, you can find it here:
Part 1: The Call.

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Part 2: The Goals

Highlights related to the goals follow.

The executive vice president (EVP) identified his top three desired outcomes:

  1. Accelerate the development and delivery of products and services—to be faster than the earlier baseline of 6-12 months,
  2. Improve the satisfaction of the Scrum Team—to be the same or better than it was earlier with the traditional/waterfall approach, and
  3. Improve the satisfaction of stakeholders—to also to be the same or better than it was earlier with the traditional/waterfall approach.

I individually met with and carefully listened to each member of the Scrum Team. There were recurring themes. We then met as a group and I asked them to identify their top two or three goals. They discussed the matter, voted, and decided on these:

  1. Meet or exceed the expectations of management, and
  2. Deliver valuable products.

I individually met with executives from different departments (the stakeholders). In every case, they related that things were OK with the earlier traditional/waterfall approach, but that things were worse now. The stakeholders indicated that, with the earlier approach, someone on the project team worked with their group to gather requirements, and around 6-12 months later the results were deployed. However, it was reported that with the then-current approach, the projects' purpose and requirements were not understood, and that what was produced was unusable. The goals of the stakeholders were:

  1. For them or their representatives to be as—or more—involved as earlier with the traditional/waterfall approach, and
  2. Get a usable product as often as—or more frequently than—earlier with the traditional/waterfall approach.

Here's a recap of everyone's goals. The EVP wants the development and delivery of products and services to be faster than 6-12 months, improved satisfaction of the Scrum Team, and improved satisfaction of stakeholders. The Scrum Team wants to meet or exceed expectations of management, and deliver valuable products. The stakeholders want (themselves or via their representatives) to be more involved in requirements/user stories and get useable project-delivered products more frequently than every 6-12 months.

Everyone permitted their goals to be shared with others. After discussing the subject with the EVP, I wrote the goals on oversize paper and posted it in a common area proximate to the Scrum Team and accessible to the stakeholders.

Highlights on the environment, roles, and practices—primarily focused on the Scrum Team—follow.

The Story Behind “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company continues with Part 3: The Environment.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


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Let's Connect


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Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.


Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

The Story Behind “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” - Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company | Part 3

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The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, helps companies achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. A fantastic agile transformation outcome with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott's award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is the story behind the book—told by Scott. Identifying details have been changed and certain elements are not included.

This article is the third installment of the eight-part story. If you haven't already read the earlier parts, you can find them here:


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Part 3: The Environment


Highlights on the environment including roles and practices
primarily focused on the Scrum Teamfollow.

I learned that the Scrum Team was composed of 16 people: one Scrum Master, one Product Owner, and 14 Development Team members. Both the Scrum Master and the Product Owner explained that they were familiar with agile, but that they had no prior work experience with agile/Scrum and no related training—except for what was provided by the value-added reseller (VAR). The Development Team consisted of 14 people: a technical architect, a UI designer, a business analyst, seven developers, three testers, and a technical writer. Eleven of the 14 members of the Development Team had no prior work experience with agile/Scrum and no related training—except for what was provided by the VAR. Of the 16 people on the Scrum Team, 15 were local (at an office in the greater Los Angeles area), and one
the Product Ownerwas based out of her office in Paris, France.

Of the 16 people on the Scrum Team, two
the Scrum Master and the Product Ownerwere full time on the project. All of the others were allocated about 50% on the project.

I was given a copy of the training binder left by the VAR. I was told that the contents—about 500 pages—reflected the totality of the training and reference material. The training session, led by the VAR, was attended by the Scrum Master and the all of the Development Team members. The executive vice president (EVP) attended portions. The Product Owner attended portions, listening by phone. The first page in the binder covered the Agile Manifesto, the second page was a two-column table which compared and contrasted waterfall and Scrum (e.g., waterfall freezes scope, Scrum freezes schedule), and the third page showed success rates of waterfall vs. Scrum (e.g., 29% of waterfall projects fail vs. 9% of agile projects). The remaining pages provided information about the VAR company and detailed instructions on how to use their software product. That constituted the training.

The Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Development Team reported that they followed the training and instructions provided by the VAR. I won't delineate the then-current roles further or describe all of the events and artifacts. However, some examples follow.

The Product Owner created a product vision statement and stored it in the software, but nobody else remembered seeing it.

The Product Owner created a product backlog in the software, but nobody else claimed to have seen it.

The Scrum Master facilitated a Sprint Planning event where the Development Team estimated work in terms of complexity, and the results were recorded in the software tool. It was reported that
due to the time differencethe Product Owner did not attend Sprint Planning meetings.

It was communicated that during Sprint execution, the Scrum Master would ask the Development Team if they had any notable progress; and only if the answer was yes, there was a Daily Scrum. As a result, the Daily Scrum event occurred around once or twice a week. When the meeting took place, the Scrum Master did a quick interview with each member of the Development Team and noted the results in the software tool.

I was told that the team followed the recommendation of the VAR for the sprint duration of four weeks.

The Sprint Reviews were attended by the Scrum Master, the Product Owner (remotely), all of the Development Team members, and the EVP. However, the other stakeholders did not attend the events. On average, about half of the work planned and committed to the sprint was "done." Both "done" and not-"done" items were demonstrated at the Sprint Review.

The Scrum Master reported that the team did conduct a Retrospective event at the end of each sprint and that the results were saved in the software tool. When I reviewed the information, I saw comments such as "we worked very hard" under the what went well category. Everything under the "what didn't go so well/opportunities for improvements" category were ideas for enhancement requests for the software tool. I was informed that the VAR instructed staff to convert everything that didn't go well into a suggestion for a future general release of the software or a request for a custom enhancement of the software.

None of the work from any of the sprints was released.

The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company continues with Part 4: The Options.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

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Connect with
AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

"Agile Scrum" Online Bonus Content — Updated on 20 March 2019

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Online bonus material — containing an ever-growing list of supplemental content that comes free with the purchase of
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — was updated today.

Contents include satisfaction survey examples, quizzes, tools, select resources, and more. Information on how to access the online bonus material are provided inside the both the ebook and the paperback book.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

The Story Behind “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” - Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company | Part 4

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The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, helps companies achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. A fantastic agile transformation outcome with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott's award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is the story behind the book—told by Scott. Identifying details have been changed and certain elements are not included.

This article is the fourth installment of the eight-part story. If you haven't already read the earlier parts, you can find them here:


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Part 4: The Options


After gaining a broader and deeper understanding of the organization including their Scrum implementation, I met with the executive vice president (EVP) and we discussed next steps. I presented three options:

  • No change,
  • Revert to the earlier waterfall-only model, or
  • "We can try different things" (aligned with the value of openness) with the objective of improving their agile implementation and achieving their goals.

I said, "we can try different things" because while I believed that changes would likely result in improvements, success could not be guaranteed. I also said, "we can try different things" because any meaningful change would require the cooperation and collaboration of many people. The EVP decided on the third option: trying different things.

The doing of "different things" started with training. I first met with the EVP. I then met with the Scrum Master in several one-on-one meetings. And since he was committed to education and improvement, he later on completed the Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) training and certification. The Product Owner was unable to attend the office in person for one-on-one training, but we communicated by phone and Skype. The EVP soon decided that the Product Owner needed to be co-located with the Scrum Team. He found a new Product Owner within the organization. I met with the new Product Owner in multiple one-on-one sessions. And—similar to what occurred with the Scrum Master—since the new Product Owner was committed to education and improvement, he subsequently completed the Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) training and certification. I delivered training to the Development Team as a group. It included an overview and more in-depth coverage of certain topics such as pair programming and technical debt. Later on, some Development Team members completed the Certified Scrum Developer (CSD) training and certification. Stakeholder training follows next.

I delivered a one-hour overview of Scrum to the executive stakeholders in a group session. The attendees asked questions and made comments throughout the meeting. One stakeholder suggested that we do what the American Management Association says is best for Scrum. Then other attendees mentioned additional potential sources for information on agile. I explained that different organizations may have their own perspective on what works well for agile/Scrum, and that one way to go (I mentioned this in part to continue their engagement, involvement, and buy-in) is to look to the Scrum Alliance, a leading authority on the subject, but also see if others have ideas that are aligned with the authority and also fit the desired future state of the organization. I committed to doing the research and the stakeholders thanked me in advance.

I already had a library of 76 items on agile/Scrum—consisting of material from the Scrum Alliance, Project Management Institute, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Gartner, KPMG, Harvard Business Review, IEEE, MIT, Forbes, and many others. I expanded it to include sources mentioned by stakeholders during the training session and I diligently reviewed all of the content. The diverse sources identified several values and practices as being central in successful Scrum implementations, and such factors were typically consistent with guidelines from the Scrum Alliance. I then met with each of the stakeholders individually and presented them with a summary of information from the Scrum Alliance and others.

I facilitated a follow-up group meeting with the executive stakeholders. Information from the one-hour training and the diverse sources was summarized. The stakeholders concluded that the central problem with the then-current implementation was that people were not following good practices. They then discussed, voted, and identified what they viewed as the high-level top 10 success factors for a Scrum implementation at the organization based on the previously presented information. In no particular order, the top 10 items were:

  • Support from management;
  • Each member of the Scrum Team (Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development Team) is 100% allocated to the project;
  • There is an agile coach, agile Project Management Office or agile Center of Excellence;
  • Satisfaction is a crucial metric;
  • The Scrum Team has no more than 11 people;
  • The Scrum Team is co-located;
  • There are consistent practices and processes;
  • There is a digital wallboard or other information radiator;
  • There are frequent and high-quality interactions; and
  • There is continuous improvement/inspect and adapt.

Some of the items overlap/are not mutually exclusive, and the items are not exhaustive. I thanked the executive stakeholders for their support, and I told them that the 10 factors are built into the go-forward plan. The stakeholders expressed their appreciation.

The EVP and I conducted a mini-retrospective on the training sessions. The EVP was enthusiastic about what we've done so far, and he said that morale had improved. He authorized company-paid CSM, CSPO, and CSD trainings and certifications for staff (mentioned earlier). The EVP said we could advance to the next stage: piloting changes. I asked if he was open to terminating the use of the software tool introduced by the value-added reseller (VAR). He initially said that so much time and money had been invested in it that it would be hard to justify doing so. I said it differently: "We can try different things" could mean putting the software tool
on vacation for a period. He agreed. We moved to the pilot—which involved doing many things differently. Examples follow.

The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company continues with Part 5: The Pilot — Vision, Roadmap and Release Plan, and Product Backlog.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with
AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

The Story Behind “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” - Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company | Part 5

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The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, helps companies achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. A fantastic agile transformation outcome with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott's award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is the story behind the book—told by Scott. Identifying details have been changed and certain elements are not included.

This article is the fifth installment of the eight-part story. If you haven't already read the earlier parts, you can find them here:


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Part 5: The Pilot – Vision, Roadmap and Release Plan, and Product Backlog

We advanced to the pilot—which included doing many things differently. Examples follow.

The Product Owner and I discussed techniques on developing a product vision statement. He opted to use the template attributed to Geoffrey Moore. The Product Owner created a draft of the vision and sent it with a request for feedback to the stakeholders. After receiving feedback, the Product Owner revised and finalized the product vision. He wrote the statement on oversize paper and posted it in a prominent location where the Scrum Team (Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Development Team) and stakeholders could easily see it.

The Product Owner and I then discussed techniques on creating and maintaining a product roadmap/release plan. He opted for a simple table with four rows and four columns. The rows included:

  • Name (the title of the product or major release),
  • Goal (the reason for creating it),
  • Features (a high-level list of features), and
  • Estimated number of sprints.

For the columns, there was one for each quarter of the year. Similar to what was done with the product vision, the Product Owner sent the plan with a request for feedback to the stakeholders. After receiving feedback, the Product Owner revised and the plan, wrote it on oversize paper, and posted it next to the product vision statement.

Aspects of team formation were covered already. The new Scrum team totaled 11 people. All were co-located and 100% allocated to the project.

The Product Owner and I discussed techniques on developing and maintaining the product backlog. He opted to employ a simple table format with six columns:

  • ID#,
  • User story/description,
  • Category (he decided on four types: feature, bug, technical debt, and other),
  • Story point estimate for complexity,
  • Priority based on business value, and
  • Status.

To help with user stories, the Product Owner often referenced the INVEST (Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable) model developed by Bill Wake. For priority, the Product Owner initially used the MoSCoW method (Must have, Should have, Could have, or Won't have). Later, the Product Owner found the business value/risk method (where each item is rated as high or low in two dimensions—business value and risk, ...) to be the most beneficial, and the Product Owner continues to use that approach today. In a session facilitated by the Scrum Master, the Product Owner presented the user stories to the Development Team, and participants provided story points (using physical cards for the exercise) for estimates of complexity of each item. Later, the team tried t-shirt sizing (S, M, L, and XL designations) for estimates of complexity, but they decided to return to story points.

Previously, sprints were four weeks in length. Now the team was using the shorter duration of two weeks. A key benefit was that the Scrum value of focus was improved.

The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company continues with Part 6: The Pilot — Sprint Planning and Sprint Execution.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.


Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

The Story Behind “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” - Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company | Part 6

vggg-the-story-behind-asg-lowerres-1-squashed


The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, helps companies achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. A fantastic agile transformation outcome with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott's award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is the story behind the book—told by Scott. Identifying details have been changed and certain elements are not included.

This article is the sixth installment of the eight-part story. If you haven't already read the earlier parts, you can find them here:


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Part 6: The Pilot – Sprint Planning and Sprint Execution

The Product Owner, Scrum Master and I discussed sprint planning techniques. The Scrum Master decided that the meeting event would be handled via two separate sessions—part 1 (what will be committed to for the upcoming sprint) and part 2 (how to accomplish the work identified in part 1).

For sprint planning part 1, the timebox (not to exceed duration) for the meeting was calculated as:

  • 2
  • multiplied by the number of weeks in the upcoming sprint (2 in this case),
  • which equaled 4 hours for the event.

The Scrum Master made the following information visible during the event: start and end dates for the sprint, (after a sprint was completed) the results of the last sprint review event, and (after a sprint was completed) the results from the last sprint retrospective event. The Product Owner reminded the Development Team about the product vision statement, and the Product Owner shared the sprint goal (such as "implement shopping cart functionality ..."). The Development Team determined their capacity in work hours for the upcoming sprint. It was calculated as:

  • the number of people in the Development Team
  • multiplied by the number of project productive hours (which excluded time outside the sprint such as company meetings, trainings, vacation time, etc.) per workday
  • multiplied by number of workdays in the sprint.

(Estimation via story points, and prioritization by the Product Owner were already taken care of.)

For each item in the product backlog, participants discussed the user stories/requirements including acceptance criteria, assumptions, dependencies, risks, and anything else requiring a conversation to get a good understanding of the item. The Development Team then committed to the entries which they thought could be completed in the upcoming sprint. The technique they employed involved asking "Can we do this first item in the product backlog?" If the answer was yes, they selected it and proceeded to the next item and continued until the team believed that no more work could be done in the sprint. After the Development Team had worked together and had data on actual velocity (the number of story points completed in a sprint), they also considered that historical metric—comparing it with story points for items in the sprint. The Product Owner updated the product backlog, identifying the items committed by the Development Team to be done for the upcoming sprint.

For sprint planning part 2, the timebox for the meeting was calculated as:

  • 2
  • multiplied by the number of weeks in the upcoming sprint (2 in this case),
  • which equaled 4 hours for the event.

The Scrum team created the sprint backlog. It had the following columns:

  • ID#,
  • Description,
  • Story points,
  • Task information (meetings, designs, coding, code review, testing, etc.),
  • Estimation in hours (they adopted the practice that if effort is greater than eight hours, split the task into smaller ones),
  • Owner (where members of the Development Team self-assign tasks),
  • Status, and
  • Hours of work remaining.

During the meeting, the Scrum team compared the total estimated work hours for the sprint with the Development Team’s capacity (mentioned under the part 1 meeting) for the sprint. If the Development Team believed that the sprint backlog contained too much work to be done during the sprint, they collaborated with the Product Owner to remove one or more items. If the Development Team believed they could handle more work during the sprint, they worked with the Product Owner to move one or more of the high priority items from the product backlog to the sprint backlog.

The Product Owner, Scrum Master and I discussed sprint execution. Select examples of what was decided and done are highlighted next.

The Development Team set up a task board (also known as a Scrum board) to reflect the work in the current iteration. They went with a simple format. The board depicted work in rows and columns where rows included work items, and columns reflected status (To Do, Doing, and Done). Work was addressed from top (highest priority) to bottom, and work migrated from left to right on the task board as it progressed. The task board is also covered in the daily Scrum meeting.

The Scrum Master decided to use a sprint burndown chart to track and communicate progress during the sprint. He set it up and updated it each workday, usually immediately after the daily Scrum meeting.

The Scrum Master created an impediment backlog to capture things preventing the team from progressing or improving. This backlog was updated daily, typically immediately after the daily Scrum meeting.

At the daily Scrum meeting event, the Development Team shared status, plans, and any impediments. Before this pilot with changes, the team was not conducting the daily Scrum (or updating the task board, burndown chart, and impediments backlog) consistently. Under the pilot (and subsequently), the Development Team met for up to 15 minutes (timebox) each workday, and it was conducted at the same time (10:00 a.m.) each day. At this daily stand-up session, the Development Team and the Scrum Master met where the task board, sprint burndown chart, and impediment backlog were posted. Each Development Team member described what he/she worked on since the last Scrum meeting, and he/she updated the task board. Next, the same Development Team member explained what he/she would work on that day, and he/she updated the task board. Lastly, the same Development Team member reported any impediments. (The Scrum Master recorded any issues in the impediments backlog. If a discussion was required, it took place immediately after the daily Scrum. The Scrum Master helped resolve impediments.) The steps were repeated for other members of the Development Team.

The Scrum Team built an increment of functionality during every sprint, and the increment was potentially shippable because the Product Owner might decide for it to be implemented at the end of the sprint. Said differently, potentially shippable is defined by a state of confidence or readiness, and shipping is a business decision. Commencing with the pilot, the organization started releasing products as often as every sprint (two weeks).

The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company continues with Part 7: The Pilot — Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


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Let's Connect

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Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

The Story Behind “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” - Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company | Part 7

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The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, helps companies achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. A fantastic agile transformation outcome with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott's award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is the story behind the book—told by Scott. Identifying details have been changed and certain elements are not included.

This article is the seventh installment of the eight-part story. If you haven't already read the earlier parts, you can find them here:


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Part 7: The Pilot – Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective

The Scrum team—Product Owner, Scrum Master, and the Development Team—and I discussed techniques for the sprint review. The event is sometimes referred to as the sprint demo. The timebox (not to exceed duration) in hours for the meeting was calculated as:

  • 1
  • multiplied by the number of weeks in the upcoming sprint (2 in this case),
  • which equaled 2 hours for the event.

Participants included the Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team, and stakeholders. All of the stakeholders (the executives mentioned in earlier parts of the story) were invited to and attended the sprint review. At the session, the Product Owner welcomed attendees and communicated the agenda. He pointed out the sprint goal, which was displayed on the wall in the meeting room. Next, the Development Team listed the work that was committed to the sprint. They then listed the work that was completed and the work that was not completed. For each completed story/feature, the Development Team demonstrated the "done" working functionality and answered questions. Stakeholders were invited to interact with the "done" working functionality and they did so. Then the entire group reviewed the product backlog and collaborated on what to do next. The Product Owner incorporated feedback into the Product Backlog. It involved adding new items to the backlog and/or re-prioritizing existing items. After the sprint review, the Scrum Master incorporated any feedback related to problems into the impediments backlog.

The Scrum Master and I discussed techniques for the sprint retrospective event. The timebox in hours for the meeting was calculated as:

  • 0.75
  • multiplied by the number of weeks in the upcoming sprint (2 in this case),
  • which equaled 1.50 hours for the event.

At the sprint retrospective, the Development Team identified what went well, what didn't go well, and improvements to be implemented in the upcoming sprint—an example of inspection and adaptation. For improvements to be implemented, each member of the Development Team wrote their top one, two or three suggestions on sticky notes. Each idea got its own sticky note. Then the Development Team grouped the sticky notes into categories/themes, and they discussed the items and voted to determine the top one (initially limited to one, later it was raised to two) for adaptation and improvement. The Development Team committed to the change and the Scrum Master recorded the information.

The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company concludes with Part 8: The Success.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.


Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

The Story Behind “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” - Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company | Part 8

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The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, helps companies achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. A fantastic agile transformation outcome with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott's award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is the story behind the book—told by Scott. Identifying details have been changed and certain elements are not included.

This article is the final installment of the eight-part story. If you haven't already read the earlier parts, you can find them here:


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Part 8: The Success


By adopting an agile mindset and providing improved engagement, collaboration, transparency, and adaptability via Scrum's values, roles, events, and artifacts, the results were excellent. After one sprint, satisfaction ratings for the Development Team and stakeholders were higher than the target. After three sprints, the output of the Scrum Team became consistent and predictable, satisfaction increased even further, and all of the
seven goals mentioned earlier were achieved. Here's an overview:

🎯 Goal 1
  • Source: This goal was identified by the EVP (executive vice president)
  • Desired outcome: Develop and deliver products and services faster than 6-12 months
  • Result: The goal was achieved (with the agile transformation, delivery occurred as often as every two weeks)

🎯 Goal 2
  • Source: This goal was identified by the EVP
  • Desired outcome: Improve the satisfaction of the Scrum Team
  • Result: The goal was achieved

🎯 Goal 3
  • Source: This goal was identified by the EVP
  • Desired outcome: Improve the satisfaction of the stakeholders
  • Result: The goal was achieved

🎯 Goal 4
  • Source: This goal was identified by the Scrum Team (Scrum Master, Product Owner, and the Development Team)
  • Desired outcome: Meet or exceed the expectations of management
  • Result: The goal was achieved

🎯 Goal 5
  • Source: This goal was identified by the Scrum Team
  • Desired outcome: Deliver valuable products/services
  • Result: The goal was achieved

🎯 Goal 6
  • Source: This goal was identified by the stakeholders
  • Desired outcome: For stakeholders or their representatives to be more involved in requirements
  • Result: The goal was achieved

🎯 Goal 7
  • Source: This goal was identified by the stakeholders
  • Desired outcome: Get useable products delivered more frequently than 6-12 months
  • Result: The goal was achieved (with the agile transformation, delivery occurred as often as every two weeks)

The EVP, Scrum Team, and stakeholders declared the pilot a success and they made this implementation of Scrum the preferred approach for the development and delivery of products and services going forward.

In addition to achieving the goals summarized above, the agile transformation also supported the organization's efforts to innovate and drive their competitive advantage. It became more successful. As the business grew, so has the number of Scrum teams. Originally numbering one, the division presently has six Scrum teams.

This concludes
The Story Behind Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Agile Transformation at an Entertainment Company. The agile transformation experience was the inspiration for Scott M. Graffius’ book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. The publication helps technical and non-technical teams develop and deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, continuous improvement, and more. It has garnered 17 first place awards and credit is shared with Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, the technical editors on the publication. Scott and Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions have been featured in Yahoo Finance, the Boston Herald, NBC WRAL, the Dallas Business Journal, the PM World Journal, Learning Solutions, Innovation Management, and additional media publications. A trailer, high-resolution images, reviews, and a detailed list of awards are in the digital media kit.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

Certified ScrumMaster Included in List of 11 Most Valuable Technology Certifications

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In Tech, there's no substitute for experience. However, certifications remain a valuable tool for advancing one's career. Employers want candidates with up-to-date knowledge and skills, and certifications demonstrate a person’s mastery of the respective subject. Eleven certifications emerged as the most valuable in Technology and one of them is related to agile project management. [1] [2]

These are the most highly valued technology certifications today:

1. Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
2. AWS Certified Solutions Architect
3. Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
4. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
5. Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
6. Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP)
7. CompTIA A+
8. Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC)
9. ITIL
10. Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure
11. Project Management Professional (PMP)

If you're interested in learning about the Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification, visit the
Scrum Alliance.

Many employers prefer to hire certified professionals, especially those who also have college degrees and successful work experience to accompany them. Those who invest in professional credentials typically enjoy larger salaries among other benefits.

Sources:

[1] Robert Half. “Which IT Certifications are Most Valuable?” The Robert Half Blog. October 4, 2018,
https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/salaries-and-skills/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable.

[2] Robert Half Technology (2018).
Technology Salary Guide 2019. Menlo Park, CA: Robert Half International, Inc.

A version of this article also appears at
ScottGraffius.com and Exceptional-PMO.com. Both of those sites and AgileScrumGuide.com are owned by Scott M. Graffius.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.


Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

Content from "Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" Featured in Story Published by Computer Weekly

quote computer weekly LR


Content from
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by Scott M. Graffius was featured in a piece by Tech journalist Adrian Bridgwater, published by Computer Weekly. Here's an excerpt from the story:

“As the Agile author Scott M. Graffius put it: ‘If you don’t collect any metrics, you’re flying blind. If you collect and focus on too many, they may be obstructing your field of view.’”

The credit is shared with
Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, the technical editors on Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242). For additional information on Agile Scrum, please see the digital media kit.

You can read the story (Bridgwater, Adrian. “Plandek Co-CEO: 5 Areas for Agile Team Self-Improvement.” ComputerWeekly.com, April 30, 2019) here:
https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/CW-Developer-Network/Plandek-co-CEO-5-areas-for-Agile-team-self-improvement

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

black_spacer_lr_sq_v3



© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

Scott M. Graffius Named Author of the Week by AUTHORSWEEK for His New Title, Agile Transformation

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AUTHORSWEEK named Scott M. Graffius as Author of the Week for his new title, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. This is Scott's second book. His first title, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, garnered 17 first place awards.



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About the Author

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Scott M. Graffius is a project management expert, consultant, speaker, and author. He is CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, a professional services firm, where he partners with client companies to help them achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects in public and private companies with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. Scott's first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), garnered 17 first place awards from national and international competitions. Scott and Agile Scrum have been featured in Yahoo Finance, the Boston Herald, Learning Solutions, Informa, Innovation Management, and additional media publications. He regularly speaks at conferences and other events around the world. For additional information on Scott, see his bio.

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About the Book


Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits. Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 978-1072447962) provides a revealing behind-the-scenes story about an actual successful agile implementation at a global entertainment company.

The award-winning book — a quick (60-90 minute) read — is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle formats in the
United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.



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About AUTHORSWEEK

AUTHORSWEEK provides a weekly round-up of the latest book releases and author platform programs. For additional information, visit their website at
AUTHORSWEEK.COM.

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Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

"Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" Included in List of Books in “A Scrum Practitioner’s Guide to Software Development – What’s on Your Bookshelf?”

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Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
is included in a list of books in “A Scrum Practitioner’s Guide to Software Development – What’s on Your Bookshelf?” by Michael Tomlin. Thank you!

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

black_spacer_lr_sq_v3



© Copyright 2019 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

Gartner Featured Content from Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

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The photo was taken during Gartner VP Cathleen Blanton’s session, IT Governance in Government: Secret Weapon or Most Dreaded Chore?, at the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo in Orlando, Florida on October 20, 2019.

The quote on metrics ("If you don’t collect any metrics, you’re flying blind. If you collect and focus on too many, they may be obstructing your field of view.") is from
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step InstructionsScott M. Graffius, Author; Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, Technical Editors.

The whole context of the presentation was on governance and decision-making. Cathleen conveyed that the idea for the slide pictured was that if you measure something that matters, you can use those metrics to drive better behavior through visibility and focus.



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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, PMP, ITIL, LSSGB is a project management expert, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker. He is a Principal Consultant and the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, a professional services firm, where he helps clients strengthen their project management capabilities and realize their strategic objectives and business initiatives. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private companies with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. Scott is the author of two award-winning books on agile project management,
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 978-1533370242) and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 978-1072447962). Scott's content has been used by businesses, governments, and universities—including Gartner, Cisco, RSA, Ford, LITE-ON Technology Corporation, Liberty Mutual Group, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, James Madison University, Santa Clara University, Brigham Young University, Texas A&M University, The Open University, Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, and others. He regularly speaks at in-person and virtual online conferences and other events around the world. Additional information is available in Scott’s full bio at https://www.exceptional-pmo.com/who_we_are/bio.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


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About
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

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Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.

Based on actual events,
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.

The award-winning book by
Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.



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About Cathleen Blanton

Cathleen Blanton, Vice President at Gartner, is a member of their Public Sector Government team. She focuses on U.S. Federal agencies, covering strategic planning, governance, and ensuring IT enables businesses and mission value. Cathleen specializes in helping CIOs position themselves to partner with executive counterparts on the issues that help their organizations achieve outcomes in both efficiency and mission effectiveness. She takes an approach that is both pragmatic and tailored to organizations’ culture. For more information, visit
https://www.gartner.com.

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About Gartner IT SymposiumXpo

Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo is billed as “the world's most important gathering of CIOs and IT executives.” The conference enables more than 9,000 attendees to shape the future of IT and business strategies. For details, visit
https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/symposium-us.

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About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading research and advisory company and a member of the S&P 500. They equip business leaders with indispensable insights, advice and tools to achieve their mission-critical priorities today and build the successful organizations of tomorrow. To learn more, visit
https://www.gartner.com.

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Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2020 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter

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🔥 The top 10 list was updated. You can see the latest version here.

This is a select list of agile project management thought leaders and influencers on Twitter. We started with over 200 prominent accounts and we got it down to the top 10. We're transparent about the criteria for making this list, so here's how we did it. To qualify, Twitter accounts were required to meet all of the following characteristics:

  • account is for a person or a professional association,
  • account is 3 or more years old,
  • account is active (1 or more tweets in the last 30 days),
  • 1,000 or more tweets,
  • 7,000 or more followers, and
  • 90% or more of tweets have engagement (e.g., likes and retweets).

The list is sorted by engagement level, presented in descending order. In cases where multiple accounts have the same engagement level, the number of followers breaks the tie. Data source: Twitter. Data is as of September 9, 2020. Disclosure: Scott M. Graffius is the author of
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. Source of screen shot images: respective Twitter accounts. Names, marks, and images are the property of their respective owners. Here are the top 10 accounts meeting all of the criteria described above.

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#1
Scott M. Graffius

scottgraffiusforblog11

  • Twitter handle: @scottgraffius
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/scottgraffius
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "I'm an agile project management consultant, practitioner, award-winning author, and keynote speaker. Thinkers360 named me a top thought leader and influencer."
  • Account is 10 years old
  • 187 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 4,292 tweets
  • 8,053 followers
  • 100% of tweets have engagement

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#2
Project Management Institute (PMI)

pmiforblog2

  • Twitter handle: @pminstitute
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/pminstitute
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Our mission—Making you and your projects more successful."
  • Account is 11 years old
  • 175 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 23,118 tweets
  • 128,093 followers
  • 99% of tweets have engagement

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#3
Scrum Alliance

scrumallianceforblog

  • Twitter handle: @scrumalliance
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ScrumAlliance
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "We are Transforming the World of Work. Since 2001, we have supported the agile movement as the only member-driven nonprofit certifying body in the agile space."
  • Account is 11 years old
  • 23 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 9,835 tweets
  • 59,324 followers
  • 98% of tweets have engagement

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#4
PM Voices

pmvoicesforblog2

  • Twitter handle: @pmvoices
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/pmvoices
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Insights on all things PM, created by and for project practitioners"
  • Account is 11 years old
  • 47 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 10,873 tweets
  • 52,250 followers
  • 98% of tweets have engagement

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#5
Mike Cohn

mikeforblog

  • Twitter handle: @mikewcohn
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/mikewcohn
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "I'm an agile software development consultant, trainer, author and practitioner. I blog at http://mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog #MGSClasses"
  • Account is 11 years old
  • 11 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 5,187 tweets
  • 48,218 followers
  • 97% of tweets have engagement

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#6
Jeff Sutherland

jsforblog2

  • Twitter handle: @jeffsutherland
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/jeffsutherland
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Co-Creator of #Scrum"
  • Account is 12 years old
  • 6 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 2,523 tweets
  • 49,615 followers
  • 96% of tweets have engagement

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#7
Alistair Cockburn

acforblog

  • Twitter handle: @TotherAlistair
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/TotherAlistair
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Chaotic-good Lawful-neutral project witchdoctor. Bard. Dancer, specialty massage, poet. Sits underwater. Playful, wreaks havoc on the unsuspecting."
  • Account is 11 years old
  • 67 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 30,365 tweets
  • 29,342 followers
  • 96% of tweets have engagement

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#8
Lisa Crispin

lcforblog2

  • Twitter handle: @lisacrispin
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/lisacrispin
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Now available, Amazon & LeanPub: _Agile Testing Condensed_! See AgileTestingFellow.com, agiletester.ca, She/her. Quality owner, @OutSystems R&D, #o11y-bound!"
  • Account is 12 years old
  • 413 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 134,332 tweets
  • 19,618 followers
  • 96% of tweets have engagement

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#9

Agile Alliance

agileallianceforblog

  • Twitter handle: @agilealliance
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/agilealliance
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Agile Alliance is a nonprofit global member organization dedicated to promoting the concepts of #Agile software development as outlined in the #AgileManifesto."
  • Account is 10 years old
  • 127 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 9,636 tweets
  • 34,045 followers
  • 93% of tweets have engagement

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#10
Roman Pichler

romanforblog

  • Twitter handle: @romanpichler
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/romanpichler
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Product management expert. Author of 'How to Lead in Product Managment’, ‘Strategize', and 'Agile Product Management with Scrum.'"
  • Account is 10 years old
  • 2 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 1,819 tweets
  • 14,151 followers
  • 93% of tweets have engagement

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Follow the 10 Twitter accounts listed above to join the conversation and learn ideas for implementing agile.

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Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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This story was simultaneously published here at https://agilescrumguide.com and at https://www.exceptional-pmo.com.

© Copyright 2020 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

Agile Project Management Influencer Scott M. Graffius to Speak at CIE Chaper of Project Management Institute

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Agile project management expert, author, and influencer Scott M. Graffius will present “10 Ways to Score and Prioritize Project Proposals Based on Multiple Factors, Including Strategic Alignment” at a virtual event of the California Inland Empire Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMICIE). The session will occur on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. It will be Scott's third talk at the PMICIE. The event is open to everyone (PMICIE membership is not required). For more information and to register, visit here.

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Description of Talk

How does your organization assess proposals for new projects? Is there a well-defined scoring and prioritization process — based on alignment with the business’ strategic objectives and other factors — to quickly and easily identify the objective value of each proposal (including how important it is relative to other initiatives)? If the answer is “no,” keep reading. If the answer is “yes,” you are likely to find practical information and examples in this talk to adapt and adopt to improve the process at your organization.

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How You Will Benefit (Key Learning Objectives)

This talk will help you develop and enhance the contributions you make to your organization by being able to:

  • Understand the benefits of scoring and prioritizing project proposals based on strategic alignment and other factors.
  • Identify selection and prioritization criteria appropriate for your unique organization, leveraging the flexible framework and some or all of the 10 factors presented during the talk.
  • Put the practical, actionable information presented to use. During the session, we will run an example project proposal through the process, step-by-step. You will receive a summary “cheat sheet” that you can reference as a guide to help implement or improve this process at your organization.

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Audience

This session is designed to be of value to project, program, and portfolio managers; project, program, and portfolio management office staff; Center of Excellence staff; Scrum Masters, Product Owners, agile coaches, and other agile practitioners and staff; executives making decisions about organization strategy; functional managers; researchers; customers; and additional stakeholders.

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References

The talk draws on the speaker’s first-hand experience, with his guidance supported by related standards, best practices, and recommendations from the Project Management Institute, IEEE, MIT, Harvard Business Review, Scrum Alliance, Deloitte, and others.



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Speaker Bio

ScottGraffius-181024_1000x1000_152KB-lowres-sq

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management consultant, practitioner, award-winning author, and keynote speaker. Content from his books, speaking engagements, and more has been used by businesses, governments, and universities, including: Gartner, Cisco, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Bayer, the United States Department of Energy, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, Texas A&M, and others. Thinkers360 named Scott a Top 20 Global Thought Leader and Influencer on Agile. His full-length bio is available at:
https://bit.ly/bio-smg.

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About the Project Management Institute California Inland Empire (PMICIE) Chapter

The PMICIE—chartered by the Project Management Institute in 2002—is based in Rancho
Cucamonga, California. Committed to the advancement of the project management profession, the Chapter provides its members with networking, training, and professional development opportunities. Its website is https://pmicie.org.


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Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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© Copyright 2020 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter: Updated for 2021

(2021 update) 10 agile asg yellow-and-blue LR-squashed
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Agile Workflows

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🔥 The top 10 list was updated. You can see the latest version here.

Follow these top agilists to learn ideas for implementing agile.

This is a select list of agile project management thought leaders and influencers on Twitter. We started with over 220 prominent accounts and we got it down to the top 10. We're transparent about the criteria for making this list, so here's how we did it. To qualify, Twitter accounts were required to meet all of the following characteristics:

  • account is for a person or a professional association,
  • account is 3 or more years old,
  • account is active (defined as 1 or more tweets in the last 30 days),
  • 1,000 or more tweets,
  • 7,000 or more followers,
  • 90% or more of tweets have engagement (e.g., likes and retweets), and
  • Tweets were retweeted 0.75 or more times on average.

The list is sorted by engagement level (weighted at 4) and the sub-factor of average retweets per tweet (weighted at 1). In cases where multiple accounts have the same engagement level or average retweets, the number of followers breaks the tie. Data source: Twitter. Data is as of April 24, 2021. Disclosure: Scott M. Graffius is the author of
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. Source of screen shot images: respective Twitter accounts. Names, marks, and images are the property of their respective owners. Here are the top 10 accounts meeting all of the criteria described above.

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#1
Project Management Institute (PMI)

2021-pmi-tw-squashed

  • Name: Project Management Institute (PMI)
  • Twitter handle: @pminstitute
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/pminstitute
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Our mission—Making you and your projects more successful."
  • Account is 12 years old
  • 269 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 25,331 tweets
  • 131,844 followers
  • 100% of tweets have engagement
  • Tweets were retweeted 2.78 times on average
  • Project Management Institute (@PMInstitute) placed 1st

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#2
Scott M. Graffius

graffius-twitter-2021-squashed

  • Name: Scott M. Graffius
  • Twitter handle: @scottgraffius
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/scottgraffius
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Agile project mgmt. practitioner and consultant. CEO @Exceptional_LLC. Author @AgileScrumGuide. International speaker. Named a top thought leader & influencer."
  • Account is 11 years old
  • 275 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 6,222 tweets
  • 8,423 followers
  • 100% of tweets have engagement
  • Tweets were retweeted 3.44 times on average
  • Scott M. Graffius (@scottgraffius) placed 2nd

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#3
Jeff Sutherland

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  • Name: Jeff Sutherland
  • Twitter handle: @jeffsutherland
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/jeffsutherland
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Co-Creator of #Scrum and #ScrumatScale and Signatory of the #AgileManifesto"
  • Account is 13 years old
  • 1 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 2,537 tweets
  • 51,129 followers
  • 98% of tweets have engagement
  • Tweets were retweeted 10.25 times on average
  • Jeff Sutherland (@jeffsutherland) placed 3rd

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#4
Scrum Alliance

2021-sa-tw-squashed

  • Name: Scrum Alliance
  • Twitter handle: @scrumalliance
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ScrumAlliance
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "We are Transforming the World of Work. Since 2001, we have supported the agile movement as the only member-driven nonprofit certifying body in the agile space."
  • Account is 12 years old
  • 55 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 10,142 tweets
  • 60,437 followers
  • 98% of tweets have engagement
  • Tweets were retweeted 2.44 times on average
  • Scrum Alliance (@ScrumAlliance) placed 4th

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#5
Mike Cohn

2021-mc-twitter-squashed

  • Name: Mike Cohn
  • Twitter handle: @mikewcohn
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/mikewcohn
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "I'm an agile software development consultant, trainer, author and practitioner. I blog at http://mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog #MGSClasses"
  • Account is 12 years old
  • 16 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 5,288 tweets
  • 49,137 followers
  • 97% of tweets have engagement
  • Tweets were retweeted 7.66 times on average
  • Mike Cohn (@mikewcohn) placed 5th

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#6
Alistair Cockburn

2021-ac-twitter-squashed

  • Name: Alistair Cockburn
  • Twitter handle: @TotherAlistair
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/TotherAlistair
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Chaotic-good Lawful-neutral project witchdoctor. Bard. Dancer, specialty massage, poet. Sits underwater. Playful, wreaks havoc on the unsuspecting."
  • Account is 12 years old
  • 74 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 32,299 tweets
  • 30,044 followers
  • 96% of tweets have engagement
  • Tweets were retweeted 1.62 times on average
  • Alistair Cockburn (@TotherAlistair) placed 6th

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#7
Lisa Crispin

2021-lc-tw

  • Name: Lisa Crispin
  • Twitter handle: @lisacrispin
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/lisacrispin
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Now available, Amazon & LeanPub: _Agile Testing Condensed_! See http://AgileTestingFellow.com, http://agiletester.ca, She/her. Let's succeed w continuous delivery together."
  • Account is 13 years old
  • 383 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 140,849 tweets
  • 20,088 followers
  • 96% of tweets have engagement
  • Tweets were retweeted 0.78 times on average
  • Lisa Crispin (@lisacrispin) placed 7th

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#8
Roman Pichler

2021-roman-twitter-squashed

  • Name: Roman Pichler
  • Twitter handle: @romanpichler
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/romanpichler
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Product management expert. Author of 'How to Lead in Product Managment’, ‘Strategize', and 'Agile Product Management with Scrum.'"
  • Account is 11 years old
  • 3 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 1,882 tweets
  • 15,188 followers
  • 94% of tweets have engagement
  • Tweets were retweeted 8.7 times on average
  • Roman Pichler (@romanpichler) placed 8th

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#9
PM Voices

voices-twitter-2021-squashed

  • Name: PM Voices
  • Twitter handle: @pmvoices
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/pmvoices
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "Insights on all things PM, created by and for project practitioners"
  • Account is 12 years old
  • 61 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 11,296 tweets
  • 53,205 followers
  • 95% of tweets have engagement
  • Tweets were retweeted 1.33 times on average
  • PM Voices (@PMvoices) placed 9th

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#10

Agile Alliance

2021-aall-twitter-squashed

  • Name: Agile Alliance
  • Twitter handle: @agilealliance
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/agilealliance
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: "#Agile Alliance is a global nonprofit membership organization dedicated to people and organizations that apply the values and principles of the #AgileManifesto"
  • Account is 11 years old
  • 98 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 10,526 tweets
  • 35,036 followers
  • 90% of tweets have engagement
  • Tweets were retweeted 1.84 times on average
  • Agile Alliance (@AgileAlliance) placed 10th

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Follow the 10 Twitter accounts listed above to join the conversation and learn ideas for implementing agile.

black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

black_spacer_lr_sq_v3



This story was simultaneously published here at https://agilescrumguide.com and at https://www.exceptional-pmo.com.

The short link for this article is:
bit.ly/twitter-agile.

© Copyright 2021 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum




Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2022

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Agile Workflows

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If you're involved or interested in agile, and you're on Twitter, this article highlights agile thought leaders and influencers you may want to follow on the platform.

We started with over 300 accounts and progressively refined it down to the top 10. We're transparent about the criteria and calculations for making this list, so here's how we did it. To qualify, Twitter accounts were required to meet all of the following six characteristics:

  • Account is for a person or a professional association,
  • Account is 3 or more years old,
  • Account is active (defined as 1 or more tweets in the last 30 days),
  • 1,000 or more tweets,
  • 7,000 or more followers, and
  • 90% or more of tweets have engagement (e.g., likes and retweets).

The accounts meeting the above qualifications were ranked ordered and weighted on three factors:

  • Number of followers (weighted at 1x),
  • Number of tweets in the last 30 days (weighted at 1x), and
  • Percent of tweets with engagement (because this reflects the effectiveness of tweets, and to what degree they are connecting with followers, it was weighted higher—at 3x).

The top 10 accounts based on the criteria and calculations follow.

Notes: The data source is Twitter, and the data was collected on December 9, 2021. Disclosure: Scott M. Graffius is the author of Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. Source of screen shot images: Respective Twitter accounts. Names, marks, and images are the property of their respective owners.

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Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter

#1 Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius

  • Twitter handle: @scottgraffius
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/scottgraffius
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: “Agile project and PMO management leader. Consultant: @Exceptional_LLC. Author: @AgileScrumGuide. Speaker: bit.ly/entmt. Named a thought leader and influencer.”
  • Account is 11.7 years old
  • 375 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 8,572 tweets
  • 8,311 followers
  • 100% of tweets have engagement

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#2 Project Management Institute (PMI)

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Project Management Institute (PMI)

  • Twitter handle: @pminstitute
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/pminstitute
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: “Our mission—Making you and your projects more successful.”
  • Account is 12.8 years old
  • 230 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 27,551 tweets
  • 134,096 followers
  • 96% of tweets have engagement

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#3 Jeff Sutherland

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Jeff Sutherland

  • Twitter handle: @jeffsutherland
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/jeffsutherland
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: “Co-Creator of #Scrum and #ScrumatScale and Signatory of the #AgileManifesto”
  • Account is 13.6 years old
  • 3 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 2,548 tweets
  • 51,450 followers
  • 98% of tweets have engagement

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#4 Mike Cohn

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Mike Cohn

  • Twitter handle: @mikewcohn
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/mikewcohn
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: “I'm an agile software development consultant, trainer, author and practitioner. I blog at mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog #MGSClasses”
  • Account is 12.4 years old
  • 17 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 5,385 tweets
  • 49,905 followers
  • 98% of tweets have engagement

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#5 Scrum Alliance

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Scrum Alliance

  • Twitter handle: @scrumalliance
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ScrumAlliance
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: “We are Transforming the World of Work. Since 2001, we have supported the agile movement as the only member-driven nonprofit certifying body in the agile space.”
  • Account is 12.8 years old
  • 27 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 10,369 tweets
  • 61,016 followers
  • 96% of tweets have engagement

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#6 Lisa Crispin

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Lisa Crispin

  • Twitter handle: @lisacrispin
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/lisacrispin
  • Bio/description as shown on Twitter account: “Now available, Amazon & LeanPub: _Agile Testing Condensed_! See http://AgileTestingFellow.com, http://agiletester.ca, She/her. Let's succeed w continuous delivery together.”
  • Account is 13.5 years old
  • 452 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 145,111 tweets
  • 21,089 followers
  • 96% of tweets have engagement

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#7 PM Voices

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PM Voices

  • Twitter handle: @pmvoices
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/pmvoices
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: “Insights on all things PM, created by and for project practitioners”
  • Account is 12.5 years old
  • 44 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 11,661 tweets
  • 53,667 followers
  • 94% of tweets have engagement

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#8 Alistair Cockburn

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Alistair Cockburn

  • Twitter handle: @TotherAlistair
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/TotherAlistair
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: “Chaotic-good Lawful-neutral project witchdoctor. Bard. Dancer, specialty massage, poet. Sits underwater. Playful, wreaks havoc on the unsuspecting. He/him”
  • Account is 13.1 years old
  • 31 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 34,043 tweets
  • 30,981 followers
  • 95% of tweets have engagement

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#9 Scrum.org

09_Scrumdotorg_JPEG_LR-SQ

Scrum.org

  • Twitter handle: @Scrumdotorg
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/Scrumdotorg
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: “Scrum.org, the Home of Scrum, was founded by Scrum co-creator Ken Schwaber as a mission-based organization to help people and teams solve complex problems.”
  • Account is 11.8 years old
  • 101 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 10,705 tweets
  • 46,591 followers
  • 91% of tweets have engagement

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#10 Agile Alliance

10_AgileAlliance_JPEG_LR-SQ

Agile Alliance

  • Twitter handle: @agilealliance
  • Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/agilealliance
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: “#Agile Alliance is a global nonprofit membership organization dedicated to people and organizations that apply the values and principles of the #AgileManifesto”
  • Account is 11.5 years old
  • 41 tweets in the last 30 days
  • 11,144 tweets
  • 35,920 followers
  • 91% of tweets have engagement

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Follow the 10 Twitter accounts to learn ideas on agile.

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Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with
AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

black_spacer_lr_sq_v3



This story was simultaneously published here at https://AgileScrumGuide.com and at https://Exceptional-PMO.com.

The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/agile-2022

© Copyright 2022 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023

Top 10 - Hearder for Blog - ASG - 1000w - lr
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Agile Workflows

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If you're involved or interested in agile—and you're on Twitter—this article highlights agile thought leaders and influencers you may want to follow on the platform.

2023 Update

We started with over 400 Twitter accounts and progressively refined it down to the top 10. We're transparent about the criteria and calculations for making this list; so, here's how we did it.

To qualify, Twitter accounts were required to meet all of the following six characteristics:

  • Account is for a person or a professional association,
  • Account is 3 or more years old,
  • Account is active (defined as 5 or more tweets in the last 30 days),
  • 1,000 or more tweets,
  • 7,000 or more followers, and
  • 90% or more of tweets have engagement (e.g., likes and retweets).

The accounts meeting the above qualifications were then weighted and ranked ordered on three factors:

  • Number of followers (weighted at 1x),
  • Number of tweets in the last 30 days (weighted at 1x), and
  • Percent of tweets with engagement (because this reflects the effectiveness of tweets, and to what degree they are connecting with followers, it was weighted higher—at 3x).

How We Did It - Making the List in 2023 - AgileScrumGuide_com -LR-SQ

Notes: The data source is Twitter. Conducted analysis on 9/21/22. Edited story on 1/1/23. Disclosure: Scott M. Graffius is the author of Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. Source of screen shot images: Respective Twitter accounts. Names, marks, and images are the property of their respective owners.

The top 10 follow.

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#1 | Project Management Institute (PMI)


AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023 - 01 - LR-SQ

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#2 | Henrik Kniberg

  • Twitter handle: @HenrikKniberg
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/henrikkniberg
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Former Minecraft game designer/developer/coach @ Mojang. Cofounder of http://GoClimate.com. Like to jam! Previously Spotify/LEGO. I'm MrHenrik in MC.

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023 - 02 - LR-SQ

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#3 | Scott M. Graffius

  • Twitter handle: @ScottGraffius
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/scottgraffius
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Agile, project management and PMO leader. Award-winning author. Keynote speaker. Global Fortune 500 experience in leading business and tech transformations.

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023 - 03 - LR-SQ

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#4 | Scrum.org

  • Twitter handle: @ScrumDotOrg
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/Scrumdotorg
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Scrum.org, the Home of Scrum, was founded by Scrum co-creator Ken Schwaber as a mission-based organization to help people and teams solve complex problems.

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023 - 04 - LR-SQ

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#5 | Jeff Sutherland


AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023 - 05 - LR-SQ

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#6 | Mike Cohn

  • Twitter handle: @MikeWCohn
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/MikeWCohn
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: I'm an agile software development consultant, trainer, author and practitioner. I blog at http://mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog #MGSClasses

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023 - 06 - LR-SQ

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#7 | PM Voices


AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023 - 07 - LR-SQ

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#8 | Agile Alliance

  • Twitter handle: @AgileAlliance
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/AgileAlliance
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: #Agile Alliance is a global nonprofit membership organization dedicated to people and organizations that apply the values and principles of the #AgileManifesto

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023 - 08 - LR-SQ

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#9 | Scrum Alliance

  • Twitter handle: @ScrumAlliance
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/ScrumAlliance
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: We advance real-world agility by equipping changemakers with what they need to get the job and get the job done.

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023 - 09 - LR-SQ

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#10 | Esther Derby

  • Twitter handle: @EstherDerby
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/EstherDerby
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Coach and consultant. Helping ppl create work environments that are humane and productive. Podcast: http://changebyattraction.simplecast.com

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter in 2023 - 10 - LR-SQ

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Follow the 10 Twitter accounts for insights on agile.


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About Agile Scrum Author Scott M. Graffius

ScottGraffius-181024_1000x1000_152KB-lowres-sq

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi award-winning author, and highly sought-after international keynote speaker. He has generated over $1.75 billion of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the CEO and Principal Consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. Content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, U.S. Soccer Federation, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. National Park Service, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Warsaw University of Technology, and others. Graffius has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile and technology leadership at 82 conferences and other events across 24 countries.

His full bio is available
here.

Connect with Scott on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Follow Scott M Graffius ScottGraffius on Twitter - v Dec 21 2022 - 1000x1000 - lr - sq


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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

About
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Transformation_SQ_LR_1000x1000

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.

Based on actual events,
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.

The award-winning book by
Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.




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Let's Connect

Connect with
AgileScrumGuide.com on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

blue spacer line (3_5 pt at 1000 px)

This article was simultaneously published here and at https://www.exceptional-pmo.com.

The short link for this article is:
https://bit.ly/agile-2023

© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

The Agile Coach: An Infographic (2023 Edition)

Scott M Graffius - The Agile Coach - Infographic Visual - v Nov 4 2023 - LwRes
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Agile Workflows

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Agile is an iterative and incremental approach for the development and delivery of products and services, and organizations are increasingly embracing it to best meet their business needs. And an agile coach can increase the chances of a successful agile adoption or improvement.[1] [2]

Some define the agile coach role as “an individual who coaches agile teams” or a similar self-descriptive representation. A more detailed definition along with examples are presented in this article.

Scott M. Graffius — author of
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change — defines the agile coach as:

"The individual is an agile expert who provides guidance for new agile implementations as well as existing agile teams. The agile coach is experienced in employing agile techniques in different environments and has successfully run diverse agile projects. The individual builds and maintains relationships with everyone involved, coaches individuals, trains groups, and facilitates interactive workshops. The agile coach is typically from outside the organization, and the role may be temporary or permanent." [3]


Scott M. Graffius developed 'The Agile Coach' as a high-level visual on the role. It highlights the values, guiding principles, focus areas, tools, and activities for agile coaches.

  • Values include respect, courage, focus, openness, and commitment.
  • Principles include collaboration, technical excellence, transparency, continuous improvement, simplicity, fast and frequent delivery, and high satisfaction.
  • Focus areas include company; division or segment; product; tribe, squad, or team; and individuals.
  • Tools include data collection, visualization, best techniques, feedback, and agile process tools.
  • Activities include coaching, teaching, facilitating, and mentoring.

The updated, 2023 edition of the illustration appears at the top of this article. Permission request information is below.

Scott_M_Graffius_-_Blog_Spacer_-_v23111107_-_References

References/Sources

[1] Dikert, K., Paasivaara, M. & Lassenius, C. (2016). Challenges and Success Factors for Large-Scale Agile Transformations: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Systems and Software, 119, 87-108.

[2] Sureshchandra, K. & Shrinivasavadhani, J. (2008). Moving from Waterfall to Agile.
Proceedings from Agile, 2008: AGILE ’08 Conference. Toronto, ON, Canada.

[3] Graffius, Scott M. (2019):
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.

Scott_M_Graffius_-_Blog_Spacer_-_v23111107_-_Permission

Permission Request Information


To request permission to use Scott M. Graffius' 'The Agile Coach' infographic visual or any other part of this article,
contact Scott M. Graffius.

If a request is approved, terms and conditions will be provided along with — if applicable — a downloadable high resolution version of the infographic visual.




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About Scott M. Graffius

ScottGraffius-181024_1000x1000_152KB-lowres-sq

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at 89 conferences and other events across 25 countries. Visit https://ScottGraffius.com to learn more.

Connect with Scott on:

Follow_ScottGraffius_-_v22020507-SG-BLG-LR-SQ

black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Scrum_v22123107_LR_1000x503

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

About
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

Scott_M_Graffius_Agile_Transformation_SQ_LR_1000x1000

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.

Based on actual events,
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.

The award-winning book by
Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.



black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

Let's Connect

AgileScrumGuide_-_Follow_Up_on_Twitter_-_v22020407-ASG-BLG-LR-SQ

Connect with
AgileScrumGuide.com on:


And c
onnect with agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker Scott M. Graffius on:


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

A short URL for this article is:
https://bit.ly/tac-23

Digital asset

© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, AgileScrumGuide.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/AgileScrumGuide.com.



Award-Winning Book -Agile Scrum

Top 7 Agile Thought Leaders to Follow on X: 2024 Report

TOP 7 AGILE THOUGHT LEADERS AND INFLUENCERS TO FOLLOW ON X IN 2024 - AgileScrumGuide_com rev on Feb 11 2024 - LwRes
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Agile Workflows

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_introduction

Introduction


If you're involved or interested in Agile — and you're on X (formerly known as Twitter) — this article highlights Agile thought leaders and influencers you may want to follow on the platform.

Here are the criteria and calculations for making the list for 2024.

How We Did It - Making the List of Top Agile Thought Leaders in 2024 - AgileScrumGuide_com - LwRes

We started with over 500 X (formerly known as Twitter) accounts and progressively refined the list down to the top seven. We're transparent about the criteria and calculations for making the list, so here's how we did it.

Note: AgileScrumGuide.com is owned by Scott M. Graffius, the author of two multi-award-winning books on Agile - Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Graffius is not listed in this Top 7 article so that there’s no appearance of a conflict of interest.

To qualify, accounts were required to meet all of the following six characteristics: 

  • Account is for a person or a professional association,
  • Account is three or more years old,
  • Account is active (defined as five or more tweets in the last 30 days),
  • 1,000 or more tweets,
  • 7,000 or more followers, and
  • 90% or more of tweets have engagement (e.g., likes and retweets).

The accounts meeting the above qualifications were then weighted and ranked ordered on three factors: 

  • Number of followers (weighted at 1x),
  • Number of tweets in the last 30 days (weighted at 1x), and
  • Percent of tweets with engagement (because this reflects the effectiveness of tweets, and to what degree they are connecting with followers, it was weighted higher—at 3x).

The top seven accounts are based on the above criteria and calculations. Now, on to this list!

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_main2

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 1 PMI banner LwRes

#1
| Project Management Institute (PMI)


AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 1 PMI Feature LwRes

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AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 2 HK Banner LwRes

#2 | Henrik Kniberg

  • Twitter handle: @HenrikKniberg
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/henrikkniberg
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Former Minecraft game designer/developer/coach @ Mojang. Cofounder of http://GoClimate.com. Like to jam! Previously Spotify/LEGO. I'm MrHenrik in MC.

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 2 HK Feature LwRes

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AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 3 Scrum_org Banner LwRes

#3 | Scrum.org

  • Twitter handle: @ScrumDotOrg
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/Scrumdotorg
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Scrum.org, the Home of Scrum, was founded by Scrum co-creator Ken Schwaber as a mission-based organization to help people and teams solve complex problems.

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 3 Scrum_org Feature LwRes

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AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 4 Sutherland Banner LwRes

#4 | Jeff Sutherland


AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 4 Sutherland Feature LwRes

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AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 5 Cohn Banner LwRes

#5 | Mike Cohn

  • Twitter handle: @MikeWCohn
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/MikeWCohn
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: I'm an agile software development consultant, trainer, author and practitioner. I blog at http://mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog #MGSClasses

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 5 Cohn Feature LwRes

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AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 6 Agile Alliance Banner LwRes

#6 | Agile Alliance

  • Twitter handle: @AgileAlliance
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/AgileAlliance
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: #Agile Alliance is a global nonprofit membership organization dedicated to people and organizations that apply the values and principles of the #AgileManifesto

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 6 Agile Alliance Feature LwRes

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AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 7 Scrum Alliance Banner LwRes

#7
| Scrum Alliance

  • Twitter handle: @ScrumAlliance
  • Direct link: https://twitter.com/ScrumAlliance
  • Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: We advance real-world agility by equipping changemakers with what they need to get the job and get the job done.

AgileScrumGuide_com - Top 7 Agile - 2024 - SideBySide - 7 Scrum Alliance Feature LwRes

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_conclusion

Conclusion

If you're involved or interested in Agile and you're on X, be sure to follow the seven agile thought leaders and influencers highlighted in this article.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_cite

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2024, January 15). Top 7 Agile Thought Leaders to Follow on X: 2024 Report. Available at:
https://agilescrumguide.com/blog/files/leaders-2024.html.

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About Scott M. Graffius

ScottGraffius-181024_1000x1000_152KB-lowres-sq

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at 89 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

Connect with Scott on:



black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Order Your Award Winning Agile Scrum Book Today - TR Style - v Feb 18 2024 - LwRes

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions,
Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:

  • Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
  • Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
  • Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.


black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

About
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

scott_m_graffius_agile_transformation_sq_lr_1000x1000

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.

Based on actual events,
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.

The award-winning book by
Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.



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