Continuous Improvement

“Agile Scrum" Guide Nabs Silver Medal from Readers' Favorite International Book Awards

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Agile Workflows

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This is an experimental new type of article: a quick tip.

At the retrospective meeting—where the Development Team reflects on the just-concluded sprint and identifies ways to improve—participants may find it beneficial to ask themselves:

  • “How can we make a bigger positive impact?” and
  • “How can we achieve greater ease of work?”

9B2B retro retrospective LOWERRES

This tip is from the book,
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions.

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

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps technical and non-technical teams develop and deliver products at astounding speed with rapid adaptation to change and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage. The book has garnered 17 first place awards.

  • Title and subtitle: Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
  • Author: Scott M. Graffius
  • Technical Editors: Chris Hare and Colin Giffen
  • Formats: Paperback and ebook, both in full color
  • Pub Date: April 5, 2016 (paperback), May 20, 2016 (ebook)
  • Publisher: CreateSpace (paperback), Amazon Digital Services (ebook)
  • Price: Paperback $34.99 US, ebook $19.99 US
  • Pages: 156
  • ISBN-13: 978-1533370242 (paperback)
  • ASIN: B01FZ0JIIY (ebook)

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by Scott M. Graffius is offered in digital and print formats around the world.

Agile Scrum in ebook format (ASIN: B01FZ0JIIY) is available in:


Agile Scrum in paperback (ISBN-13: 9781533370242) is for sale in:


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, Innovation Management, and additional media outlets.

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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

NHD Podcast Included Content from "Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions"

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The NHD Podcast included an excerpt on metrics from
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. The quote is “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.” It appears at 46:40 in Episode 17 of the podcast.

The episode features:
  • Cathy Jones, executive at Healthscope
  • Cathy Balding, Director of Qualityworks PL, and Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University
  • David Balding, Professor of Statistical Genetics at the University of Melbourne, and Director of Melbourne Integrative Genomics

asg podcast july 2019 LR

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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 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. BookAuthority named it one of the best new books on Scrum. Scott regularly speaks at conferences and other events around the world. For additional information on Scott, see his bio.

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About the No Harm Done Podcast

The No Harm Done (NHD) Podcast is a podcast about improving, exploring, understanding, and getting on with healthcare safety and quality. For more information on the show — and to listen to or download content — visit the program's
website and iTunes.

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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

Content from Scott M. Graffius's "Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" Included in Kromatic's "Innovation Ecosystem Metrics"

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Agile Workflows

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Content from Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions was included in Kromatic’s “Innovation Ecosystem Metrics.” Thank you to Tristan Kromer.

“Innovation Ecosystem Metrics” is available at
http://bit.ly/asg-krmtc. The quote – located on slide 5 of the presentation, and shown in the accompanying image – is “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.”

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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 Author Scott M. Graffius

ScottGraffius-181024_1000x1000_152KB-lowres-sq

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. BookAuthority named it one of the best new books on Scrum. Scott regularly speaks at conferences and other events around the world. For additional information on Scott, see his bio.

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About Kromatic

Kromatic is a professional training and coaching firm. It helps companies get to market fast and reduce the cost of innovation. For more information, visit the company's
website.

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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

© 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" on Two Best Seller Lists at Bucher World

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Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions – originally published in 2016, and subsequently EXPANDED and UPDATED – has made several appearances on best seller lists. We're thrilled that the book currently appears on two best seller lists (Management and Project Management) at Bücher World (in English: Book World).

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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 Author Scott M. Graffius

ScottGraffius-181024_1000x1000_152KB-lowres-sq

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. BookAuthority named it one of the best new books on Scrum. Scott regularly speaks at conferences and other events around the world. For additional information on Scott, see his bio.

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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

© 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

2020 Updates to the Scrum Guide: 7 Key Changes, and Why There's No Impact to the Award-Winning Book Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

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Countless organizations and resources are vanguards of agile including Scrum. Many take guidance from the Scrum Guide, which is periodically revised. An updated version was released on November 18, 2020. This article highlights the key changes in the Scrum Guide. And it covers what impact — if any — those updates have on the award-winning publication, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions.

The update to the
Scrum Guide includes seven key changes. They are:

  1. The update is less prescriptive. For example, it removed the implied requirement of questions during the Daily Scrum.
  2. Before, the Scrum Team was comprised of the Development Team (the people doing the work), Scrum Master, and Product Owner. Now, the Scrum Team is composed of developers (the people doing the work), the Scrum Master, and the Product Owner.
  3. The update introduces the Product Goal.
  4. More information on the Definition of Done, and the Sprint Goal. (The Product Goal is covered above.)
  5. Before, the Development Team was referred to as self-organizing. The update uses the term self-managing and it notes that developers should choose who, how, and what to work on.
  6. “Why?” was added to the sprint planning topics. So, there are now three: what, how, and why.
  7. Unnecessarily complex information was removed.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions notes: “This guide incorporates the values and principles of agile along with information on typical successful Scrum implementations and best practices.” With a bibliography referencing 116 sources, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions was deliberately based on a large and diverse range of sources for the better. Here's just one example among many. While the Scrum Guide was silent on velocity, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions covers the topic: “For example, velocity — the most popular metrics — is not used by some people. However, this guide covers velocity and other leading practices.”

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is definitively not a restatement of a solitary source such as the Scrum Guide. Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions was thoughtfully designed to be “a refreshingly clear and easy to follow guide” based on typical successful implementations and best practices from a multitude of sources.

So, what is the impact — if any — of changes to the
Scrum Guide on Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions? That’s covered next. The scale of 0-10 is used, where 0 represents no impact and 10 indicates a significant impact.

Item 1: Less Prescriptive

  • Scrum Guide: The update to the Scrum Guide is less prescriptive. For example, it removed the implied requirement of questions during the Daily Scrum.
  • Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions: The book was already non-prescriptive. While it is centered on leading practices, it notes: “Every aspect does not need to be followed to the letter. Just as a value of agile is ‘individuals and interactions over processes and tools’ and a principle is ‘inspect and adapt,’ whatever approach you decide to use should be adjusted as appropriate to your unique circumstances.” That’s just one example.
  • Impact: 0.

Item 2: The Team

  • Scrum Guide: Before, the Scrum Team was comprised of the Development Team (the people doing the work), Scrum Master, and Product Owner. Now, the Scrum Team is comprised of developers (the people doing the work), the Scrum Master, and the Product Owner. Simply put, “Development Team” was changed to “developers.”
  • Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions: This label change should not impact how a Scrum Team works together. (Note: while the change may have been an attempt to simplify matters, calling them something other than developers may have been even better. In Scrum, developers are defined as those who do the work. However, for many people, a technology developer/engineer immediately comes to mind.)
  • Impact: Between 0 and 1.

Item 3: Product Goal

  • Scrum Guide: The update introduces the Product Goal.
  • Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions: The book already covers the Product Goal.
  • Impact: 0.

Item 4: Definition of Done, and the Sprint Goal

  • Scrum Guide: More information on the Definition of Done, and the Sprint Goal. (The Product Goal is covered above.)
  • Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions: The book already suitably covers the Definition of Done (including seven examples, and more) and the Sprint Goal.
  • Impact: 0.

Item 5: Self-Managing

  • Scrum Guide: Before, the Development Team was referred to as self-organizing. The update uses the term “self-managing” and it notes that developers should choose who, how, and what to work on.
  • Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions: The book already covers the who, how, and what to work on.
  • Impact: 0.

Item 6: Added “Why?” to Sprint Planning

  • Scrum Guide: “Why?” was added to the sprint planning topics. So, there are now three: what, how, and why.
  • Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions: The book already covers the “why” via the sprint goal during sprint planning.
  • Impact: 0.

7. Unnecessary complexities

  • Scrum Guide: Unnecessarily complex information was removed.
  • Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions: The book was conscientiously built to be “a refreshingly clear and easy to follow guide.” Unnecessary complexities were never included, so they don’t need to be removed.
  • Impact: 0.

The updates to the
Scrum Guide are helpful. However, as delineated above, they have no impact on the award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions.

Hailed as “a must-have” and “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully” and “a superbly written and presented guide that is applicable across a broad range of businesses from consumer products to high-tech,” award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by author Scott M. Graffius is a refreshingly clear and easy to follow guide based on typical successful implementations and best practices from a multitude of sources. The 2020 updates to the Scrum Guide have no impact on Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. Several updates to the Scrum Guide involved adding information that was already provided by Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions.



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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management consultant, practitioner, award-winning author, and international speaker. Content from his books, speaking engagements, and more has been used by businesses, governments, and universities, including: Gartner, Oracle, Cisco, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Bayer, the National Academy of Sciences, 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 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

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

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