Articles & Videos

Below is a selection of publications and presentations collated from the last few years:

Video: Languages of Appreciation in Agile Teams Oct 23, 2020

Respect is one of the core values of Scrum. This can be shown in many ways, including appreciation for our team members. In this session, I introduce the concept from Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Love Languages, and consider how this applies to our working relationships.

Blog: The Role of the Engineering Manager on the Scrum Team May 20, 2020

What is the Engineering Manager role and how does it fit into the Scrum team?

Blog: Recognition Sucks! Jan 27, 2020

A look at how we should be recognising people in our organisations.

Blog: What sort of Scrum Master are you? Jan 15, 2020

I have seen several patterns of behaviour that can characterise the way in which different people perform the Scrum Master role. Here, I give five examples of patterns that I have seen which can become anti-patterns when they are used persistently, in an inflexible and extreme manner.

Blog: Tracking Success in Agile Teams Dec 30, 2019

This article is about knowing what we're aiming for to be successful as a business and knowing what to measure within our teams to ensure we get there. It's not about measuring our teams, though, it's about empowering our teams to track their own success against the goals and vision of the business.

Blog: Futurespecting Agile Nov 9, 2019

I wrote this following the Agile in the City Bristol 2019 where I ran a session entitled Futurespecting Agile. We spent an hour thinking and talking about our dreams for Agile in 10 years’ time and how we could make these happen.

Blog: Burn-downs: Insights into the Sprint Nov 8, 2019

I put together this article as a light-hearted look at some of the most common, and in some cases comical, sprint burn-downs that we see in our Scrum teams. These patterns can be useful prompts to the questions that our team may wish to ask themselves at the end of their sprint.

Blog: Becoming Agile: Transitioning to Transformation Sep 27, 2019

I wrote this article to share some learnings and thoughts on what it actually takes to achieve Agile Transformation.

Video: Coaching Excellence - NLP Strategies for effective teams Aug 5, 2019

This interactive session was presented at the Scrum Event in London and shows how a selection of NLP principles can be used to increase our effectiveness when interacting with colleagues and teams.

Video: Uncover and Overcome Immunity to Change Jun 20, 2019

This workshop introduced an innovative coaching framework that can support individuals and teams to overcome their own immunity to change and succeed. It was also presented at the Global Scrum Gathering in Vienna in October 2019.

Video: The Link to What You Think  Jan 24, 2018 

In this session, we take a look at what Neuro-Linguistic Programming is, the techniques it uses and the unique ways it gives us to develop a fresh view on our world. If you want to think your way to better outcomes in your life then this session is for you!

Video: The Responsibility Process Sep 9, 2017

Agile teams are empowered to resolve their own problems but how do we take responsibility for, and own, the issues that we face? In this session, we take a look at Christopher Avery's Responsibility Process and what it means for us and our teams.

Blog: 3 Skills for an ACE Scrum Master Apr 24, 2017

As a ScrumMaster, I must unconditionally support my team members, but what transferrable skills can I borrow from elsewhere to help me do this?

Blog: Scrum Chums: The Product Owner and Scrum Master Partnership Feb 2, 2017

The Scrum Master (SM) and Product Owner (PO) fulfill two key roles for the team. They need a solid, supportive relationship and a united intent for the team. How do they achieve this?

Video: Languages of Love at the Office Nov 3, 2016

In this session, we look at how we can apply lessons from "The Five Love Languages" (a book by Gary Chapman) to our relationships in the workplace.

Blog: Can one size fit all? Dec 23, 2015

Blog: Cross-skilling: When opportunity meets desire Oct 9, 2015 

Cross-skilling seems to be a hot topic amongst our Scrum Teams at the moment. But what does this actually mean and why should anyone want to do it?

Blog: The role of the Scrum Master in empowering the team Mar 20, 2015

Blog: ScrumBan Mar 18, 2015

Blog: Size Matters: Estimating in Scrum Mar 15, 2015

Video: Empowering the Team Feb 15, 2015

In this session we look at the benefits of scrum teams and the role of a scrum master.