Artificial Intelligence9 min read
Skill Loss and GenAI - Make It a Choice, Not an Accident
If GenAI is right 95% of the time, how do we maintain the skill to recognize the cases where there is a mistake?
Read full articlePut an End to Ineffective Scrum
Deliver the right value with high quality, without feeling micromanaged or wasting time in pointless meetings.
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Which parts of the Scrum Master role still need a person?
Some of the Scrum Master job is getting more valuable, and some of it is quietly being absorbed by tools. Answer eight questions about how you actually spent your last couple of Sprints, and you’ll get a map of which is which, plus the one change I’d make first.
Eight questions, about three minutes. No score, no archetype.
We've helped 8000+ people find success using Scrum
Proud to be the trusted training provider for many of the largest financial, insurance, software, and education organizations, as well as all levels of Canadian government.
Mark is a gifted teacher who really takes the time to ensure those who take his ScrumMaster course understand the topics and know how to apply scrum to their particular company and role. His use of group activities help turn concepts that can intially seem very unspecific into concrete examples and true understanding, which is especially helpful to those of us who are not software engineers or in a technical field. I would highly recommend Mark and Agile Pain Relief to those looking for a ScrumMaster course.
Rhiannon BVirtual
I participated in the Certified Scrum Master course instructed by Mark Levison. Mark is a very well educated in the Agile Scrum methodology and presented the course material in a very entertaining way during the 2-day course. I learned a lot of things I had not previously known even though I had been practicing scrum for the past 5 years. I would highly recommend that every organization send their scrum focal’s to this training – it will help them advance their organization in implementing, and delivering scrum based projects, thus help their business be more successful.
Graham FVirtual
This was an excellent training. I really valued how engaging Mark was as a facilitator, everyone had the space to contribute and ask questions, and I loved how interactive and applicable it was, especially for myself outside of the software industry. It was incredibly fun and I learned a lot - I feel ready to step into a Scrum Master role and am excited at how it can improve the value we offer to clients at my organization.
Sarah HVirtual
This course has validated what I want to do for the rest of my career.
Diane KVancouver
It was fantastic. I wasn't sure what to expect given my non-technical background but Mark was an amazing facilitor.
Kristin MKitchener-Waterloo
Great instructor, very satisfied, will recomment! I brought my whole team with me, happy I did.
Joshua COttawa
Amazing instructor, was able to clearly explain complex concepts, made the course relevant and engaging! This will alow us to build strong agile teams.
Dylan HPrivate Client
Added some very interesting info as well as presented the material very well clearly.
Yvonne REdmonton
Energetic, clear, helpful, inspiring, a great teacher.
Nadil POttawa
Mark was excellent and lots of knowledge and passion about Scrum. His anecdotal stories were entertaining and informational.
Kevin MPrivate Client
Mark is very knowledgeable. He is a great instructor.
Nitin PToronto
Mark made the class enjoyable. I was initially dreading a 3 day course. After the first day I knew that I could live through the course.
Dickie BPrivate Client
Love the course and the personality and knowledge you bring!
Steve POttawa
Mark is very engaging and keeps things interesting during the course.
Adam MToronto
Mark harnessed the power of our diverse perspectives/skills/experience to create agile team enacting scrum as we applied our learning. This applied learning led us to knowledge sharing, trust, and mastery.
Danica MOttawa
Very enthusiastic and diplomatic. Very knowledgeable. Course was enjoyable.
Chris MKitchener-Waterloo
Mark did a great job of bringing the group into the basic tenets of Agile-Scrum whenever someone brought up a challenge/issue in the participant's particular situation.
Eric AMontreal
I enjoyed having Mark as an instructor, he is knowledgeable on the topic, provided easy to follow examples, and has a good sense of humour. I liked how he took notes on questions
people had, provided a brief answer and then provided links after the workshop so that we could follow up on the topics that interest us. The 10 min sanity breaks that he gave every
hour were great as it allowed my brain to relax and then come back and focus. I really enjoyed the course, I learned lots over the 2 day workshop. I feel like 2 days might be a bit short for the course as I would have enjoyed another day of the course to learn more and refine my skills. I would recommend this course to anyone new to the scrum master role or interested in learning about scrum as it gives you a great base that you can expand.
Christopher MVirtual
Mark is knowledgable and engaging. What I liked the most was that he stood his ground if anyone challenged what he taught (respectfully) and offered an explanation why.
Andrea MOttawa
Course was fantastic and informative. The instructor did his best to include as much of the expensive material as he could. It was engaging and fun to listen to. I would highly recomment this training to anyone interested in the Scrum methology.
Derrick BOttawa
Mark is a very engaging instructor.
Chris PEdmonton
Very knowledgable and lots of references. Puts things into context and gives lots of examples to relate to many businesses.
Brent MEdmonton
Mark has a great style of delivery even over zoom. He kept my attention and that of the class by using humor and explaining things very matter of factly. Therefore no confusion and the information actually stuck. He understands what it takes to deliver an engaging session by having a number of break out activities that were fun and comfortable. Thank you Mark!
Deborah RVirtual
Very well done. Good introduction of the concepts, good use of technology, good practical incorporation of the methods being taught into the course itself, 10/10
Adam GVirtual
Great energy. Interesting course material.
Julie CToronto
Course gave me clarity on the basic principles of Scrum. Drove home the power of 'team'.
Lia PToronto
Mark has an engaging style and a ton of experience which he shares freely.
Wanda PMontreal
Great course. Mark clearly knows his stuff!
Marc LOttawa
Mark is extremely academically knowledgeable in this space. This knowledge mixed with his real world experience and ability to engage a group makes his class a delightful experience.
Melissa MPrivate Client
The instructor did a great job in getting people to participate and make sure everyone followed along.
George HPrivate Client
Very informative course on the use of Scrum for software development. It covers all the areas of scrum, including all the key players and demonstrates how the roles, responsibilities and process work together to create effective, self organizing teams.
Amera PEdmonton
The instructor keeps you engaged through the use of his mannerisms, stories, and body language.
Sherry PPrivate Client
Thanks for being so responsive and Agile in your approach to leading the class.
Deb BKitchener-Waterloo
The course was well laid out, a good mix of discussions, examples, and practice.
Chris FToronto
Fantastic overview of everything PO, Agile, Scrum. Learning how to manage and maintain a collaborative product backlog will be so valuable.
Elizabeth MPrivate Client
Very informed, prepared, punctual, and entertaining instructor. Took time to answer all questions, fully and with examples. Took lunch time to discuss specific questons. Course was structured well, with plenty of exercises and additional reading.
Hary MToronto
The course was highly insightful. I feel more prepared to take on a Product Owner role. The instructor delivered it in a very easy to understand, digestable way. Making it fun and interactive and educational.
Mhairy MToronto
I liked the structure of the course, presented in an agile manner to simulate real team dynamics. Enjoyed it a lot!
Michelle MMontreal
Mark is a great teacher and is very good at engaging people. Really gets the spark going!
Julien LMontreal
Elegant and quirky faciliation makes for enjoyable and engaging learning.
Donald PToronto
The course and instructor were dynamic and engaging and open to a variety of participants.
Daniel RMontreal
Mark is very well read, with lots of breadth. Mark helped to challenge participants' ways of thinking that could impede scrum implementation.
Louise BOttawa
Mark is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter and topics adjacent to it. His attitude encourages engagement in the material.
Jamie CVirtual
Mark is very knowledgable and an excellent communicator. So far my favourite Agile coach.
Fabricio MOttawa
This is an excellent course to take after the CSM. The instructor was excellent, the course was wonderful, the students awesome.
Marc HMontreal
Mark did an excellent job. I appreciated the hands-on nature of the training wherein we actually tried to do Scrum. He was patient handling all our questions and issues, and managed to keep us engaged despite being on Zoom.
Dan MVirtual
Interesting approach to session - dialogue with class versus speaking to slides.
Michelina DToronto
Excellent work, I have a lot of ideas and appreciate the way they were introduced.
John MEdmonton
I really enjoyed the course. Mark really understands the topic and is willing to go into great depth about items the students wished. Very enjoyable.
Mark MKitchener-Waterloo
(Instructor was) very pragmatic and opened your mind and steer conversation, so you can figure it out, instead of reading through material.
Priya PPrivate Client
Mark is a gifted teacher who really takes the time to ensure those who take his ScrumMaster course understand the topics and know how to apply scrum to their particular company and role. His use of group activities help turn concepts that can intially seem very unspecific into concrete examples and true understanding, which is especially helpful to those of us who are not software engineers or in a technical field. I would highly recommend Mark and Agile Pain Relief to those looking for a ScrumMaster course.
Rhiannon BVirtual
Added some very interesting info as well as presented the material very well clearly.
Yvonne REdmonton
Energetic, clear, helpful, inspiring, a great teacher.
Nadil POttawa
Mark was excellent and lots of knowledge and passion about Scrum. His anecdotal stories were entertaining and informational.
Kevin MPrivate Client
Mark is very knowledgeable. He is a great instructor.
Nitin PToronto
Mark made the class enjoyable. I was initially dreading a 3 day course. After the first day I knew that I could live through the course.
Dickie BPrivate Client
Love the course and the personality and knowledge you bring!
Steve POttawa
Mark is very engaging and keeps things interesting during the course.
Adam MToronto
Mark harnessed the power of our diverse perspectives/skills/experience to create agile team enacting scrum as we applied our learning. This applied learning led us to knowledge sharing, trust, and mastery.
Danica MOttawa
Very enthusiastic and diplomatic. Very knowledgeable. Course was enjoyable.
Chris MKitchener-Waterloo
Mark did a great job of bringing the group into the basic tenets of Agile-Scrum whenever someone brought up a challenge/issue in the participant's particular situation.
Eric AMontreal
I enjoyed having Mark as an instructor, he is knowledgeable on the topic, provided easy to follow examples, and has a good sense of humour. I liked how he took notes on questions
people had, provided a brief answer and then provided links after the workshop so that we could follow up on the topics that interest us. The 10 min sanity breaks that he gave every
hour were great as it allowed my brain to relax and then come back and focus. I really enjoyed the course, I learned lots over the 2 day workshop. I feel like 2 days might be a bit short for the course as I would have enjoyed another day of the course to learn more and refine my skills. I would recommend this course to anyone new to the scrum master role or interested in learning about scrum as it gives you a great base that you can expand.
Christopher MVirtual
Mark is knowledgable and engaging. What I liked the most was that he stood his ground if anyone challenged what he taught (respectfully) and offered an explanation why.
Andrea MOttawa
Course was fantastic and informative. The instructor did his best to include as much of the expensive material as he could. It was engaging and fun to listen to. I would highly recomment this training to anyone interested in the Scrum methology.
Derrick BOttawa
Mark is a very engaging instructor.
Chris PEdmonton
Very knowledgable and lots of references. Puts things into context and gives lots of examples to relate to many businesses.
Brent MEdmonton
Mark has a great style of delivery even over zoom. He kept my attention and that of the class by using humor and explaining things very matter of factly. Therefore no confusion and the information actually stuck. He understands what it takes to deliver an engaging session by having a number of break out activities that were fun and comfortable. Thank you Mark!
Deborah RVirtual
Very well done. Good introduction of the concepts, good use of technology, good practical incorporation of the methods being taught into the course itself, 10/10
Adam GVirtual
Great energy. Interesting course material.
Julie CToronto
Course gave me clarity on the basic principles of Scrum. Drove home the power of 'team'.
Lia PToronto
Mark has an engaging style and a ton of experience which he shares freely.
Wanda PMontreal
I participated in the Certified Scrum Master course instructed by Mark Levison. Mark is a very well educated in the Agile Scrum methodology and presented the course material in a very entertaining way during the 2-day course. I learned a lot of things I had not previously known even though I had been practicing scrum for the past 5 years. I would highly recommend that every organization send their scrum focal’s to this training – it will help them advance their organization in implementing, and delivering scrum based projects, thus help their business be more successful.
Graham FVirtual
Great course. Mark clearly knows his stuff!
Marc LOttawa
Mark is extremely academically knowledgeable in this space. This knowledge mixed with his real world experience and ability to engage a group makes his class a delightful experience.
Melissa MPrivate Client
The instructor did a great job in getting people to participate and make sure everyone followed along.
George HPrivate Client
Very informative course on the use of Scrum for software development. It covers all the areas of scrum, including all the key players and demonstrates how the roles, responsibilities and process work together to create effective, self organizing teams.
Amera PEdmonton
The instructor keeps you engaged through the use of his mannerisms, stories, and body language.
Sherry PPrivate Client
This was an excellent training. I really valued how engaging Mark was as a facilitator, everyone had the space to contribute and ask questions, and I loved how interactive and applicable it was, especially for myself outside of the software industry. It was incredibly fun and I learned a lot - I feel ready to step into a Scrum Master role and am excited at how it can improve the value we offer to clients at my organization.
Sarah HVirtual
Thanks for being so responsive and Agile in your approach to leading the class.
Deb BKitchener-Waterloo
The course was well laid out, a good mix of discussions, examples, and practice.
Chris FToronto
Fantastic overview of everything PO, Agile, Scrum. Learning how to manage and maintain a collaborative product backlog will be so valuable.
Elizabeth MPrivate Client
Very informed, prepared, punctual, and entertaining instructor. Took time to answer all questions, fully and with examples. Took lunch time to discuss specific questons. Course was structured well, with plenty of exercises and additional reading.
Hary MToronto
The course was highly insightful. I feel more prepared to take on a Product Owner role. The instructor delivered it in a very easy to understand, digestable way. Making it fun and interactive and educational.
Mhairy MToronto
I liked the structure of the course, presented in an agile manner to simulate real team dynamics. Enjoyed it a lot!
Michelle MMontreal
This course has validated what I want to do for the rest of my career.
Diane KVancouver
Mark is a great teacher and is very good at engaging people. Really gets the spark going!
Julien LMontreal
Elegant and quirky faciliation makes for enjoyable and engaging learning.
Donald PToronto
The course and instructor were dynamic and engaging and open to a variety of participants.
Daniel RMontreal
Mark is very well read, with lots of breadth. Mark helped to challenge participants' ways of thinking that could impede scrum implementation.
Louise BOttawa
Mark is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter and topics adjacent to it. His attitude encourages engagement in the material.
Jamie CVirtual
Mark is very knowledgable and an excellent communicator. So far my favourite Agile coach.
Fabricio MOttawa
This is an excellent course to take after the CSM. The instructor was excellent, the course was wonderful, the students awesome.
Marc HMontreal
Mark did an excellent job. I appreciated the hands-on nature of the training wherein we actually tried to do Scrum. He was patient handling all our questions and issues, and managed to keep us engaged despite being on Zoom.
Dan MVirtual
Interesting approach to session - dialogue with class versus speaking to slides.
Michelina DToronto
It was fantastic. I wasn't sure what to expect given my non-technical background but Mark was an amazing facilitor.
Kristin MKitchener-Waterloo
Excellent work, I have a lot of ideas and appreciate the way they were introduced.
John MEdmonton
Great instructor, very satisfied, will recomment! I brought my whole team with me, happy I did.
Joshua COttawa
I really enjoyed the course. Mark really understands the topic and is willing to go into great depth about items the students wished. Very enjoyable.
Mark MKitchener-Waterloo
(Instructor was) very pragmatic and opened your mind and steer conversation, so you can figure it out, instead of reading through material.
Priya PPrivate Client
Amazing instructor, was able to clearly explain complex concepts, made the course relevant and engaging! This will alow us to build strong agile teams.
Dylan HPrivate Client
Confused? Burnt Out? Disillusioned?
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Canada's AI Strategy Mistakes Adoption for Productivity
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Read full articleWhy choose us
Get exclusive bonuses with our Scrum Alliance Certified Scrum training
Future-proof blueprint
A practical plan for Scrum team success, to guide you through your first few months after class and help you be effective long-term.
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Get professional input on the unique issues you’re facing at your organization in a coaching session with Mark after training.
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When you’re confused about Scrum or Agile, you can access reputable information, including a Glossary and Resource Library.
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A safe online space to ask questions and get experienced answers when you run into challenges with Scrum and Agile.
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Explore what Scrum is and how to make it work for you in our Scrum Certification training. Hands-on learning will guide you to improve teamwork, deliver quick feedback, and achieve better products and results.
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About this course
Focuses on the role of the team and the ScrumMaster. Get the skills and practical experience necessary to improve teamwork, take the exam, and advance your career with a certification that is in high demand today. Often the best fit for anyone new to Scrum.
Learning and Benefits
Relatable Scenarios
Learn on-the-job applications of key Scrum concepts, skills, principles, along with practical solutions that you can apply the next day for difficult, real-life situations.
Respected Certification
Everything you need to earn your Scrum Alliance® ScrumMaster certification, including exam fee and membership, and so much more.
Practical Exercises
With focus on the challenges that real teams face, and tools to dig deeper. You don’t need more boring Scrum theory. You need something you can sink your teeth into to see immediate results.
Jargon-Free Learning
This workshop is not just for software development or people with a computer science degree. We’ve helped many non-software teams with Scrum.
Career Advancement
Use Scrum knowledge to standout at work, get paid more, and impress your customer, all without burning out.
GenAI for Systems Thinking
Learn the basics of using Generative AI as a tool to support Systems Thinking in your ScrumMaster role. Explore how to leverage GenAI to help uncover patterns, and think more deeply about the systems your team operates in.
Ongoing Support
Your learning doesn’t stop when the workshop ends. You get lifetime access to all course materials, plus a followup email series designed to reinforce your learning objectives and help you apply what you’ve learned on the job.