Free Scrum eBooks for your Agile learning
The following Scrum/Agile resources are available free to our newsletter subscribers.
Newsletters are sent out roughly every two weeks. You can opt out of anything at any time by simply unsubscribing, or letting us know and we’ll customize your subscription to only what you need.
The Guide to Effective Agile Retrospectives
If you’re tired of having retrospective meetings greeted with groans and heavy, reluctant sighs or feeling like you’re rehashing the same old problems with no signs of improvement, the advice Mark Levison shares in this book will help make your retrospectives more effective.
There’s no need to have retrospectives that people hate and aren’t even useful – with a few tweaks, you can have meetings your team will look forward to, and start seeing real improvements and results. (More details)
Includes follow-up support emails to reinforce what you learned and help you make real changes right away.
Five Steps for Creating High-Performance Teams
Scrum is a tool for building high-performance teams. Some Scrum Teams achieve this goal almost by magic, while others struggle to get there. So is it magic? Or luck? Or is it far more attainable than that? There is a science to it that makes it possible.
Mark Levison offers insight into the neuroscience of teams with five proven Agile methods to create teams that sizzle, not fizzle.
A Jargon-Free Introduction to Scrum
This Scrum for beginners e-book is an easy to understand introduction to basic Scrum methodology and how it helps teams and organizations. Using a simple case study, you visualize Scrum at work in a marketing company and how its structure leads to many benefits. Scrum terms are explained simply, so you can get in on the conversation from the beginning. This is Scrum made simple. (More details)
Includes a follow-up email learning series to give you even more confidence and skills.
Beyond Scrum: Why Scrum Alone is Not Enough
To be successful with Scrum in the long term you need more than the basic framework. This is intentional. Scrum provides the structure as a starting point, but it’s designed to work well when applied with other effective patterns.
Mark Levison’s first book discusses topics including why organizations become Agile, the limits of Scrum, common mistakes made and how to avoid resulting failure, and the benefit of exploring other Agile practices.
Agile Engineering Practices and Their Effects
(Technically not a book, but a downloadable PDF Cheat Sheet.)
In Mark’s workshops, he’s often asked, “How can I help my team go faster?”, or “How can we deliver this Product sooner?” His answer is always the same. “You must slow down to go fast.”
In software development, the single best way to improve quality, and eventually speed, is writing less code. Most of the time spent writing code should be to understand the problem and then find the simplest solution to it. The practices used to facilitate this in Agile software development are popularly known as Agile Engineering Practices.
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 was recommended to me from a colleague and I honestly was delighted of how much I learned from the course. I have been as a project manager for a number of years, and I really felt that I was able to understand how to apply this to my current work and also even how to work within my working style.
Joyce KVirtual
Mark presents an honest, relatable view of Scrum and the role of the ScrumMaster using relevant and practical class exercises. The class materials are thoughtfully designed and well-adapted to a live remote learning environment. Mark answers class questions by drawing on his years of experience practicing Scrum at various organizations and background as both an educator and student of cognitive sciences. AgilePainRelief provides free resources that extend your learning beyond the classroom; look no further!
Stephane GVirtual
This is my third course with Mark. I enjoy his courses and his humor. He really knows how to connect with the group. He is a wealth of knowledge related to agile and scrum and he provies a lot of great advice on how to solve our problems at work.
Shelley COttawa
The CSM course rocks! If you want to immediately jump into the action and improve as you go, this is it. You'll start off as a group of strangers, and find out how quickly you can build a high-performance team. And, if you separately want to read every comprehensive detail there is to know about scrum, Mark will share that with you too.
Nicole BVirtual
Mark did a great job. I learned way more than I thought. Scrum is way more than sprints and stand ups. It's a system for effective teams.
Joshua BVirtual
It was a great experience coming to Agile Scrum just a few months ago allowed this to solidify a lot of things I've been practicing. I will likely immediately reap the rewards.
Curtis BOttawa
Mark inspires you to make yourself better in the roles which makes your workplace better. I wish he could come to my place of employ to get us setup to succeed. Might have to look into that.
Jackie MEdmonton
Being engaged in activities with a group gave valuable insight into the problems we might face in our organizations. This course was great! I was never bored and enjoyed working with others. The course instructor was approachable, clear, and great at proving points.
David BMontreal
Mark was an excellent instructor and facilitator for the certified product owner course. The content was engaging, not just a typical PowerPoint presentation. Active learning was encouraged through the use of breakout sessions where the course material was practiced; this allowed for better understanding and encouraged practical questions. I would recommend the course to anybody that wants to improve their product ownership skills and has the means to attend.
Mark FVirtual
Was an extremely focused and well organized two days, I have taken other courses in similar timelines but found this significantly easier to consume and digest the information. Mark was funny, and left me with an impression of “this guy is legit, and extremely intelligent, I need to soak up his knowledge”.
Jack BVirtual
Mark has helped me learn Agile in a fun way. The hands on experience have added value for a non-agile user like me.
Keerthiga NEdmonton
Mark has extensive experience on which he can call on to illustrate the reason for what works and what does not.
Mark CPrivate Client
It was a pleasure learning with Mark. The scrum-like structure of the course made it interactive and fun.
Florent GToronto
Very well structured course with a good variety of topics for further research. Great interaction with class.
Yuri AVirtual
Instructor was very welcoming and inclusive. He's very positive and polite. More importantly, he's knowledgable and experienced.
Dyan LToronto
Mark was a very good lively instructor who cared for all the questions. I am normally a quiet person, but I felt safe enough to speak up and answer questions.
Brenna GEdmonton
Mark was engaging and patient. He got everyone involved and kept spirits and energy levels high.
David BPrivate Client
Mark did a fantastic job incorporating SCRUM through the training while not giving answers, but forcing us to think on our own.
Kellen BKitchener-Waterloo
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
Mark has a very engaging style of delivering content and making learning fun peppered with real life examples.
Anurag TOttawa
I greatly enjoyed Mark's class. He is obviously a subject matter expert and has great insights.
Mandana BVirtual
The instructor did an excellent job in my opinion. He did a really good job of focusing on sections where there was more confusion and really helped make everyone feel comfortable to share and ask questions.
Sylvain FVirtual
Mark really knows this material well and was able to address all questions well to the satisfaction of everyone. Managed the room and our assigned tasks/activities well.
Ursula JToronto
Mark is an awesome instructor! The course was very valuable and useful.
Chandni LToronto
Thanks for being so responsive and Agile in your approach to leading the class.
Deb BKitchener-Waterloo
Very informative and interesting introduction to the concepts and principles of Agile development and Scrum.
Michael HVancouver
Mark taught the course in-depth; I gained a lot of knowledge on facilitating a scrum team in achieving its goals. Thanks a lot for such an amazing presentation format.
Be-Done IVirtual
Mark did a fantastic job of concisely and thoroughly describing the POs.
Dean GToronto
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
This course was a real eye opener and hope it will not be like preaching in the desert. You are a great orator and would love to listen to your thoughts for hours.
Marc-Andre LMontreal
Course material provided was excellent for references and follow up. Instructor was energetic, dynamic, and full engaging.
Dinah MPrivate Client
Mark was a pleasure to learn from. His knowledge and enthusiasm were refreshing.
Harold MKitchener-Waterloo
He's very knowledgable and good communication. He was able to answer any question given with complete satification
Po HPrivate Client
Interaction was great, content is very useful and can be applied to improve our way right way. Nice control of the group by the instructor.
Ana BMontreal
Despite these unprecedented times, this course was great! Using tools like mural made this course engaging, fun and inspiring while being from home. Mark was up for
answering all questions and challenging us, or at the very least pointing us in the right direction!
Jessica LVirtual
Very interesting course, useful information, good class structure and handouts.
Jialin MPrivate Client
Excellent! A refreshing approach! I loved the style of delivering the material and the many discussions and short exercises.
Mark APrivate Client
Thank you. Enjoyed your examples and how these methods can be used in the real world.
Jenna MToronto
Mark Levinson is very knowledgeable in Scrum and has the ability to start you on the right track given your specific workplace problems. He is also able to generalize issues and show how they can be solved with the tools provided in the course.
Hatem NVirtual
Mark is very knowledgable. I really enjoy his style of teaching. Very good course.
Lionel GPrivate Client
Lively, knowledgeable instructor who delivered the material creatively (no powerpoint! ) and made everyone comfortable.
Karen BOttawa
Mark was fantastic and the course was a great!
Henry MVirtual
Very well presented to the needs of the students. Adapts to the questions and situations very well. Like real life examples encouraged discussion.
Hoyt LPrivate Client
Wonderful. Very interactive. Humourous.
Fred HToronto
Great job, easy to understand and fun.
Matt CKitchener-Waterloo
Mark did a great job of keeping the class engaged and deployed many useful techniques to get the course material across.
Tharaneesan NPrivate Client
Excellent course, excellent communication. Loved the fact that the instructon was showing us how SCRUM should respond to different situtions.
Pascal GPrivate Client
Very good experience, learned a lot, will be able to apply what I have learned, good job.
David KEdmonton
Mark is a very knowledgeable and respectful instructor. He kept the information interesting and engaging, and was great at adapting the focus of the content to align with the needs of the participants. The course overall accomplished its goal of providing me with a good feel for the role of a Scrum Master.
Lisa CVirtual
Great energy. Made the day pass with a mix of humour and data.
Matthew COttawa
It was a pleasure learning with Mark. The scrum-like structure of the course made it interactive and fun.
Florent GToronto
Mark was recommended to me from a colleague and I honestly was delighted of how much I learned from the course. I have been as a project manager for a number of years, and I really felt that I was able to understand how to apply this to my current work and also even how to work within my working style.
Joyce KVirtual
Very well structured course with a good variety of topics for further research. Great interaction with class.
Yuri AVirtual
Instructor was very welcoming and inclusive. He's very positive and polite. More importantly, he's knowledgable and experienced.
Dyan LToronto
Mark was a very good lively instructor who cared for all the questions. I am normally a quiet person, but I felt safe enough to speak up and answer questions.
Brenna GEdmonton
Mark presents an honest, relatable view of Scrum and the role of the ScrumMaster using relevant and practical class exercises. The class materials are thoughtfully designed and well-adapted to a live remote learning environment. Mark answers class questions by drawing on his years of experience practicing Scrum at various organizations and background as both an educator and student of cognitive sciences. AgilePainRelief provides free resources that extend your learning beyond the classroom; look no further!
Stephane GVirtual
This is my third course with Mark. I enjoy his courses and his humor. He really knows how to connect with the group. He is a wealth of knowledge related to agile and scrum and he provies a lot of great advice on how to solve our problems at work.
Shelley COttawa
The CSM course rocks! If you want to immediately jump into the action and improve as you go, this is it. You'll start off as a group of strangers, and find out how quickly you can build a high-performance team. And, if you separately want to read every comprehensive detail there is to know about scrum, Mark will share that with you too.
Nicole BVirtual
Mark was engaging and patient. He got everyone involved and kept spirits and energy levels high.
David BPrivate Client
Mark did a fantastic job incorporating SCRUM through the training while not giving answers, but forcing us to think on our own.
Kellen BKitchener-Waterloo
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
Mark has a very engaging style of delivering content and making learning fun peppered with real life examples.
Anurag TOttawa
I greatly enjoyed Mark's class. He is obviously a subject matter expert and has great insights.
Mandana BVirtual
The instructor did an excellent job in my opinion. He did a really good job of focusing on sections where there was more confusion and really helped make everyone feel comfortable to share and ask questions.
Sylvain FVirtual
Mark really knows this material well and was able to address all questions well to the satisfaction of everyone. Managed the room and our assigned tasks/activities well.
Ursula JToronto
Mark is an awesome instructor! The course was very valuable and useful.
Chandni LToronto
Thanks for being so responsive and Agile in your approach to leading the class.
Deb BKitchener-Waterloo
Mark did a great job. I learned way more than I thought. Scrum is way more than sprints and stand ups. It's a system for effective teams.
Joshua BVirtual
Very informative and interesting introduction to the concepts and principles of Agile development and Scrum.
Michael HVancouver
Mark taught the course in-depth; I gained a lot of knowledge on facilitating a scrum team in achieving its goals. Thanks a lot for such an amazing presentation format.
Be-Done IVirtual
Mark did a fantastic job of concisely and thoroughly describing the POs.
Dean GToronto
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
This course was a real eye opener and hope it will not be like preaching in the desert. You are a great orator and would love to listen to your thoughts for hours.
Marc-Andre LMontreal
Course material provided was excellent for references and follow up. Instructor was energetic, dynamic, and full engaging.
Dinah MPrivate Client
Mark was a pleasure to learn from. His knowledge and enthusiasm were refreshing.
Harold MKitchener-Waterloo
He's very knowledgable and good communication. He was able to answer any question given with complete satification
Po HPrivate Client
Interaction was great, content is very useful and can be applied to improve our way right way. Nice control of the group by the instructor.
Ana BMontreal
Despite these unprecedented times, this course was great! Using tools like mural made this course engaging, fun and inspiring while being from home. Mark was up for
answering all questions and challenging us, or at the very least pointing us in the right direction!
Jessica LVirtual
Very interesting course, useful information, good class structure and handouts.
Jialin MPrivate Client
Excellent! A refreshing approach! I loved the style of delivering the material and the many discussions and short exercises.
Mark APrivate Client
It was a great experience coming to Agile Scrum just a few months ago allowed this to solidify a lot of things I've been practicing. I will likely immediately reap the rewards.
Curtis BOttawa
Thank you. Enjoyed your examples and how these methods can be used in the real world.
Jenna MToronto
Mark Levinson is very knowledgeable in Scrum and has the ability to start you on the right track given your specific workplace problems. He is also able to generalize issues and show how they can be solved with the tools provided in the course.
Hatem NVirtual
Mark is very knowledgable. I really enjoy his style of teaching. Very good course.
Lionel GPrivate Client
Mark inspires you to make yourself better in the roles which makes your workplace better. I wish he could come to my place of employ to get us setup to succeed. Might have to look into that.
Jackie MEdmonton
Lively, knowledgeable instructor who delivered the material creatively (no powerpoint! ) and made everyone comfortable.
Karen BOttawa
Being engaged in activities with a group gave valuable insight into the problems we might face in our organizations. This course was great! I was never bored and enjoyed working with others. The course instructor was approachable, clear, and great at proving points.
David BMontreal
Mark was fantastic and the course was a great!
Henry MVirtual
Very well presented to the needs of the students. Adapts to the questions and situations very well. Like real life examples encouraged discussion.
Hoyt LPrivate Client
Wonderful. Very interactive. Humourous.
Fred HToronto
Great job, easy to understand and fun.
Matt CKitchener-Waterloo
Mark did a great job of keeping the class engaged and deployed many useful techniques to get the course material across.
Tharaneesan NPrivate Client
Mark was an excellent instructor and facilitator for the certified product owner course. The content was engaging, not just a typical PowerPoint presentation. Active learning was encouraged through the use of breakout sessions where the course material was practiced; this allowed for better understanding and encouraged practical questions. I would recommend the course to anybody that wants to improve their product ownership skills and has the means to attend.
Mark FVirtual
Excellent course, excellent communication. Loved the fact that the instructon was showing us how SCRUM should respond to different situtions.
Pascal GPrivate Client
Was an extremely focused and well organized two days, I have taken other courses in similar timelines but found this significantly easier to consume and digest the information. Mark was funny, and left me with an impression of “this guy is legit, and extremely intelligent, I need to soak up his knowledge”.
Jack BVirtual
Mark has helped me learn Agile in a fun way. The hands on experience have added value for a non-agile user like me.
Keerthiga NEdmonton
Very good experience, learned a lot, will be able to apply what I have learned, good job.
David KEdmonton
Mark is a very knowledgeable and respectful instructor. He kept the information interesting and engaging, and was great at adapting the focus of the content to align with the needs of the participants. The course overall accomplished its goal of providing me with a good feel for the role of a Scrum Master.
Lisa CVirtual
Great energy. Made the day pass with a mix of humour and data.
Matthew COttawa
Mark has extensive experience on which he can call on to illustrate the reason for what works and what does not.
Mark CPrivate Client
Get Certified
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.
Registration is now open for workshops:
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.
Ongoing Support
Our active Scrum community forum is a safe place to ask questions. Long after you earn the Certified Scrum Master certification, you will have access to the forum, course materials, and additional valuable resources.