Effective Scrum
Are you lost in Fake Agile, with too many “best practices”? Effective Scrum is a map and a compass to get out. It’s a tool to help you understand where your team is currently at, then decide what steps you can reasonably take next to get to your goals.
Can you relate?
- Our ScrumMaster is also our Project Manager … they’re still behaving like the person in charge.
- I hate Scrum because I spend all of my time in meetings.
- I’m frustrated with our Scrum team’s Product Backlog Refinement… our Product Owner doesn’t have clear priorities.
- Our Scrum Sprint Planning really bogs down … it’s a huge waste of time.
- My development team wastes a lot of time estimating user stories that we don’t understand.
- Our Product Owner is bad at maintaining realistic scope for our product… it’s challenging to deliver.
- Sprint Reviews are boring… we almost fall asleep.
- I’m frustrated that our Product Owner doesn’t have a clear vision of the product we’re trying to build.
- Scrum Sprint Retrospectives call for improvements but they never get made… so why do we bother to hold them?
- Our ScrumMaster is also our Product Owner… is that right? I’m confused.
If you’ve experienced any of the above, then our upcoming release of Effective Scrum will help you and your team get to the next level of Scrum and remove the confusion and guesswork.
Who is Effective Scrum for?
- Frustrated ScrumMasters who know the job isn’t about being focused on numbers or metrics, and they know they could make a difference.
- Burnt-out Product Owners who are pulled in six directions at once by their stakeholders.
- Managers who can see that the current version of Scrum/Agile isn’t working.
All of these people feel the pain of their current process. They know that their system is broken, and they want to make a change, however, they’re overwhelmed by the volume of information and don’t know where to start. They also don’t know who to trust.
Does your team lack a product vision? Then now would be a good time to create one, or at least dig it out of the closet and dust it off.
Are your people on many teams/projects at the same time? That’s not actually practicing Scrum. We show you how (and why) to turn the work into actual Scrum, or show you what do instead.
Don’t worry, even if Scrum isn’t the right thing for your team right now, most of what you will learn is still applicable. The really hard part about Scrum isn’t the mechanics of the events, it’s understanding how to work effectively with the people on your team to deliver the product your customer needs.
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.
Amazing and inspiring. I am ready to go change my working life.
Thomas WMontreal
The simulations and exercises were extremely useful in the understanding of the concept. Mark made the course thoroughly enjoyable. Extremely pleased by the techniques used and the content of the course.
Dhaval SOttawa
Mark really knows his stuff, and not only about scrum mastering but also development process and product ownership. Highly recommended.
Jamie SOttawa
Instructor was very knowledgeable. Situations we brought forward he was able to help us detemine the source of the issue without telling us. Great coach!
Elsie SEdmonton
Long days but really challenged me to rethink how I can enhance my BA skills and how to contribute in different ways to my team.
Pearline EVancouver
Mark was full of energy. There was never a moment where what we were discussing wasn't interesting.
Swetha RKitchener-Waterloo
Effective, making him do things with powerpoint would be fun to watch.
Gary SEdmonton
Mark's methods are very engaging. It allows to learn by collaboration and "Telling Back".
Prateek SVancouver
The failure-based models used for learning were effective.
Vince RVirtual
Very thorough and engaging. Flexibility and self-organization of the course was great.
Brendan SPrivate Client
Excellent instructor and the course was great. A lot of thought provoking exercises that bring home the idea of scrum.
Deena SToronto
Mark is great. He speaks loud enough to be understood and knows how to handle a room full of people.
André SPrivate Client
Great! Very enthuiastic instructor and made learning a breeze.
Dalbir SKitchener-Waterloo
Personable and enjoyable. When subject drift happens he is very quick to refocus the class.
Dustin SEdmonton
Mark L was the best instructor I've had.
David SOttawa
The course was fun to follow and covers a lot of material. Mark keeps the class engaged and is respectful to participants.
Julie SVirtual
Mark, thanks for an awesome class. I was quite impressed how you were able to run the entire course, without consulting notes or a PowerPoint! Then I noticed your Jedi mind trick of putting a finger to your temple to recall information… at least it seemed that way. I have nothing at all by way of improvement I can offer for you. The course was informative and your style was quite engaging
Thom RPrivate Client
Added some very interesting info as well as presented the material very well clearly.
Yvonne REdmonton
Fantastic overview of everything PO, Agile, Scrum. Learning how to manage and maintain a collaborative product backlog will be so valuable.
Elizabeth MPrivate Client
Mark thanks for sharing your knowledge. I truly enjoyed your course. You have a great teaching ability.
Anaya MOttawa
Well presented - effective - open to discussion - provides information that shows us better methods and resources for self learning.
Bedros NMontreal
A excellent and well-delivered course. Very informative!
Warren ROttawa
Mark and the course were able to give me a lot of different perspectives on how scrum can be applied. Mark is very knowledgable and has tech background [which] helped myself as we knew the sector better.
Nicholas LOttawa
Very good instructor. Held my attention throughout, provided very good thinking and provided good insights.
Adrian RPrivate Client
Great course Mark! I really enjoyed learning more about the framwork and listening to others point of view.
Sarah MToronto
Great course! Mark is entertaining and knowledgable. Bring your questions and touch problems. Exploring participants' real-world problems triggered the best, most useful discussions in the course.
Jessica SOttawa
Mark was a great instructor in an unsual, yet effective way. He constantly avoided aswering questions, by letting us come to conclusions ourselves.
Fahad SPrivate Client
Mark is simply a very knowledgeable and engaging instructor. Great experience.
Emad MPrivate Client
Patient and helpful in answering questions throughout the course. Appreciate the resources shared i.e. book recommendations to further learning outside of the course. I liked how Mark encouraged small gains instead of trying to implement an overnight solution
Katherine SVirtual
Very knowledgeable and experienced, thanks!
Kendall OVancouver
Great training with an engaging trainer and hands on practice. The content made you think about the best solutions and how to prioritize workflow. The instructor provided tangible guidance on best practices.
Sneha NVirtual
Great instructor. Lots of good feedack throughout the session that was meaningful.
Petula NToronto
Mark was absolutely good. He has a confidence that helps me know what is and is not part of scrum. He has a clarity about the concept of scrum. He allows session participants to see where they can be creative.
Kelly SVirtual
Mark was intensely knowledgeable, humorous, and a bit off-beat. Initially I was skeptical of his abilites to engage the totality of the group but as the course progressed he appeared to fully succeed.
David OEdmonton
Instructor was great, would continue the engaging exercises and involving people in the room.
Hussein RToronto
Instructor was engaging, kept the interest of the class. Nice material, I really like how we got into Scrum framework right away by using the backlog analogy for the course topics.
Cecilia OOttawa
The instructor was very knowledgeable and kept me interested in the content by applying real life scenarios.
Jennifer MPrivate Client
Mark is terrific at carrying a dialog on agile and his humor and humility make the class fun.
David MVirtual
Excellent instruction and examples on how to combine Scrum with the realities of a corporate enviroment.
Kevin SOttawa
Mark is exceptionally knowledgeable and offered many useful tibits I can better my organization with.
James ROttawa
Very knowledgeable of the subject matter. Kept the pace of the course quick, which is good.
Tarek ROttawa
Mark is extremely well informed on the subject matter and made it extremely easy to comprehend. I find his ability to articulate his thoughts and teachings very impressive, and it's easy to see how intelligent he is.
Alexandria SOttawa
Very informative, with humour. Easy to understand for non-technical folks.
Tetyana OOttawa
Mark Levison was very effective in delivering the material for the class. He kept it interesting and interactive even though this was an online course.
Marie LVirtual
Mark Levison is a great teacher, who is very good at giving examples to answer questions. I really appreciated his genuine interest in the topic and willingness to help us all understand, and to challenge our brains. Thank you Mark!
Camilla SVirtual
I felt that Mark is an incredible teacher. He's extemely knowledgeable on the subject and shares his experience with the entire class. Very structured.
Anthony PToronto
Great Choose-Your-Own-Adventure!
Mike SOttawa
Informative and engaging. Love the scrum training as a sprint. Flexible to address problems current teams face.
Michael SPrivate Client
Fantastic instructor and glad that it was run as Scrum (clever!)
Kareem SKitchener-Waterloo
Very engaging instructor. Used many real-life examples.
Laura OPrivate Client
Long days but really challenged me to rethink how I can enhance my BA skills and how to contribute in different ways to my team.
Pearline EVancouver
Mark was full of energy. There was never a moment where what we were discussing wasn't interesting.
Swetha RKitchener-Waterloo
Effective, making him do things with powerpoint would be fun to watch.
Gary SEdmonton
Mark's methods are very engaging. It allows to learn by collaboration and "Telling Back".
Prateek SVancouver
The failure-based models used for learning were effective.
Vince RVirtual
Amazing and inspiring. I am ready to go change my working life.
Thomas WMontreal
Very thorough and engaging. Flexibility and self-organization of the course was great.
Brendan SPrivate Client
Excellent instructor and the course was great. A lot of thought provoking exercises that bring home the idea of scrum.
Deena SToronto
Mark is great. He speaks loud enough to be understood and knows how to handle a room full of people.
André SPrivate Client
Great! Very enthuiastic instructor and made learning a breeze.
Dalbir SKitchener-Waterloo
Personable and enjoyable. When subject drift happens he is very quick to refocus the class.
Dustin SEdmonton
Mark L was the best instructor I've had.
David SOttawa
The simulations and exercises were extremely useful in the understanding of the concept. Mark made the course thoroughly enjoyable. Extremely pleased by the techniques used and the content of the course.
Dhaval SOttawa
The course was fun to follow and covers a lot of material. Mark keeps the class engaged and is respectful to participants.
Julie SVirtual
Mark, thanks for an awesome class. I was quite impressed how you were able to run the entire course, without consulting notes or a PowerPoint! Then I noticed your Jedi mind trick of putting a finger to your temple to recall information… at least it seemed that way. I have nothing at all by way of improvement I can offer for you. The course was informative and your style was quite engaging
Thom RPrivate Client
Added some very interesting info as well as presented the material very well clearly.
Yvonne REdmonton
Fantastic overview of everything PO, Agile, Scrum. Learning how to manage and maintain a collaborative product backlog will be so valuable.
Elizabeth MPrivate Client
Mark thanks for sharing your knowledge. I truly enjoyed your course. You have a great teaching ability.
Anaya MOttawa
Well presented - effective - open to discussion - provides information that shows us better methods and resources for self learning.
Bedros NMontreal
A excellent and well-delivered course. Very informative!
Warren ROttawa
Mark and the course were able to give me a lot of different perspectives on how scrum can be applied. Mark is very knowledgable and has tech background [which] helped myself as we knew the sector better.
Nicholas LOttawa
Very good instructor. Held my attention throughout, provided very good thinking and provided good insights.
Adrian RPrivate Client
Great course Mark! I really enjoyed learning more about the framwork and listening to others point of view.
Sarah MToronto
Great course! Mark is entertaining and knowledgable. Bring your questions and touch problems. Exploring participants' real-world problems triggered the best, most useful discussions in the course.
Jessica SOttawa
Mark was a great instructor in an unsual, yet effective way. He constantly avoided aswering questions, by letting us come to conclusions ourselves.
Fahad SPrivate Client
Mark is simply a very knowledgeable and engaging instructor. Great experience.
Emad MPrivate Client
Patient and helpful in answering questions throughout the course. Appreciate the resources shared i.e. book recommendations to further learning outside of the course. I liked how Mark encouraged small gains instead of trying to implement an overnight solution
Katherine SVirtual
Very knowledgeable and experienced, thanks!
Kendall OVancouver
Great training with an engaging trainer and hands on practice. The content made you think about the best solutions and how to prioritize workflow. The instructor provided tangible guidance on best practices.
Sneha NVirtual
Mark really knows his stuff, and not only about scrum mastering but also development process and product ownership. Highly recommended.
Jamie SOttawa
Great instructor. Lots of good feedack throughout the session that was meaningful.
Petula NToronto
Mark was absolutely good. He has a confidence that helps me know what is and is not part of scrum. He has a clarity about the concept of scrum. He allows session participants to see where they can be creative.
Kelly SVirtual
Mark was intensely knowledgeable, humorous, and a bit off-beat. Initially I was skeptical of his abilites to engage the totality of the group but as the course progressed he appeared to fully succeed.
David OEdmonton
Instructor was great, would continue the engaging exercises and involving people in the room.
Hussein RToronto
Instructor was engaging, kept the interest of the class. Nice material, I really like how we got into Scrum framework right away by using the backlog analogy for the course topics.
Cecilia OOttawa
The instructor was very knowledgeable and kept me interested in the content by applying real life scenarios.
Jennifer MPrivate Client
Mark is terrific at carrying a dialog on agile and his humor and humility make the class fun.
David MVirtual
Excellent instruction and examples on how to combine Scrum with the realities of a corporate enviroment.
Kevin SOttawa
Instructor was very knowledgeable. Situations we brought forward he was able to help us detemine the source of the issue without telling us. Great coach!
Elsie SEdmonton
Mark is exceptionally knowledgeable and offered many useful tibits I can better my organization with.
James ROttawa
Very knowledgeable of the subject matter. Kept the pace of the course quick, which is good.
Tarek ROttawa
Mark is extremely well informed on the subject matter and made it extremely easy to comprehend. I find his ability to articulate his thoughts and teachings very impressive, and it's easy to see how intelligent he is.
Alexandria SOttawa
Very informative, with humour. Easy to understand for non-technical folks.
Tetyana OOttawa
Mark Levison was very effective in delivering the material for the class. He kept it interesting and interactive even though this was an online course.
Marie LVirtual
Mark Levison is a great teacher, who is very good at giving examples to answer questions. I really appreciated his genuine interest in the topic and willingness to help us all understand, and to challenge our brains. Thank you Mark!
Camilla SVirtual
I felt that Mark is an incredible teacher. He's extemely knowledgeable on the subject and shares his experience with the entire class. Very structured.
Anthony PToronto
Great Choose-Your-Own-Adventure!
Mike SOttawa
Informative and engaging. Love the scrum training as a sprint. Flexible to address problems current teams face.
Michael SPrivate Client
Fantastic instructor and glad that it was run as Scrum (clever!)
Kareem SKitchener-Waterloo
Very engaging instructor. Used many real-life examples.
Laura OPrivate Client
Your Guide to Everything Scrum
Mark Levison spent 12 years as a ScrumMaster and Coach, helping teams by chance before he started to systemize it. Armed with an insatiable love for research, he has been studying and teaching Agile since 2001, introducing Scrum, Lean, and Agile methodology to a broad range of individuals and organizations. Mark has helped launch Scrum practice throughout Canada including Government of Canada departments, major financial and insurance institutions, healthcare agencies, and leading payroll, HR services, and software companies.
Students and communities benefit from Mark’s more than thirty years of experience in the IT industry and over two decades of Scrum and Agile expertise, as he brings his uniquely fun and effective teaching style to thousands of individuals and teams so they can be more effective.
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.