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.

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Excellent. Very good examples and visions!
Philippe TMontreal
I really appreciated the experience as a whole. Great valuable content. Super trainer. Experienced and flexible.
Marie MOttawa
Mark is terrific at carrying a dialog on agile and his humor and humility make the class fun.
David MVirtual
Mark was such a great and fun instructor! He is very knowledgeable and good at explaining Scrum in a way that can be understood by all. I would definitely recommend this course with Mark to my colleagues and team!
Audrey MVirtual
Mark's session was a great combination of theory, practical exercises and real life stories that kept this learner engaged and involved. Time spent was definitely worthwhile. Thanks!
Justin LVirtual
As always, Mark is both extremely knowledgable and wildy entertaining for all things scrum.
Jennifer MOttawa
Energetic, clear, helpful, inspiring, a great teacher.
Nadil POttawa
Mark was a good speaker and resourceful instructor. Exercises were practical and useful.
Ronald MPrivate Client
Mark is a great instructor, using real life examples makes easy to understand better what the scrum methodology is and how to apply it to our roles.
Robin MVirtual
Great course Mark! I really enjoyed learning more about the framwork and listening to others point of view.
Sarah MToronto
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
This course was an essential intro for me, a noob in Scrum. I was guided through material I need to know, while at the same time allowed to explore concepts on my own.
Vanessa MToronto
Very enthusiastic and diplomatic. Very knowledgeable. Course was enjoyable.
Chris MKitchener-Waterloo
Excellent. Well worth money and time.
David MOttawa
Mark is excellent. He instructs and communicates in simple and visual ways that are memorable. He is adaptable, and does a great job balancing needs of individuals and the group.
Ryan MToronto
Mark was very engaging, and his training session helped to increase my knowledge of Agile and Scrum.
Tiffany MToronto
Great course. Mark clearly knows his stuff!
Marc LOttawa
Very knowledgeable in the topic, and always open for healthy discussion and willing to clarify our questions.
Higo MVancouver
Mark is very patient and gives very good explanations. Setup the environment to be very friendly.
Zac LVirtual
Mark is Great! I took a CSM course from him 11 years ago, hence I picked this course again 11 years later.
Justin LVirtual
The course was well structured. The trainer was very knowledgeable and very engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed this course.
Bruno MOttawa
Mark is an amazing instructor-- knowledgeable, professional, but also humorous and fun. This is not one of those cookie-cutter courses, because Mark tailors the discussions to the needs of his students. It is suitable for someone new to Scrum, but also others with Scrum experience who would like to get more in-depth.
Sandy LVirtual
I enjoyed the hands-on nature of the course and Mark's presentation style. My mind was blown several times in the two days which was unexpected and completely awesome.
Heather OEdmonton
Excellent source of knowledge and provided additional resources. Helped with real examples
Sean OPrivate Client
This course helped me get a significant understanding of what Scrum is, how it can be applied in my real life work environment and what benefits could I have from it. The instructor was passionate about the subject, which helped me stay focus and interested.
Vincent MVirtual
Mark is very knowledgeable and is great at simplifying and illustrating abstract concepts.
Thierry LMontreal
Well prepared. Knowledgeable on and passionate about the subject matter. The virtual course functioned equally well as the in-class course.
Lin-Mari LVirtual
Excellent. Loved the real world experience brought to the course.
Jason MOttawa
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
Mark you are a rockstar and I truly enjoyed and hopefully benefit.
Kerry OPrivate Client
Awesome. Enlightment for pain points like overtime, too many WIP, motivation, etc.
Susie LVancouver
Very helpful and clear. Mark is good at pushing the boundary with good illustration.
Terry NToronto
Mark was great and full of recommendations. He was also very knowledgeable and able to answer all our questions.
Chris MPrivate Client
The course provided an excellent deep dive into scrum and the role of the scrum master. The instructor was very knowledgeable and well versed on the research of scrum.
Robyne LOttawa
Mark is an excellent instructor and has great techniques to help us understand and learn the material of the course.
Miguel NMontreal
Excellent, expert, engaging, humourous, I would strongly recommend any course offered by Mark!
Tod MVancouver
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
Excellent teaching and course delivery. Practical scrum practices was very informational.
Odion OToronto
Mark was great! He kept the room energized and very engaged. His passion and pexereince were very evident. Class materials were very helpful! Great focus on how to drive results.
Aaron MPrivate Client
Great instructor. Lots of good feedack throughout the session that was meaningful.
Petula NToronto
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
Energetic. Applied scrum in practice by helping lead us to answers in many modules.
Laura LVancouver
Excellent instructor provided engaging activites to help roleplay learning and provoke meaningful discussions.
Alice PEdmonton
Very informative. Well presented. Good tempo.
Robert MOttawa
I will highly recommend Mark. I enjoyed the course.
Shamyl NVancouver
Pragmatic, no nonsense & applied = very good!
Francois-Pierre MMontreal
Very knowledgeable, enjoy the practical examples that were shared.
Tina MEdmonton
I have appreciated using the scrum to the training course itself.
Ionut MMontreal
Mark was fantastic! Great examples!
Scott MKitchener-Waterloo
The instructor was very knowledgeable and kept me interested in the content by applying real life scenarios.
Jennifer MPrivate 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.

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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.

Registration is now open for workshops:

March 5-6, 2026

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April 13-14, 2026

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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.