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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Awesome work on walking us through the process.
Steven CVancouver
Mark is adept at relating Agile to both techanical and everyday tasks. This is useful in groups include non-techanical members. While he has tendency to get sidetracked, the divergences are useful and relevant, adding depth to the topic under discussion.
Erin LPrivate Client
Amazing instructor, very clear and breaks our pre-conceived understandings.
Jean-Francois BMontreal
Great agenda, engaging instructor, relevant examples and exercises. 10/10 rating
Ed AVancouver
Great. Very detailed. Class very interesting, very good relating questions with good examples.
Yong FToronto
Very passionate and organized, kept material interesting.
Sjoerd FEdmonton
Mark is super knowledgeable and engaging. 10/10. Would recommend.
Steve BPrivate Client
Mark did a fantastic job. [Private Client] was a unique challenge of a long history with hardened habits, as well as a very peculiar definition of Agile and SCRUM.
Imran APrivate Client
Mark is great - knows the material and can address all questions, prompting us to try and answer them first! Great trainer, I would recommend him to others.
Frances AOttawa
Great to get this training from the subject matter expert.
Nisha AToronto
Great course and instructor. Great references to unrelated related content.
Dmytro LToronto
These days passed quickly, the instructor is very friendly and relaxed. Thanks again to Mark for his support!
Vlad AVirtual
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 very well read, with lots of breadth. Mark helped to challenge participants' ways of thinking that could impede scrum implementation.
Louise BOttawa
The instructor was well-prepared and taught the class really well and engaged the whole class. Kudos.
Anastasios ZToronto
Well prepared. Knowledgeable on and passionate about the subject matter. The virtual course functioned equally well as the in-class course.
Lin-Mari LVirtual
Mark was very engaging and provides an excellent overview of the Scrum methodology.
Stephane LEdmonton
Awesome instructor, great course.
Kristie KPrivate Client
Mark brings a wealth of knowledge and practical experience and stories. We have applied many of the ideas and totally revitalized the way we run our Agile process.
MacMillan JKitchener-Waterloo
Excellent course and facilitator instruction.
John BVancouver
Very knowledgeable instructor. His experience is obvious.
Mark LMontreal
Extremely enlightening. Put a lot of elements into proper context. Great foundation.
Yvan NMontreal
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
Great course, awesome instructor!
Paul-Andre PPrivate Client
The positive focus on people and the team was excellent. Incorporating the scrum process in the actual training session is brilliant.
Michael JMontreal
Mark has been a great facilitator, instructor, and extremely knowledgeable on teaching Scrum. Great analogies and references cited.
Wilfred MPrivate Client
There was not a single bit of content that wasn't helpful.
Bruno PMontreal
Brilliant approach to coaching.
Serguei LToronto
Very knowledgeable teacher with tons of examples and real life stories.
Alex BMontreal
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
Knowledgeable instructor. Engaging and well planned course.
Dan RVirtual
The instructor is clearly knowledgeable about scrum and other approaches. The course demonstrates the basics of scrum very well.
Matthew BToronto
I feel like the structure of the course is good in how it is treated as a backlog with all the participants prioritizing topics.
Aaron GOttawa
Classes with Mark was so worthwhile! Mark has an amazing way of breaking things down so that they are understandable, and always keeping it light and fun. Overall, the course is well designed, and the topics were engaging and useful.
Mohamad AVirtual
Mark did an excellent job of teaching the material and went beyond just presenting it.
Noah AEdmonton
Very good at keeping interest. Very dynamic, engages easily with students.
Paul PMontreal
He is very motivated. Mark kept us engaged as the day went fast. He was respectful and was active listener, paid attention to cues when we did not understand.
Lyne LOttawa
I recommend all newbees and Agile to take Mark's class. End of the day, you will walk out with confidence.
Hema PKitchener-Waterloo
He knows his subject well! He respect the different levels of understanding of each participant. He really respect the schedule.
Julie JVirtual
Great course, a lot of valuable information. Experienced instructor, great ability to adapt to group and real work situtations.
Karen LPrivate Client
Instructor was well organized and touched each topic in a sequential matter that was logical.
Joe PMontreal
Instructor very knowledgeable, supportive, and a great coach.
Jay BVancouver
Having been a scrummaster for a while, I was looking to get a refresher - but I got a whole discovery out of it.
Philippe LMontreal
Very knowledgeable instructor that kept the course interesting. Course material was awesome! I will recommend to others.
Dave PToronto
Mark explained things well. He's nice. There are valuable discussions during the course, that I saw others problems and experiences.
Hoo LKitchener-Waterloo
Mark was very approachable, friendly, and knowledgable. He has done a great job in helping someone like me who doesn't belong to a corporate world learn so much about scrum in 2 days!
Mashiat FToronto
Excellent, great management of large group, Excellent information
Susan LPrivate Client
Instructor was very clear.
May Lynn LEdmonton
Hands on experience in the subject helps to communicate most of the inportant message throughout the course.
Wael FToronto
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

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:

January 15-16, 2026

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February 17-18, 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.

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.