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.
Mark Levison lives and embodies the SCRUM in his courses. Never before have I felt so empowered to self-organize in a classroom setting.
Zoltan MOttawa
Anyone looking to do this course...do it with Mark! His passion for all things “Scrum and Agile” shines through and excites his students. He’s a “scrum” realist with a fantastic sense of humour! The material is relevant today and Mark gives us a glimpse of what we can expect 5 years from now. The post class support is fantastic and shows how passionate and knowledgeable Mark is about “learning!” A true educator!
Roberta PVirtual
Great! Fun! And I learned something too! Seriously, one of the best training sessions for my personal growth.
Pierre VMontreal
The instructor was able to cram a staggering amount of learning into a very short amount of time in a very effective manner. I highly-recommend this training for any Scrum Product Owner or Scrum Dev Team member. The instructor was even able to effectively maintain the energy levels of the students throughout the 2-day course by taking sufficient breaks and by introducing sufficient novelty between modules to keep things interesting throughout.
Tyler TVirtual
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
I thoroughly enjoyed the course. While the two days were intensive and tiring, I learned a lot about scrum and becoming scrum master. Mark was a great instructor in that he was very knowledgeable and experienced in the subject. He set up a great environment where everyone can be engaged and have their questions answered. I'm really glad I took the course and I hope to continue learning more about Scrum, which now has become even more fascinating to me.
Maria SVirtual
I truly enjoyed every minute spent in this classroom! This course has inspired me to follow my path so that my dreams come true!
Stela LVancouver
I had heard great reviews of this course and I was not disappointed. Excellent materials. Excellent instructor.
Jeromy VEdmonton
This instructor is very good, helpful and highly-effective and has just the right level of unconventionalism to appeal to even the most seasoned (jaded?, grizzled?) professionals. I would gladly take courses offered by this individual and company again in the future.
Tyler TVirtual
Mark was great at adapting to our needs - how very agile!
Mika TPrivate Client
After 24+ years of traditional thinking, this was refreshing and new. Can't wait to begin implementing at work. Thanks, Mark!
Kristine NEdmonton
Mark was excellent and lots of knowledge and passion about Scrum. His anecdotal stories were entertaining and informational.
Kevin MPrivate Client
The instructor was very engaging. The material was easy to understand and his approach was reasonable and made great sense!
Ashely RPrivate Client
Really dynamic! Use scrum tools to control the flow of the course which is a good example.
Marc LMontreal
Great course. I learned enough to get me started doing Scrum. The instructor really knows the content and made pleasant and dynamic the delivery.
Carlos MPrivate Client
(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 great teacher and is very good at engaging people. Really gets the spark going!
Julien LMontreal
I thought the instructor and course was excelelnt and very enlightening.
Aengus MEdmonton
Mark was awesome, very enthusiastic about the subject and more importantly was very knowledgeableabout Scrum Master role and Scrum.
David OPrivate Client
I found Mark to be engaged, upbeat, and very knowledgeable.
Peter LPrivate Client
Well presented - effective - open to discussion - provides information that shows us better methods and resources for self learning.
Bedros 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
Very knowledgable and lots of references. Puts things into context and gives lots of examples to relate to many businesses.
Brent MEdmonton
Very engaging instructor. Used many real-life examples.
Laura OPrivate Client
Excellent communicator and educator who encourages students to think through questions. Thorough course material to get student "Ready to Rock"
Sue LToronto
Mark Levison was a great and engaging instructor! His interactive style of presenting helped me stay engaged during the 2 days of the training.
Olivier TVirtual
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
The course itself is a great introduction to the Scrum Master role. It starts with the fundamentals and advances through a successful balance of instruction and interactive exercises. Our instructor - Mark Levison - is obviously an expert in his field and passionate about the subject. He displayed great skill in getting his message across to his students and also in keeping us interested and involved throughout the three day course.
Sean SVirtual
Mark Levinson is an excellent instructor and provides concrete examples and references to the material. This course was engaging and informative.
Moira ROttawa
Excellent source of knowledge and provided additional resources. Helped with real examples
Sean OPrivate Client
The teach went further to clarify question and add valuable information from other Agile methodology.
Marco SMontreal
Mark is great facilitator. Overall the course materials and information provided me a better understanding of the scrum master role.
Nhan TKitchener-Waterloo
Excellent! Useful training techniques. Useful anecdotes, exercies, and reference material.
Joel SMontreal
Mark uses his extensive experience in scrum training and software dev to add relevent examples which help understand SCRUM better.
Affan MPrivate Client
Great job, Mark. Great overall devliery. Kept the content interesting.
Parv SToronto
Effective, making him do things with powerpoint would be fun to watch.
Gary SEdmonton
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 an excellent instructor and has great techniques to help us understand and learn the material of the course.
Miguel NMontreal
The instructor talked the talk by making the whole experience a collaborative experience. Excellent and mindful person.
Alf RToronto
Overall the course provide many tools and knowledge to perform the day to day work of a PO. The instructor kept a good flow, he provided sufficient time to move and get coffee/tea.
Annie SVirtual
Mark is an amazing communicator and is able to clearly deliver information. He uses good examples to illustrate how something should be done and shouldn't be done. He clearly has an expert level grasp of the SCRUM process. The course was fantastic, this was the best and most captivating training I've ever attended. Most times when participating in training there is a sense toward the end that you would like it to be over. At the end of this training I felt like I wanted it to continue.
Marc VVirtual
Mark is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable instructor. The 2-day course was exceptionally well facilitated. He is passionate about teaching and how people learn, and it shows in the delivery methods and techniques used throughout class to engage students
Simona TVirtual
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 knowledgeable of the subject matter. Kept the pace of the course quick, which is good.
Tarek ROttawa
Very interactive. Addressed questions and comments directly related to the workplace while discussing and covering course content.
Kyle SOttawa
Awesome. I got more than enough info to get me started and max team productivity.
Joel RVancouver
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
The instructor keeps you engaged through the use of his mannerisms, stories, and body language.
Sherry PPrivate Client
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.
Dean TVirtual
Instructor was very clear.
May Lynn LEdmonton
Mark was great at adapting to our needs - how very agile!
Mika TPrivate Client
After 24+ years of traditional thinking, this was refreshing and new. Can't wait to begin implementing at work. Thanks, Mark!
Kristine NEdmonton
Mark was excellent and lots of knowledge and passion about Scrum. His anecdotal stories were entertaining and informational.
Kevin MPrivate Client
The instructor was very engaging. The material was easy to understand and his approach was reasonable and made great sense!
Ashely RPrivate Client
Really dynamic! Use scrum tools to control the flow of the course which is a good example.
Marc LMontreal
Great course. I learned enough to get me started doing Scrum. The instructor really knows the content and made pleasant and dynamic the delivery.
Carlos MPrivate Client
(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 great teacher and is very good at engaging people. Really gets the spark going!
Julien LMontreal
I thought the instructor and course was excelelnt and very enlightening.
Aengus MEdmonton
Mark was awesome, very enthusiastic about the subject and more importantly was very knowledgeableabout Scrum Master role and Scrum.
David OPrivate Client
I found Mark to be engaged, upbeat, and very knowledgeable.
Peter LPrivate Client
Well presented - effective - open to discussion - provides information that shows us better methods and resources for self learning.
Bedros 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
Mark Levison lives and embodies the SCRUM in his courses. Never before have I felt so empowered to self-organize in a classroom setting.
Zoltan MOttawa
Very knowledgable and lots of references. Puts things into context and gives lots of examples to relate to many businesses.
Brent MEdmonton
Very engaging instructor. Used many real-life examples.
Laura OPrivate Client
Excellent communicator and educator who encourages students to think through questions. Thorough course material to get student "Ready to Rock"
Sue LToronto
Anyone looking to do this course...do it with Mark! His passion for all things “Scrum and Agile” shines through and excites his students. He’s a “scrum” realist with a fantastic sense of humour! The material is relevant today and Mark gives us a glimpse of what we can expect 5 years from now. The post class support is fantastic and shows how passionate and knowledgeable Mark is about “learning!” A true educator!
Roberta PVirtual
Mark Levison was a great and engaging instructor! His interactive style of presenting helped me stay engaged during the 2 days of the training.
Olivier TVirtual
Great! Fun! And I learned something too! Seriously, one of the best training sessions for my personal growth.
Pierre VMontreal
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
The course itself is a great introduction to the Scrum Master role. It starts with the fundamentals and advances through a successful balance of instruction and interactive exercises. Our instructor - Mark Levison - is obviously an expert in his field and passionate about the subject. He displayed great skill in getting his message across to his students and also in keeping us interested and involved throughout the three day course.
Sean SVirtual
Mark Levinson is an excellent instructor and provides concrete examples and references to the material. This course was engaging and informative.
Moira ROttawa
The instructor was able to cram a staggering amount of learning into a very short amount of time in a very effective manner. I highly-recommend this training for any Scrum Product Owner or Scrum Dev Team member. The instructor was even able to effectively maintain the energy levels of the students throughout the 2-day course by taking sufficient breaks and by introducing sufficient novelty between modules to keep things interesting throughout.
Tyler TVirtual
Excellent source of knowledge and provided additional resources. Helped with real examples
Sean OPrivate Client
The teach went further to clarify question and add valuable information from other Agile methodology.
Marco SMontreal
Mark is great facilitator. Overall the course materials and information provided me a better understanding of the scrum master role.
Nhan TKitchener-Waterloo
Excellent! Useful training techniques. Useful anecdotes, exercies, and reference material.
Joel SMontreal
Mark uses his extensive experience in scrum training and software dev to add relevent examples which help understand SCRUM better.
Affan MPrivate Client
Great job, Mark. Great overall devliery. Kept the content interesting.
Parv SToronto
Effective, making him do things with powerpoint would be fun to watch.
Gary SEdmonton
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 an excellent instructor and has great techniques to help us understand and learn the material of the course.
Miguel NMontreal
The instructor talked the talk by making the whole experience a collaborative experience. Excellent and mindful person.
Alf RToronto
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
I thoroughly enjoyed the course. While the two days were intensive and tiring, I learned a lot about scrum and becoming scrum master. Mark was a great instructor in that he was very knowledgeable and experienced in the subject. He set up a great environment where everyone can be engaged and have their questions answered. I'm really glad I took the course and I hope to continue learning more about Scrum, which now has become even more fascinating to me.
Maria SVirtual
Overall the course provide many tools and knowledge to perform the day to day work of a PO. The instructor kept a good flow, he provided sufficient time to move and get coffee/tea.
Annie SVirtual
I truly enjoyed every minute spent in this classroom! This course has inspired me to follow my path so that my dreams come true!
Stela LVancouver
Mark is an amazing communicator and is able to clearly deliver information. He uses good examples to illustrate how something should be done and shouldn't be done. He clearly has an expert level grasp of the SCRUM process. The course was fantastic, this was the best and most captivating training I've ever attended. Most times when participating in training there is a sense toward the end that you would like it to be over. At the end of this training I felt like I wanted it to continue.
Marc VVirtual
Mark is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable instructor. The 2-day course was exceptionally well facilitated. He is passionate about teaching and how people learn, and it shows in the delivery methods and techniques used throughout class to engage students
Simona TVirtual
I had heard great reviews of this course and I was not disappointed. Excellent materials. Excellent instructor.
Jeromy VEdmonton
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 knowledgeable of the subject matter. Kept the pace of the course quick, which is good.
Tarek ROttawa
Very interactive. Addressed questions and comments directly related to the workplace while discussing and covering course content.
Kyle SOttawa
Awesome. I got more than enough info to get me started and max team productivity.
Joel RVancouver
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
The instructor keeps you engaged through the use of his mannerisms, stories, and body language.
Sherry PPrivate Client
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.
Dean TVirtual
This instructor is very good, helpful and highly-effective and has just the right level of unconventionalism to appeal to even the most seasoned (jaded?, grizzled?) professionals. I would gladly take courses offered by this individual and company again in the future.
Tyler TVirtual
Instructor was very clear.
May Lynn LEdmonton
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.
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.