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 shares with you 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!
Includes follow-up support emails to reinforce what you learned and help you make real changes right away.
Why This Book?
Our world is changing at a faster rate than ever, and the speed will only increase. Covid-19 gave us a taste of how vital it is to be able to quickly adjust. Scrum helps break change into manageable chunks and then gives us focus, with retrospectives as a critical tool in that arsenal for rapid adaptation. It’s worth learning how to use them properly.
In The Guide to Effective Agile Retrospectives, Mark shares his secrets to creating retrospectives that don’t suck!
You’ll learn about:
- Common misunderstandings about retrospectives – let’s clear those up
- Recommended techniques and activities to keep the meeting fun and engaging
- How to run retrospectives with distributed teams
- Why you need data for your retrospectives – what to gather, not gather, and what it can tell you
- Turning vague ideas like “We need to do better Unit Testing” into concrete experiments
- …and how to help these improvements actually happen
- Remedies for anti-patterns like: “All Talk, No Action”, “Perennial Problems”, and “ScrumMaster Hero”
Why this book? Because Mark was failing at Sprint Retrospectives before it was popular. After years of study and experimentation, his findings are now collected in this Guide so you don’t have to have to suffer the same pain.
Hint: This free eBook, and the accompanying email series, qualify for Scrum Alliance Education Units (SEUs).
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 is a wealth of knowledge and makes agile super easy! The course is interesting, interactive, and extremely informative. I got a lot of takeaways from the course and excited to take this back to my team. I'm looking forward to taking the Advance Scrum and Advanced PO courses next Fall.
Jenny CVirtual
Solid course, instructor was knowledgeable and friendly. I liked how it felt like a conversation and not a presentation, so I had pretty high engagement.This subject feels like an applied art, not a list of facts for memorization.
Michael RVirtual
Instructor was engaged, interesting, and fun. He included all members in discussion and Q/A. The course provided me with what I need to start effectively using scrum at work.
Erik CEdmonton
Amazing instructor, was able to clearly explain complex concepts, made the course relevant and engaging! This will alow us to build strong agile teams.
Dylan HPrivate Client
Mark's ability to adapt to the background of students and relate to their org's characteristics adds exceptional value. This course isn't just for software development!
Paul AOttawa
This course was exactly what I was looking for! Mark was a very knowledgeable and engaging instructor. I appreciated the hands-on exercises that allowed me to put the methodology into practice with my course mates and learn from the experience. The course material is also top notch. I feel ready to take the exam and put what I've learnt into practice in my workplace.
Anu PVirtual
Mark is a great instructor, we can see the vast experience that he has from his training style. We have learnt as much as it is possible from a two day workshop. Keep up the good work Mark.
Sreepad KVirtual
Mark did a great job. I appreciated that a) he was coming from a strong development background and b) had an obvious passion about Scrum and the benefits it could bring to development.
Adam MVirtual
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
Kept audience engaged, and kept course relevant to entire group. Brought Scrum into how the course was taught! (Neat!)
Steve BOttawa
This was a great course with an engaging instructor - well worth the time of anyone who wants to learn more about product ownership.
Mark BVirtual
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
Mark is a lively and engaging instructor. Information was presented effectively and at a reasonable pace.
Joel DOttawa
Mark is a great teacher and is very good at engaging people. Really gets the spark going!
Julien LMontreal
The course included everything I hoped to cover and Mark very well demonstrated its content.
Jerome CToronto
Lots of information and data for a great walk through about the agile methodology.
Pierre-Michel AMontreal
Mark is very knowledgeable and really challenges the class to engage, speak, think about the core concepts, even when it’s messy/unclear in “real world” situations. I talked to a couple of my colleagues afterward and even the ones who were having difficulty with the usefulness of Scrum in their professional lives really enjoyed the course and the instructor, myself included.
Louis BVirtual
Solid grounding in Scrum and examples to apply it at work.
John CVancouver
Excellent work, I have a lot of ideas and appreciate the way they were introduced.
John MEdmonton
Mark was great and full of recommendations. He was also very knowledgeable and able to answer all our questions.
Chris MPrivate Client
Very good at keeping interest. Very dynamic, engages easily with students.
Paul PMontreal
Mark did a great job over the course of two days. It was a good balance of information distribution and practice of that information in small groups. The concepts covered were tied to real life work situations and that made it easier to see how you would play the role of scrum master in those situations. I appreciated the time Mark allowed for questions and discussion of the topics covered in class. The breaks offered provided a good balance with being on the camera and learning online for two days. I would recommend this course and Mark as an instructor to anyone interested in learning more about Scrum and the role of scrum master.
Jessica SVirtual
Mark Levison was an excellent instructor who thoughtfully engaged and listened to me and my group.
Nicolas VOttawa
What a great course! I feel that I got exactly what I needed. Mark did an amazing job showing me what I could easily do and what I should accept will take time. Amazing class!
Angela SToronto
Mark is exceptionally knowledgeable and offered many useful tibits I can better my organization with.
James ROttawa
Informative and engaging. Love the scrum training as a sprint. Flexible to address problems current teams face.
Michael SPrivate Client
I like the tone and pace of the training most.
Alex VEdmonton
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
Mark delivered an excellent course, it was a value-packed 2 days.
Brent COttawa
Fantastic course, fantastic instructor! A perfect mix of discussion and practical exercise that keeps you engaged.
Paul SVirtual
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
Strong instructor, great knowledge of the material. A very good pace.
Ken AKitchener-Waterloo
Passion to share his knowledge, good class set-up and dividing the class.
Erol TMontreal
Thanks for being so responsive and Agile in your approach to leading the class.
Deb BKitchener-Waterloo
I applaud Mark's view on working in agile. I was able to clearly understand the fundamental core and roles of agile.
Adil SOttawa
Excellent course. Complete and comprehensive. Enlightened pedagogy and creative use of online collaboration tools. I do not think that we suffered much for being out of the f2f classroom setting. Mark is a curious, knowledgeable and entertaining instructor, able facilitator and consummate diplomat. Highly recommended. Five stars *****.
Kevin TVirtual
Mark was excellent in explaining the concepts and examples from his experience. Found it very engaging and interactive.
Shilpi SPrivate Client
Course was informative and entertaining. There was good participant involvement and useful examples.
George COttawa
Mark did a great job teaching, providing examples, and exersises. This is my third session and I would recommend him.
Cheryl ROttawa
Mark has a great attitude and was very informative. I liked the recommendations for external resources when he reached the limit of his knowledge and/or time.
Jason TKitchener-Waterloo
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
Content and pace of course was good. Mark was a great coach and answered questions thoroughly.
Chris RKitchener-Waterloo
Very knowledgeable of the subject matter. Kept the pace of the course quick, which is good.
Tarek ROttawa
Highly recommend it. This was awesome. Thank you. Mark is a very good instructor.
Philippe CMontreal
Mark was knowledgable and provided us with a good base to start with.
Maria Noah MPrivate Client
Very enthusiastic and diplomatic. Very knowledgeable. Course was enjoyable.
Chris MKitchener-Waterloo
Great course to get started. Mark is greatly knowledgeable and shares well the information.
Christine AMontreal
Great course and great instructor! Will definitely recommend to friends!
Hisham EOttawa
Mark Levison is a good coach, very knowledgeable and not boring.
Pradeep CPrivate Client
Mark is great trainer, and explained all the terms in a way for us to easy understand.
Cynthia SVirtual
Mark is a great instructor, we can see the vast experience that he has from his training style. We have learnt as much as it is possible from a two day workshop. Keep up the good work Mark.
Sreepad KVirtual
Mark did a great job. I appreciated that a) he was coming from a strong development background and b) had an obvious passion about Scrum and the benefits it could bring to development.
Adam MVirtual
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
Kept audience engaged, and kept course relevant to entire group. Brought Scrum into how the course was taught! (Neat!)
Steve BOttawa
This was a great course with an engaging instructor - well worth the time of anyone who wants to learn more about product ownership.
Mark BVirtual
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
Mark is a lively and engaging instructor. Information was presented effectively and at a reasonable pace.
Joel DOttawa
Mark is a great teacher and is very good at engaging people. Really gets the spark going!
Julien LMontreal
The course included everything I hoped to cover and Mark very well demonstrated its content.
Jerome CToronto
Lots of information and data for a great walk through about the agile methodology.
Pierre-Michel AMontreal
Mark is very knowledgeable and really challenges the class to engage, speak, think about the core concepts, even when it’s messy/unclear in “real world” situations. I talked to a couple of my colleagues afterward and even the ones who were having difficulty with the usefulness of Scrum in their professional lives really enjoyed the course and the instructor, myself included.
Louis BVirtual
Solid grounding in Scrum and examples to apply it at work.
John CVancouver
Excellent work, I have a lot of ideas and appreciate the way they were introduced.
John MEdmonton
Mark is a wealth of knowledge and makes agile super easy! The course is interesting, interactive, and extremely informative. I got a lot of takeaways from the course and excited to take this back to my team. I'm looking forward to taking the Advance Scrum and Advanced PO courses next Fall.
Jenny CVirtual
Mark was great and full of recommendations. He was also very knowledgeable and able to answer all our questions.
Chris MPrivate Client
Very good at keeping interest. Very dynamic, engages easily with students.
Paul PMontreal
Mark did a great job over the course of two days. It was a good balance of information distribution and practice of that information in small groups. The concepts covered were tied to real life work situations and that made it easier to see how you would play the role of scrum master in those situations. I appreciated the time Mark allowed for questions and discussion of the topics covered in class. The breaks offered provided a good balance with being on the camera and learning online for two days. I would recommend this course and Mark as an instructor to anyone interested in learning more about Scrum and the role of scrum master.
Jessica SVirtual
Mark Levison was an excellent instructor who thoughtfully engaged and listened to me and my group.
Nicolas VOttawa
What a great course! I feel that I got exactly what I needed. Mark did an amazing job showing me what I could easily do and what I should accept will take time. Amazing class!
Angela SToronto
Solid course, instructor was knowledgeable and friendly. I liked how it felt like a conversation and not a presentation, so I had pretty high engagement.This subject feels like an applied art, not a list of facts for memorization.
Michael RVirtual
Mark is exceptionally knowledgeable and offered many useful tibits I can better my organization with.
James ROttawa
Informative and engaging. Love the scrum training as a sprint. Flexible to address problems current teams face.
Michael SPrivate Client
I like the tone and pace of the training most.
Alex VEdmonton
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
Mark delivered an excellent course, it was a value-packed 2 days.
Brent COttawa
Fantastic course, fantastic instructor! A perfect mix of discussion and practical exercise that keeps you engaged.
Paul SVirtual
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
Strong instructor, great knowledge of the material. A very good pace.
Ken AKitchener-Waterloo
Passion to share his knowledge, good class set-up and dividing the class.
Erol TMontreal
Thanks for being so responsive and Agile in your approach to leading the class.
Deb BKitchener-Waterloo
I applaud Mark's view on working in agile. I was able to clearly understand the fundamental core and roles of agile.
Adil SOttawa
Excellent course. Complete and comprehensive. Enlightened pedagogy and creative use of online collaboration tools. I do not think that we suffered much for being out of the f2f classroom setting. Mark is a curious, knowledgeable and entertaining instructor, able facilitator and consummate diplomat. Highly recommended. Five stars *****.
Kevin TVirtual
Mark was excellent in explaining the concepts and examples from his experience. Found it very engaging and interactive.
Shilpi SPrivate Client
Course was informative and entertaining. There was good participant involvement and useful examples.
George COttawa
Mark did a great job teaching, providing examples, and exersises. This is my third session and I would recommend him.
Cheryl ROttawa
Mark has a great attitude and was very informative. I liked the recommendations for external resources when he reached the limit of his knowledge and/or time.
Jason TKitchener-Waterloo
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
Content and pace of course was good. Mark was a great coach and answered questions thoroughly.
Chris RKitchener-Waterloo
Very knowledgeable of the subject matter. Kept the pace of the course quick, which is good.
Tarek ROttawa
Instructor was engaged, interesting, and fun. He included all members in discussion and Q/A. The course provided me with what I need to start effectively using scrum at work.
Erik CEdmonton
Highly recommend it. This was awesome. Thank you. Mark is a very good instructor.
Philippe CMontreal
Mark was knowledgable and provided us with a good base to start with.
Maria Noah MPrivate Client
Very enthusiastic and diplomatic. Very knowledgeable. Course was enjoyable.
Chris MKitchener-Waterloo
Great course to get started. Mark is greatly knowledgeable and shares well the information.
Christine AMontreal
Amazing instructor, was able to clearly explain complex concepts, made the course relevant and engaging! This will alow us to build strong agile teams.
Dylan HPrivate Client
Great course and great instructor! Will definitely recommend to friends!
Hisham EOttawa
Mark Levison is a good coach, very knowledgeable and not boring.
Pradeep CPrivate Client
Mark's ability to adapt to the background of students and relate to their org's characteristics adds exceptional value. This course isn't just for software development!
Paul AOttawa
Mark is great trainer, and explained all the terms in a way for us to easy understand.
Cynthia SVirtual
This course was exactly what I was looking for! Mark was a very knowledgeable and engaging instructor. I appreciated the hands-on exercises that allowed me to put the methodology into practice with my course mates and learn from the experience. The course material is also top notch. I feel ready to take the exam and put what I've learnt into practice in my workplace.
Anu PVirtual
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
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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.
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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.
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Use Scrum knowledge to standout at work, get paid more, and impress your customer, all without burning out.
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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.