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).

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Mark did an excellent job. I appreciated the hands-on nature of the training wherein we actually tried to do Scrum. He was patient handling all our questions and issues, and managed to keep us engaged despite being on Zoom.
Dan MVirtual
Excellent source of knowledge and provided additional resources. Helped with real examples
Sean OPrivate Client
Very informative. Well presented. Good tempo.
Robert MOttawa
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
Good instructor. On point. Assertive and describes the problems and approaches well.
Andrei POttawa
Very good at keeping interest. Very dynamic, engages easily with students.
Paul PMontreal
Intense and totally worth it.
Marinho MEdmonton
The format was great, and I appreciated the 10 minute breaks on the hour, particularly for a virtual training where zoom can be a drag after a while. The pace was good where the content and group activities wasn't rushed but time-boxed sufficiently that we didn't feel we were 'waiting'. The training goes beyond the 'minimum' for certification and was also flexible to address various questions by attendees.
Matthew RVirtual
Mark L was the best instructor I've had.
David SOttawa
Mark is very knowledgeable and did a great job. I like the frequency of the breaks. With the frequency of breakout rooms, jumping around documents, it was clear he was prepared.
Matthew RVirtual
Mark was great at adapting to our needs - how very agile!
Mika TPrivate Client
Mark is very knowledgable. He provided interesting background on errors/mistakes committed by Scrum teams.
Prabh 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
Excellent instructor and the course was great. A lot of thought provoking exercises that bring home the idea of scrum.
Deena SToronto
Always entertaining and I feel like I learned a ton!
Michael ROttawa
Mark was great explaining the concepts of Scrum. Practical solutions with testing and QA Implementation.
Ramya RKitchener-Waterloo
A +
Derek SOttawa
Very interactive. Addressed questions and comments directly related to the workplace while discussing and covering course content.
Kyle SOttawa
Excellent instruction and examples on how to combine Scrum with the realities of a corporate enviroment.
Kevin SOttawa
Mark did a wonderful job of coaching and supporting the class participants throughout the entire SCRUM course. Even though this was the first virtual class attempt, the choice of tools did a wonderful job of making all of us feel as if we were actually working together in person. Mark’s use of a working agreement right off the get go allowed everyone in the class to not only buy into the value of these agreements but also participate in its enforcement over the two days. Mark provided numerous references and examples from his vast wealth of experience which provided richness to the content. Overall, the course was a great experience and I will definitely encourage others to seek a future opportunity to enroll in one of Mark’s courses.
Glen SVirtual
The instructor is very knowledgeable in the subject and kept us motivated and alert during the course. The course itself covers lots of material which is necessary for someone who wants to become a successful scrum master.
Elena RVirtual
Instructor was great, would continue the engaging exercises and involving people in the room.
Hussein RToronto
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
I thoroughly enjoyed Mark's presentation style and communication.
Joshua RVirtual
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
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
The course was excellent, loved the "agile" format. The instructor carefully included agile in most aspects of the course.
Kara SOttawa
Really appreciate the efforts and ernest delivery.
Shauna REdmonton
Mark Levinson is an excellent instructor and provides concrete examples and references to the material. This course was engaging and informative.
Moira ROttawa
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
I like to recommend this course to other team members to help everyone get to the same mindset and understanding. I gained a clearer understanding of what Agile really is and I'd like to see it work in my future projects.
Lynda SEdmonton
Experienced person. I like the overview and compassion.
Michal RKitchener-Waterloo
This is one of the best courses I took. I liked the 'hands on' scrum technique. I liked the open discussions and how the instructor motivated people and kept them engaged.
Magda SOttawa
Thank you, Mark! Your course was intense, informative and engaging - never felt I was "drifting off". The examples were clear, activities were great learning exercises - going to apply as much as possible!
Kate RToronto
Mark was great! Very knowledgable and engaging. I learned a lot more that I thought I would. The exercises were fun and applicable.
Jessica RToronto
The material/presentation were top notch. Demontrations/examples were very good. Instructor is enthusiastic, knowledgeable.
Norm RKitchener-Waterloo
Mark is one of the most interesting humans I’ve had the pleasure to meet. As a student, I can tell he genuinely has our interest and development in mind when creating and delivering his workshops. I can’t say enough good things about the practical knowledge I’ve gained taking this training.
Michael RVirtual
I'd hire you.
Sinan SPrivate Client
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
I have a hard time with classroom training however you managed to keep me interested. The way you deliver the material is great.
Patrick VOttawa
Awesome and objective! Careful not to influence how we work by answering other students.
Shawn MMontreal
I really enjoyed the course. Mark really understands the topic and is willing to go into great depth about items the students wished. Very enjoyable.
Mark MKitchener-Waterloo
This course was one of the best I have experienced, because we did everything instead of listening to someone talk.
Doris PPrivate Client
Very knowledgeable, enjoy the practical examples that were shared.
Tina MEdmonton
Mark is an ethusiastic engaged instructor. Very knowledgeable on the topic.
Sarah PToronto
Concepts I learned in this course are more sticky because they were demonstrated through exercise and not just explained.
Joseph MOttawa
Really enjoyed Mark's presonal anecdotes and humour. Very clear that Mark is knowledgeable and I look forward to diving into the numerous references for "extra reading".
Naomi MOttawa
Love Mark's sense of humour and enthusiasm of the topic. He shows empathy in his feedback and offers alternative ways to understand the scrum concepts, instead of just regurgitating the theories that are prevalent on the internet. Thank you Mark!
Janet TVirtual
Mark was highly engaged and collaborative with the class. Helped reinforce my understanding of Scrum and educate me on best practices and tools I can utilize in my work.
Faisal MToronto
Mark was great. I appreciated his directness.
James POttawa

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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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.

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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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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.

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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.

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