Free Resources
We're happy to offer several resources for self-study learning. These also qualify for Scrum Alliance® Scrum Education Units (SEUs).
Scrum and Agile articles
Notes from a Tool User, Mark Levison’s long-running blog, explores current Agile topics and mixes in insightful advice with practical application tips to help Scrum teams and individuals.
Agile Glossary and Reference Library
Jokingly called the “World’s Largest Opinionated Agile Reference Library”. The content is created and the links are curated through the lens of Agile Pain Relief Consulting’s view of what is effective in the practice of Scrum and Agile.
New to Scrum?
A whole page of free resources specifically for those who are trying to make sense of Scrum basics and terminology.
Scrum and Agile Games
Learning doesn’t have to be boring or tedious. Our brains retain more information when it’s fun!
- Online Agile Teams Game
- High-Performance Team Game
- Building High-Performance Organizations Game
Free with newsletter subscription
The following Scrum and Agile resources are available free to our newsletter subscribers.
Newsletters are sent out roughly every two weeks. You can opt out of anything at any time by simply unsubscribing, or letting us know and we’ll customize your subscription to only what you need.
eBooks
- The Guide to Effective Agile Retrospectives
- Five Steps for Creating High-Performance Teams
- A Jargon-Free Introduction to Scrum
- Beyond Scrum: Why Scrum Alone is Not Enough
- Agile Engineering Practices and Their Effects PDF Cheat Sheet
Community Coaching
Free Virtual Scrum Meetup. Kind of office hours/virtual coffee chat, where you can join in a Zoom conference and talk about whatever confuses and confounds you in Scrum. (Bonus: if you haven’t done a workshop with me yet, this is your chance to try before you buy.)
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 was an excellent instructor and facilitator for the certified product owner course. The content was engaging, not just a typical PowerPoint presentation. Active learning was encouraged through the use of breakout sessions where the course material was practiced; this allowed for better understanding and encouraged practical questions. I would recommend the course to anybody that wants to improve their product ownership skills and has the means to attend.
Mark FVirtual
I was impressed. The most valuable thing was not the principles (already knew most intellectually) but the instructor's zen master answers to challnges/questions. This aided in more intutive knowledge.
David AEdmonton
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
Very smart and knowledgeable about not only Scrum but also Agile practices. Didn't mince words and instilled confidence in us that we could make his advice work for us.
Simon LOttawa
This course taught me about Scrum and, in particular, provided depth around the roles and responsibilities of a Scrum team. Despite Covid-19, the material was well-prepared for online consumption and Mark, the instructor, was engaging and informative. Mark has a huge library of Scrum-related resources, as well as many non-Scrum but still applicable resources, and I would highly recommend Mark and his team for anyone seeking ScrumMaster training.
Karen MVirtual
Mark did an excellent job facilitating the course and the content was very helpful. We covered a lot of ground in
three sessions and the pre-learning was helpful too! Mark was patient and respectful and very supportive
throughout the sessions. It was a pleasure to spend the time with Mark and to learn from someone who obviously
knows his subject.
Debbie BVirtual
Very thorough and engaging. Flexibility and self-organization of the course was great.
Brendan SPrivate Client
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
Elegant and quirky faciliation makes for enjoyable and engaging learning.
Donald PToronto
Good course. Good instructor. No boring moments.
Ashishkumar PMontreal
I found Mark very knowledgeable for the course material and good at getting his point across.
Shawn PMontreal
Mark was great. I appreciated his directness.
James POttawa
Very easy to get along with and makes points very clearly.
Jason PToronto
Excellent course and instructor.
Joanna PEdmonton
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
Mark was knowledgable and provided us with a good base to start with.
Maria Noah MPrivate Client
Great instructor, great technique using Scrum to learn.
Jen MToronto
(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
Rocks! I would really recomment this instructor to others.
Raghda FToronto
Mark was an excellent instructor and I learned a lot in this workshop considering it was only 2 days. I would recommend it to my friends and colleagues.
Mohamed EVirtual
I found the instructor extremely engaging and very knowledgeable about the subject. The time flew by!
Granville GOttawa
Long days but really challenged me to rethink how I can enhance my BA skills and how to contribute in different ways to my team.
Pearline EVancouver
This course was a real eye opener and hope it will not be like preaching in the desert. You are a great orator and would love to listen to your thoughts for hours.
Marc-Andre LMontreal
Mark was excellent! He is a very efficient communicator. Concise in the material he presents. The pace was great. I love the fact that scrum fundamentals were demonstrable.
Omesh MToronto
Great course and material, I loved the theoretical information with was applied on day 2. Mark did a great job of relating everything to real work examples.
Michael FToronto
I found Mark to be engaging, informative and entertaining. His answers to class questions were well thought out, practical and helpful. He did a very good job handling the various personalities and keeping things on track.
Brad GVirtual
Insightful material, engaging classroom practice.
Eliza BVirtual
Mark was fantastic! He explained the concepts very clearly and kept the class very engaging for the 2 days. He has a wealth of experience and was able to convey that to the class (plus the fun soap box moments).
Anthony GVirtual
The course and exercise were well designed to add value compared to reading about Scrum. Mark is an effective presenter, keeping things interesting and (often) entertaining.
Gordon EPrivate Client
Very effective and experienced instructor. Well organized.
Sam MOttawa
Well spoken and obviously passionate.
Brian REdmonton
Great! Humour is a plus too!
Daryl BVancouver
Mark was an engaging and passionate instructor. I appreciated his concise explanations, and the time he took after his first day to discuss specifics about my organization with me.
Adam FOttawa
There was not a single bit of content that wasn't helpful.
Bruno PMontreal
Mark is one of the most engaging instructors I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from. Thanks again for the start in Scrum!
Matt MKitchener-Waterloo
The instructor was very knowledgeable and kept me interested in the content by applying real life scenarios.
Jennifer MPrivate Client
Very knowledgeable and well-versed in the art and science of Scrum and Agile. Clearly has a breadth of experience to share.
Sara MVirtual
Very well done. Good introduction of the concepts, good use of technology, good practical incorporation of the methods being taught into the course itself, 10/10
Adam GVirtual
Mark was a great instructor, really made the content easily understandable and great at answering questions.
Melanie MVirtual
Great course and great instructor! Will definitely recommend to friends!
Hisham EOttawa
It was a pleasure learning with Mark. The scrum-like structure of the course made it interactive and fun.
Florent GToronto
Mark Levison was very effective in delivering the material for the class. He kept it interesting and interactive even though this was an online course.
Marie LVirtual
Knowledgable and engaged the trainees to think and share their ideas.
Carol BPrivate Client
Very knowledgeable, enjoy the practical examples that were shared.
Tina MEdmonton
Mark was fantastic! Great examples!
Scott MKitchener-Waterloo
Very knowledgeable instructor and dynamic . Provided good examples to better understand concept.
Yves GPrivate Client
Mark was a good speaker and resourceful instructor. Exercises were practical and useful.
Ronald MPrivate Client
Instructor was well organized and touched each topic in a sequential matter that was logical.
Joe PMontreal
This was a fantastic course and I would recommend it to anyone. Mark is an excellent teacher and provides great examples and easy-to-understand explanations. There was a good balance of listening, working in a group, and discussion. We ran sprint simulations which helped hammer down the concepts.
Julia HVirtual
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
Mark did an excellent job facilitating the course and the content was very helpful. We covered a lot of ground in
three sessions and the pre-learning was helpful too! Mark was patient and respectful and very supportive
throughout the sessions. It was a pleasure to spend the time with Mark and to learn from someone who obviously
knows his subject.
Debbie BVirtual
Very thorough and engaging. Flexibility and self-organization of the course was great.
Brendan SPrivate Client
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
Elegant and quirky faciliation makes for enjoyable and engaging learning.
Donald PToronto
Good course. Good instructor. No boring moments.
Ashishkumar PMontreal
I found Mark very knowledgeable for the course material and good at getting his point across.
Shawn PMontreal
Mark was great. I appreciated his directness.
James POttawa
Very easy to get along with and makes points very clearly.
Jason PToronto
Excellent course and instructor.
Joanna PEdmonton
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
Mark was knowledgable and provided us with a good base to start with.
Maria Noah MPrivate Client
Great instructor, great technique using Scrum to learn.
Jen MToronto
(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
Rocks! I would really recomment this instructor to others.
Raghda FToronto
Mark was an excellent instructor and I learned a lot in this workshop considering it was only 2 days. I would recommend it to my friends and colleagues.
Mohamed EVirtual
I found the instructor extremely engaging and very knowledgeable about the subject. The time flew by!
Granville GOttawa
Long days but really challenged me to rethink how I can enhance my BA skills and how to contribute in different ways to my team.
Pearline EVancouver
This course was a real eye opener and hope it will not be like preaching in the desert. You are a great orator and would love to listen to your thoughts for hours.
Marc-Andre LMontreal
Mark was excellent! He is a very efficient communicator. Concise in the material he presents. The pace was great. I love the fact that scrum fundamentals were demonstrable.
Omesh MToronto
Great course and material, I loved the theoretical information with was applied on day 2. Mark did a great job of relating everything to real work examples.
Michael FToronto
I found Mark to be engaging, informative and entertaining. His answers to class questions were well thought out, practical and helpful. He did a very good job handling the various personalities and keeping things on track.
Brad GVirtual
Insightful material, engaging classroom practice.
Eliza BVirtual
Mark was fantastic! He explained the concepts very clearly and kept the class very engaging for the 2 days. He has a wealth of experience and was able to convey that to the class (plus the fun soap box moments).
Anthony GVirtual
The course and exercise were well designed to add value compared to reading about Scrum. Mark is an effective presenter, keeping things interesting and (often) entertaining.
Gordon EPrivate Client
Very effective and experienced instructor. Well organized.
Sam MOttawa
Well spoken and obviously passionate.
Brian REdmonton
Great! Humour is a plus too!
Daryl BVancouver
Mark was an engaging and passionate instructor. I appreciated his concise explanations, and the time he took after his first day to discuss specifics about my organization with me.
Adam FOttawa
There was not a single bit of content that wasn't helpful.
Bruno PMontreal
Mark is one of the most engaging instructors I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from. Thanks again for the start in Scrum!
Matt MKitchener-Waterloo
The instructor was very knowledgeable and kept me interested in the content by applying real life scenarios.
Jennifer MPrivate Client
Mark was an excellent instructor and facilitator for the certified product owner course. The content was engaging, not just a typical PowerPoint presentation. Active learning was encouraged through the use of breakout sessions where the course material was practiced; this allowed for better understanding and encouraged practical questions. I would recommend the course to anybody that wants to improve their product ownership skills and has the means to attend.
Mark FVirtual
Very knowledgeable and well-versed in the art and science of Scrum and Agile. Clearly has a breadth of experience to share.
Sara MVirtual
Very well done. Good introduction of the concepts, good use of technology, good practical incorporation of the methods being taught into the course itself, 10/10
Adam GVirtual
Mark was a great instructor, really made the content easily understandable and great at answering questions.
Melanie MVirtual
I was impressed. The most valuable thing was not the principles (already knew most intellectually) but the instructor's zen master answers to challnges/questions. This aided in more intutive knowledge.
David AEdmonton
Great course and great instructor! Will definitely recommend to friends!
Hisham EOttawa
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
It was a pleasure learning with Mark. The scrum-like structure of the course made it interactive and fun.
Florent GToronto
Mark Levison was very effective in delivering the material for the class. He kept it interesting and interactive even though this was an online course.
Marie LVirtual
Knowledgable and engaged the trainees to think and share their ideas.
Carol BPrivate Client
Very smart and knowledgeable about not only Scrum but also Agile practices. Didn't mince words and instilled confidence in us that we could make his advice work for us.
Simon LOttawa
Very knowledgeable, enjoy the practical examples that were shared.
Tina MEdmonton
This course taught me about Scrum and, in particular, provided depth around the roles and responsibilities of a Scrum team. Despite Covid-19, the material was well-prepared for online consumption and Mark, the instructor, was engaging and informative. Mark has a huge library of Scrum-related resources, as well as many non-Scrum but still applicable resources, and I would highly recommend Mark and his team for anyone seeking ScrumMaster training.
Karen MVirtual
Mark was fantastic! Great examples!
Scott MKitchener-Waterloo
Very knowledgeable instructor and dynamic . Provided good examples to better understand concept.
Yves GPrivate Client
Mark was a good speaker and resourceful instructor. Exercises were practical and useful.
Ronald MPrivate Client
Instructor was well organized and touched each topic in a sequential matter that was logical.
Joe PMontreal
This was a fantastic course and I would recommend it to anyone. Mark is an excellent teacher and provides great examples and easy-to-understand explanations. There was a good balance of listening, working in a group, and discussion. We ran sprint simulations which helped hammer down the concepts.
Julia HVirtual
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
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.