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
- A Jargon-Free Introduction to Scrum
- 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.
Best training I've taken in a long time.
Susan DPrivate Client
The course does an excellent job in this covid world. Lots was learned even though I have been working in an agile environment for years. Would certainly return to Agile Pain Relief if I decide to pursue future training.
Robert AVirtual
Mark is a very engaging and thoughtful instructor and presented material that was relevent to the goup and our interests. This was an excellent course and worth the time commitment.
Victor COttawa
Great course. I was unfamiliar with the role of scrum master apart from what I had read. This course gave me a great introduction and appreciation of what a good scrummaster can accomplish. The challenge now would be to implement it in my organization. Many tips were provided for this too so I am very optimistic.
Shabira JEdmonton
Loved this course! Mark is very thorough and attentive as a teacher. He leveraged Mural in such interactive ways, which allowed him to understand the students well and shape the class accordingly. He is like the Jedi master of scrum and insanely advanced methods of leaderless collaboration and accomplishment. He's also the king of super nerdy jokes, which made the class fun and brought out the super nerd in everyone.
Lia GVirtual
Second course with Mark went great. I have to figure out how to afford more?
David HMontreal
The course was fun, engaging, and highly responsive to participants. The complete lack of Powerpoint and bulleted lists was amazingly refreshing. Using a Sprint board to run the course was ingenious.
Robin GToronto
We covered a vast amount of information in 2 days - all extremely helpful! Mark kept the class engaged and it is clear he is enthusiastic and believs in the methodology he is teaching, which has a very positive influence. He was open to discussing topics the class had questions about while fitting in a lot of other valuable items!
Jennifer SToronto
Created a very nice and open environment which helped the learning process.
Ricardo CKitchener-Waterloo
Mark taught the course in-depth; I gained a lot of knowledge on facilitating a scrum team in achieving its goals. Thanks a lot for such an amazing presentation format.
Be-Done IVirtual
Instructor was amazing, easy to listen to and follow. Did not read from book and provided concrete examples.
Tricia AOttawa
Mark is great and explained dry terms with examples.
Xueyan BPrivate Client
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
Great! Humour is a plus too!
Daryl BVancouver
Fantastic course. I am excited about implementing more of what I learned.
Andrew BToronto
Instructor was extremely well prepared, know the material inside and out. Always had a good response for every question. And had a great sense of humor
Christian BPrivate Client
This training is beneficial, now it is clear to me what sprint goals, sprint reviews and all the other terms mean and how they can be used to inform, interact and engage team members, and how to help teams become more effective and high performing. I appreciate your speech and examples you provided in class, it helps me better understand the topics. Overall, this is a great and positive training. Thanks Mark!
Alice CVirtual
Mark is a great teacher. Funny, communicates his ideas well, very knowledgeable, - a great teacher! This was a good course!
Anthony DVirtual
Mark made the class enjoyable. I was initially dreading a 3 day course. After the first day I knew that I could live through the course.
Dickie BPrivate Client
Mark was extremely knowledgeable, effective teacher, responded well to students and has an excellent sense of humour.
Kely BVancouver
Mark is very knowledgeable and his experience with Agile and Scrum was awesome as he was able to provide lots of tips and examples.
Sophie CVirtual
Very good introduction to my new role. Mark leads lively and thought-provoking discussions.
Bob COttawa
Mark was very personable, easy going an know what he was teaching. This makes the class environment more interactive and fun.
Asif BVirtual
Highly recommend it. This was awesome. Thank you. Mark is a very good instructor.
Philippe CMontreal
Refreshing, enlightening, funny, engaging, instructive.
Richard DPrivate Client
Great course to get started. Mark is greatly knowledgeable and shares well the information.
Christine AMontreal
The course was really interactive, Mark did a great job at running the course online during the pandemic. He was always willing to answer questions and provide relevant resources. I like that the focus during class-time was more on effective implementation in the real world rather than learning text-book material.
Agata BVirtual
Provocative, amusing, thanks!
Stefan BPrivate Client
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
Very unique training style, really appreciate that I don’t have to look at power point screen. Appreciate the Q&As and the end of class recap round.
Vicky CPrivate Client
Instructor kept the course interested, kept us engaged through fun exercises. I love the course content, the book. Well prepared reference.
Hulya AOttawa
Another excellent course! Great balance of theory, exercises, and anecdotes.
Adam BOttawa
Mark, you were an absolute pleasure! Thank you for a well thoughtout and enjoyable course. I've learned a lot of great tips I plan to start using immediately.
Monica CToronto
Great energy. Interesting course material.
Julie CToronto
Mark was very knowledgeable and walked us through Scrum using the actual technique. Very good technique.
Kevin COttawa
I absolutely love your practical pragmatic approach to delivering information. Very conductive to learning.
Mandy JOttawa
Mark, you are awesome! I enjoyed your style of teaching/coaching. You focused on our needs and priorities ensuring a "happy customer." You are also respectful towards everyone's opinion which makes it engaging conversation.
Zeeshan BOttawa
Very well done course. Very experienced, knowledgeable instructor, well structured course, clear explanation, keeps nice spirit during the course, encourages collaboration.
Dina DMontreal
Calm, knowledgeable, and open to questions. Great.
Brandon GVirtual
Mark was great. Excellent sense of humor, great ability to adapt, wealth of business and sugject matter knowledge.
Jesse BPrivate Client
Very knowledgeable instructor, great info on theory and practice. Lots more info to cover if we had more time.
Jamie GOttawa
Mark was fantastic. Enjoyed his coaching very well. Course was very interesting.
Robert AOttawa
Interesting, engaging, practical exercises.
Olga HMontreal
The course was well laid out, a good mix of discussions, examples, and practice.
Chris FToronto
Mark was exceptional in introducing us to the Scrum world. Contents in the Mural was well formulated, informative and crisp. Mark was open to discussion and provided alternative options for real time issues faced by participant. He was able to create traps so that we can get the real insight of scrum's events. Overall, I am amazed the way Mark covered the whole session. I am looking forward to go through his new upcoming book.
Birendra KVirtual
It was a really good way to understand the concepts of the Scrum Agile practice making us exercise and see how a real Agile org works.
Newton DMontreal
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 was a great introduction to the Agile world and methodology. This could be a great tool in the office if used properly.
Guytwin FMontreal
Mark is great, crams a boat load into two days effectively.
Gordon IVirtual
The instructor had an excellent breadth and depth of knowledge. Liberally sprinkled with relevent ancedotes to provide substance and humor.
Myles GPrivate Client
We covered a vast amount of information in 2 days - all extremely helpful! Mark kept the class engaged and it is clear he is enthusiastic and believs in the methodology he is teaching, which has a very positive influence. He was open to discussing topics the class had questions about while fitting in a lot of other valuable items!
Jennifer SToronto
Created a very nice and open environment which helped the learning process.
Ricardo CKitchener-Waterloo
Mark taught the course in-depth; I gained a lot of knowledge on facilitating a scrum team in achieving its goals. Thanks a lot for such an amazing presentation format.
Be-Done IVirtual
Instructor was amazing, easy to listen to and follow. Did not read from book and provided concrete examples.
Tricia AOttawa
Mark is great and explained dry terms with examples.
Xueyan BPrivate Client
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
Great! Humour is a plus too!
Daryl BVancouver
Fantastic course. I am excited about implementing more of what I learned.
Andrew BToronto
Instructor was extremely well prepared, know the material inside and out. Always had a good response for every question. And had a great sense of humor
Christian BPrivate Client
This training is beneficial, now it is clear to me what sprint goals, sprint reviews and all the other terms mean and how they can be used to inform, interact and engage team members, and how to help teams become more effective and high performing. I appreciate your speech and examples you provided in class, it helps me better understand the topics. Overall, this is a great and positive training. Thanks Mark!
Alice CVirtual
Best training I've taken in a long time.
Susan DPrivate Client
Mark is a great teacher. Funny, communicates his ideas well, very knowledgeable, - a great teacher! This was a good course!
Anthony DVirtual
Mark made the class enjoyable. I was initially dreading a 3 day course. After the first day I knew that I could live through the course.
Dickie BPrivate Client
Mark was extremely knowledgeable, effective teacher, responded well to students and has an excellent sense of humour.
Kely BVancouver
Mark is very knowledgeable and his experience with Agile and Scrum was awesome as he was able to provide lots of tips and examples.
Sophie CVirtual
Very good introduction to my new role. Mark leads lively and thought-provoking discussions.
Bob COttawa
Mark was very personable, easy going an know what he was teaching. This makes the class environment more interactive and fun.
Asif BVirtual
Highly recommend it. This was awesome. Thank you. Mark is a very good instructor.
Philippe CMontreal
Refreshing, enlightening, funny, engaging, instructive.
Richard DPrivate Client
Great course to get started. Mark is greatly knowledgeable and shares well the information.
Christine AMontreal
The course was really interactive, Mark did a great job at running the course online during the pandemic. He was always willing to answer questions and provide relevant resources. I like that the focus during class-time was more on effective implementation in the real world rather than learning text-book material.
Agata BVirtual
Provocative, amusing, thanks!
Stefan BPrivate Client
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
Very unique training style, really appreciate that I don’t have to look at power point screen. Appreciate the Q&As and the end of class recap round.
Vicky CPrivate Client
Instructor kept the course interested, kept us engaged through fun exercises. I love the course content, the book. Well prepared reference.
Hulya AOttawa
Another excellent course! Great balance of theory, exercises, and anecdotes.
Adam BOttawa
Mark, you were an absolute pleasure! Thank you for a well thoughtout and enjoyable course. I've learned a lot of great tips I plan to start using immediately.
Monica CToronto
The course does an excellent job in this covid world. Lots was learned even though I have been working in an agile environment for years. Would certainly return to Agile Pain Relief if I decide to pursue future training.
Robert AVirtual
Great energy. Interesting course material.
Julie CToronto
Mark was very knowledgeable and walked us through Scrum using the actual technique. Very good technique.
Kevin COttawa
I absolutely love your practical pragmatic approach to delivering information. Very conductive to learning.
Mandy JOttawa
Mark, you are awesome! I enjoyed your style of teaching/coaching. You focused on our needs and priorities ensuring a "happy customer." You are also respectful towards everyone's opinion which makes it engaging conversation.
Zeeshan BOttawa
Very well done course. Very experienced, knowledgeable instructor, well structured course, clear explanation, keeps nice spirit during the course, encourages collaboration.
Dina DMontreal
Mark is a very engaging and thoughtful instructor and presented material that was relevent to the goup and our interests. This was an excellent course and worth the time commitment.
Victor COttawa
Calm, knowledgeable, and open to questions. Great.
Brandon GVirtual
Mark was great. Excellent sense of humor, great ability to adapt, wealth of business and sugject matter knowledge.
Jesse BPrivate Client
Great course. I was unfamiliar with the role of scrum master apart from what I had read. This course gave me a great introduction and appreciation of what a good scrummaster can accomplish. The challenge now would be to implement it in my organization. Many tips were provided for this too so I am very optimistic.
Shabira JEdmonton
Very knowledgeable instructor, great info on theory and practice. Lots more info to cover if we had more time.
Jamie GOttawa
Mark was fantastic. Enjoyed his coaching very well. Course was very interesting.
Robert AOttawa
Interesting, engaging, practical exercises.
Olga HMontreal
Loved this course! Mark is very thorough and attentive as a teacher. He leveraged Mural in such interactive ways, which allowed him to understand the students well and shape the class accordingly. He is like the Jedi master of scrum and insanely advanced methods of leaderless collaboration and accomplishment. He's also the king of super nerdy jokes, which made the class fun and brought out the super nerd in everyone.
Lia GVirtual
The course was well laid out, a good mix of discussions, examples, and practice.
Chris FToronto
Mark was exceptional in introducing us to the Scrum world. Contents in the Mural was well formulated, informative and crisp. Mark was open to discussion and provided alternative options for real time issues faced by participant. He was able to create traps so that we can get the real insight of scrum's events. Overall, I am amazed the way Mark covered the whole session. I am looking forward to go through his new upcoming book.
Birendra KVirtual
Second course with Mark went great. I have to figure out how to afford more?
David HMontreal
It was a really good way to understand the concepts of the Scrum Agile practice making us exercise and see how a real Agile org works.
Newton DMontreal
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
The course was fun, engaging, and highly responsive to participants. The complete lack of Powerpoint and bulleted lists was amazingly refreshing. Using a Sprint board to run the course was ingenious.
Robin GToronto
This was a great introduction to the Agile world and methodology. This could be a great tool in the office if used properly.
Guytwin FMontreal
Mark is great, crams a boat load into two days effectively.
Gordon IVirtual
The instructor had an excellent breadth and depth of knowledge. Liberally sprinkled with relevent ancedotes to provide substance and humor.
Myles GPrivate Client
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.