Peter discusses how “variation” can affect negatively the team, and what benefits can come from acting on, and reducing variation.

Peter refers to the book where he first read about the effect of variation on work. This book was Freedom from Command and Control by John Seddon (http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Command-Control-Rethinking-Management/dp/1563273276)

Peter also shares a tip on how to get management to be aware of what is discussed by teams during the retrospective, in order to create trust between management and teams.

Peter shares his unusual idea on how measuring the use of the word Scrum can give you real insights to your success as a Scrum Master.

Peter tells us the story of a ScrumMaster that seemed like a good choice but was too shy to help the team grow. He explains how he views the role of the ScrumMaster, and especially what is needed to help them evolve.

Being a slave to the backlog, and just going through the motions without interacting with the other team members or stakeholders. This is further amplified in Death-march like projects.

Product Owners are often given that role because of what they know, but Scrum requires that Product Owners be available to the team. If they are not available that will create problems for the team.

Assigning a Business Analyst as a Product Owner may not be the right choice, especially if that Business Analyst is used to writing requirements “the old way”.

Listen to the podcast for Peter’s experience and insights on the problem.