Work Should Fit People

This week, we launched the Humanizing Work Show. In episode 1, we summarize what we mean by Humanizing Work and where the phrase came from. Humanizing Work… Read More

Why a Prerequisite Course?

Participants in our courses are sometimes surprised to find out that they have work to do in advance of the course. Most of our live, interactive courses involve a self-guided, online prerequisite course. Here’s why. Read More

Rethinking New Year’s Resolutions for 2018

"This year," says your friend (who's never run a 5K), "I'm going to do a marathon." "Yeah? How are you going to do that?" you inquire, trying to sound polite and curious rather than incredulous. "Well, I haven't figured that out yet...but I'm looking at maybe Chicago or Boston..." Read More

How to Give Clear Instructions When Facilitating

It's a classic facilitation blunder: You start giving instructions for an activity, and as you're talking, people begin the activity. You try to reel in those eager participants so you can get the rest of your instructions out. Then, as everyone starts, you realize you forgot something important and need to get the group back together for more instructions. The best facilitators are extremely deliberate about how they give instructions. Read More

On the Value of Product Owner Training

I love teaching Product Owner classes because the PO is in such a high-leverage role. The PO's work affects the work of 7, 9, maybe even 18 other people. And it's not difficult to triple the value delivered by a Scrum team, simply by improving their PO's skills in a few key ways. Let's look at the financial impact of that change... Read More

Ask Humanizing Work: Long-running Stories

Hi Richard, My Scrum team has been working on a particular service for over a year. It's been 20+ Sprints. I'm concerned about the deliverables and the rate at which we deliver. I have just put together some material for my stakeholders. I am pasting those slides here for your review. Do you mind reviewing them and letting me know what you think? That would be very helpful. Read More

Making Info Visible for Better Decisions

A key part of the ScrumMaster's or Product Owner's job is making information visible.* Whether that's a product backlog, taskboard, cumulative flow diagram, or a one-off visual for a specific need, good visuals lead to better decisions. Here are four principles for doing it well... Read More