Beyond the Checklist: Contextual Scrum for Your Team

"As a Scrum Master, where and how should I start?"

As surprising as it may sound, I still love using Henrik Kniberg's Scrum Checklist. Yes, this thing created more than 15 years ago still makes sense:

→ Sit down with your Product Owner, as this is a great way to strengthen your PO/SM bond
→ Do the assessment together

Now, to make it really make sense today, the goal shouldn't be to check all the boxes - but to understand what happens for the boxes you can't check:

→ For every box unchecked, ask the following question: "What is the impact of not doing it / having it?"
→ Once the impact identified, define together "What could be solutions to mitigate the impact or improve the situation?"

The twist here, is that instead of "just" following the framework it will trigger your PO and you to come up with a creative solution for the impact you identified. And this solution might be the one prescribed in Scrum... or a totally different one. 💁🏻‍♂️

In an era where rigid frameworks seem outdated, the most viable solutions are the ones you will define as specifically fitting for the context of your team 💡