BONUS Agile Tour Vienna 2025: Building Community-Driven Agile Excellence With Robert Ruzitschka, Sabina Lammert, and Richard Brenner

Mariano Gontchar: Fear-Free Teams—Creating Psychological Safety for High Performance Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Mariano's definition of Scrum Master success has evolved dramatically from his early days of focusing on "deliver on time and budget" to a more sophisticated understanding centered on team independence and psychological safety. Today, he measures success by whether teams can self-manage, communicate effectively with stakeholders, and operate without fear of criticism. This shift represents a fundamental change from output-focused metrics to outcome-focused team health indicators that create sustainable high performance. Self-reflection Question: How has your definition of success evolved in your current role, and what would change if you focused on team independence rather than traditional delivery metrics? Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Frustration-Based Retrospective Mariano's retrospective approach focuses on asking team members about their biggest frustrations from the last sprint. This format helps team members realize their frustrations aren't unique and creates psychological safety for sharing challenges. The key is always asking the team to propose solutions themselves rather than imposing fixes, making retrospectives about genuine continuous improvement rather than just complaining sessions. [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] 🔥In the ruthless world of fintech, success isn’t just about innovation—it’s about coaching!🔥 Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she’s caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn’t just about the product—it’s about the people. 🚨 Will Angela’s coaching be enough? Find out in Shift: From Product to People—the gripping story of high-stakes innovation and corporate intrigue. Buy Now on Amazon [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] About Mariano Gontchar Mariano is a Madrid-based Scrum Master with a unique multi-perspective journey through Agile roles. Having evolved from developer to Product Owner, Project Manager, and now Scrum Master, he brings comprehensive insights to team facilitation and backlog management. Mariano specializes in practical Agile adoption strategies that work in real-world environments. You can link with Mariano Gontchar on LinkedIn.

4 Syys 14min

Mariano Gontchar: From Evangelist to Facilitator—How To Lead A Successful Company Merger Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. During a complex merger between two telecom companies, Mariano faced the challenge of uniting team members with different cultures, practices, and tools. His initial approach of selling Agile theory instead of focusing on benefits failed because he forgot about the "why" of change. The breakthrough came when he shifted from being an Agile evangelist to becoming a facilitator who listened to managers' real challenges. By connecting people and letting the team present their own solutions to leadership, Mariano successfully created unity between the formerly divided groups. Self-reflection Question: Are you trying to sell your methodology or solve real problems, and what would happen if you focused on understanding challenges before proposing solutions? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] 🔥In the ruthless world of fintech, success isn’t just about innovation—it’s about coaching!🔥 Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she’s caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn’t just about the product—it’s about the people. 🚨 Will Angela’s coaching be enough? Find out in Shift: From Product to People—the gripping story of high-stakes innovation and corporate intrigue. Buy Now on Amazon [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] About Mariano Gontchar Mariano is a Madrid-based Scrum Master with a unique multi-perspective journey through Agile roles. Having evolved from developer to Product Owner, Project Manager, and now Scrum Master, he brings comprehensive insights to team facilitation and backlog management. Mariano specializes in practical Agile adoption strategies that work in real-world environments. You can link with Mariano Gontchar on LinkedIn.

3 Syys 12min

Mariano Gontchar: Breaking Down The Clan Mentality In Agile Teams Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Mariano encountered a competent team that was sabotaging itself through internal divisions and lack of trust. The team had formed clans that didn't trust each other, creating blind spots even during retrospectives. Rather than simply telling the team what was wrong, Mariano created an anonymous fear-based retrospective that revealed the root cause: a Product Owner who behaved like a boss and evaluated team members, creating a culture of fear. His approach demonstrates the power of empowering teams to discover and solve their own problems rather than imposing solutions from above. Self-reflection Question: What fears might be hiding beneath the surface of your team's dynamics, and how could you create a safe space for them to emerge? Featured Book of the Week: Turn the Ship Around! by David Marquet Mariano recommends "Turn the Ship Around!" by David Marquet (we have an episode with David Marquet talking about this book, check it here). Mariano highlights the fascinating story and introduction to the leader-leader model, which differs significantly from the traditional leader-follower approach. This book resonates with Mariano's journey from directive leadership to facilitative leadership, showing how empowering others rather than commanding them creates more effective and engaged teams. [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] 🔥In the ruthless world of fintech, success isn’t just about innovation—it’s about coaching!🔥 Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she’s caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn’t just about the product—it’s about the people. 🚨 Will Angela’s coaching be enough? Find out in Shift: From Product to People—the gripping story of high-stakes innovation and corporate intrigue. Buy Now on Amazon [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] About Mariano Gontchar Mariano is a Madrid-based Scrum Master with a unique multi-perspective journey through Agile roles. Having evolved from developer to Product Owner, Project Manager, and now Scrum Master, he brings comprehensive insights to team facilitation and backlog management. Mariano specializes in practical Agile adoption strategies that work in real-world environments. You can link with Mariano Gontchar on LinkedIn.

2 Syys 17min

Mariano Gontchar: From Boss to Facilitator—The Critical Role of Empathy in Scrum Mastery Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Mariano shares his transformation from viewing himself as a boss in his project manager role to embracing the facilitator mindset essential for Scrum Masters. His journey reveals a crucial insight: you cannot implement Scrum with a "big bang" approach.  Instead, success comes through empathy and understanding your team's needs. Mariano emphasizes that working with Agile requires constant practice and learning, but the key lesson that changed everything for him was learning to empathize with his team members rather than directing them from above. Self-reflection Question: How might your current leadership style be limiting your team's potential, and what would change if you shifted from directing to facilitating? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] 🔥In the ruthless world of fintech, success isn’t just about innovation—it’s about coaching!🔥 Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she’s caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn’t just about the product—it’s about the people. 🚨 Will Angela’s coaching be enough? Find out in Shift: From Product to People—the gripping story of high-stakes innovation and corporate intrigue. Buy Now on Amazon [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] About Mariano Gontchar Mariano is a Madrid-based Scrum Master with a unique multi-perspective journey through Agile roles. Having evolved from developer to Product Owner, Project Manager, and now Scrum Master, he brings comprehensive insights to team facilitation and backlog management. Mariano specializes in practical Agile adoption strategies that work in real-world environments. You can link with Mariano Gontchar on LinkedIn.

1 Syys 14min

Salum Abdul-Rahman: Learning to Communicate Value in Public and Non-Profit Sectors’ Product Development Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: The Systematic Value Communicator Salum describes working with a Product Owner who had a PhD in data science on a public sector visualization project. This exceptional PO was extremely systematic in working with stakeholders and possessed a unique ability to bridge abstract concepts with concrete implementations. In the public sector, where monetary feedback is absent, this PO excelled at thinking about value achievement and communicating it effectively to the team. They had the magical capability to involve stakeholders while demystifying complex requirements, helping the team understand not just engagement metrics but how their work would change society and the world. The Bad Product Owner: The Absentee Specialist The most common anti-pattern Salum encounters is the absentee Product Owner - typically a specialist assigned to the PO role while maintaining their full-time job as a domain expert. With only 10-20% time allocation, these POs lack the capacity to fulfill their responsibilities effectively. They often don't have the time or knowledge to develop essential PO skills, requiring extensive hand-holding to understand even basic concepts like user stories. Salum's approach involves booking time directly in their calendar for backlog refinement sessions and providing comprehensive guidance to help them understand the role, though this intensive support is necessary due to their limited availability for skill development. In this segment, we refer to the concept of ‘enshitification’ by Cory Doctorow, and refer to Tom Gilb’s bonus episode on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast.  Self-reflection Question: How do you ensure your Product Owner has both the time allocation and skill development needed to truly serve the team and stakeholders effectively? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] 🔥In the ruthless world of fintech, success isn’t just about innovation—it’s about coaching!🔥 Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she’s caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn’t just about the product—it’s about the people. 🚨 Will Angela’s coaching be enough? Find out in Shift: From Product to People—the gripping story of high-stakes innovation and corporate intrigue. Buy Now on Amazon [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] About Salum Abdul-Rahman Salum is an agile coach at Reaktor and experienced leader driving sustainable knowledge work. He is passionate about enabling teams to work with complexity and conflicts. Salum builds communities in and outside of work and has 18 years of experience working with software mostly as a consultant with the public sector. You can link with Salum Abdul-Rahman on LinkedIn.

29 Elo 18min

Salum Abdul-Rahman: The SECI Model of Knowledge Management Applied to Team Retrospectives Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Salum explains how the key role for Scrum Masters is to help teams develop themselves to the point where they can learn and grow without constant guidance. Success means building team resilience and operational capability while knowing when to step back. He emphasizes the importance of recalibration workshops to maintain shared understanding and the balance between supporting teams and challenging them to become self-sufficient. When teams reach this level of maturity, Scrum Masters can focus their efforts elsewhere, knowing the team has developed the capability to continue evolving independently. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: The 5-Stage Retro Format From the book "Agile Retrospectives," this format captures the complete learning process and aligns beautifully with knowledge management principles. Salum connects the three central phases of this format to the SECI model of knowledge management, particularly referencing Nonaka and Takeuchi's work in "The Knowledge Creating Company." This retrospective structure helps teams create new knowledge and behavioral change by following a systematic approach that transforms individual insights into collective team learning and action. In this segment, we also refer to the seminal article by Takeuchi and Nonaka: “The New New Product Development Game”, which originated the work on Scrum as a framework.  Self-reflection Question: How do you recognize when your team has developed enough self-sufficiency that your role as facilitator can evolve or step back? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] 🔥In the ruthless world of fintech, success isn’t just about innovation—it’s about coaching!🔥 Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she’s caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn’t just about the product—it’s about the people. 🚨 Will Angela’s coaching be enough? Find out in Shift: From Product to People—the gripping story of high-stakes innovation and corporate intrigue. Buy Now on Amazon [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] About Salum Abdul-Rahman Salum is an agile coach at Reaktor and experienced leader driving sustainable knowledge work. He is passionate about enabling teams to work with complexity and conflicts. Salum builds communities in and outside of work and has 18 years of experience working with software mostly as a consultant with the public sector. You can link with Salum Abdul-Rahman on LinkedIn.

28 Elo 14min

Salum Abdul-Rahman: From Lunch Conversations to Company-Wide Change—The Power of Creating Communities of Practice Within Organizations Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Salum shares how he organically built an Agile community within his company by recognizing a shared need for discussion and learning. Starting as a software developer who took on Scrum Master tasks, he felt isolated in his Agile journey. Rather than waiting for formal training or external events, he sent out a simple invite on the company Slack for a lunch discussion during a work day. People showed up, and what began as informal conversations about different approaches to Scrum and Kanban evolved into monthly gatherings. Over time, this grassroots community grew to organize company-wide events and even found new leadership when Salum moved on, demonstrating the power of identifying shared needs and taking initiative to address them. Self-reflection Question: What shared learning needs exist in your organization that you could address by simply reaching out and organizing informal discussions? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] 🔥In the ruthless world of fintech, success isn’t just about innovation—it’s about coaching!🔥 Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she’s caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn’t just about the product—it’s about the people. 🚨 Will Angela’s coaching be enough? Find out in Shift: From Product to People—the gripping story of high-stakes innovation and corporate intrigue. Buy Now on Amazon [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] About Salum Abdul-Rahman Salum is an agile coach at Reaktor and experienced leader driving sustainable knowledge work. He is passionate about enabling teams to work with complexity and conflicts. Salum builds communities in and outside of work and has 18 years of experience working with software mostly as a consultant with the public sector. You can link with Salum Abdul-Rahman on LinkedIn.

27 Elo 12min