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If you’re looking for an easy to understand Scrum chart to make you more efficient, stand out at work, and become a Scrum ninja this post is for you! Here’s my all-in-one Scrum diagram you can hang up in your office for a quick reference. Use it every day for a quick process refresher. Below find some hints on using the diagram. SCRUM COLOR-CODED The diagram is color coded for easy reference so you can easily identify Scrum roles, ceremonies and artifacts: Scrum Roles are in red Product Owner Scrum Master Scrum Team Members Scrum Ceremonies are in yellow Sprint Planning Daily Stand Up Review/Demo Retrospective Scrum Artifacts are in green Product Backlog Sprint Backlog Version/Increment Look for the large rectangular labels to easily find the roles, ceremonies, and artifacts…

Have you ever looked at that giant list of work and items in your product backlog and thought: Now what? There’s a ton of work to do on your project. How do you decide which user stories go from your product backlog to your sprint backlog? The answer may be in only three simple questions. Below you can find three questions to ask yourself to know which stories should be part of your next sprint. But First: Free Stuff! Before we get to the questions, an important part of any Scrum sprint is an effective sprint template. Ensure you have an effective template to manage your work. The template should also keep stakeholders in the loop with easy reporting. [perfectpullquote align="full" bordertop="" class="" cite="" link="" color="#02C8A7"]TOOL: If you need help…

I would argue the product backlog is the most important artifact in Scrum. Without it, you wouldn’t even get to the point of having a sprint backlog or a version of your product. It builds the foundation of the work you'll do during the project. If your product backlog game is strong it can lead to wild project success, if it’s not it can lead to disaster. So What Is a Product Backlog? When people are first introduced to the product backlog they often compare it to a to-do-list...don’t be like that. A good product backlog has much more information than a traditional to-do list. The product backlog is also a lot more organic and fluid than a static to-do-list. Think of your initial product backlog as a big old…

You know what Scrum teams, sprint planning, and halfpipe snowboarders have in common right? You’re probably thinking, “Ummmm, nothing pal!” Hint: It has to do with the sprint planning meeting. Hear me out. I’m a self-described Olympic nut, if permitted I’d watch all of it. Seriously, if underwater basket weaving were an Olympic sport I’d be there. This past February I was four hours into my latest Olympic-sized binge session. I was watching halfpipe snowboarding. I noticed one of the athletes was standing on the sidelines, on flat land, on their stationary board, tipping their body back and forth. It took me a minute to realize what they were doing, they were visualizing their run. Mentally reviewing each hit they would take on their way down the gigantic pipe. You’re…

Hi, I'm Ryan - The Right-Brained Project Manager Thank you so much for visiting! Welcome to your resource for project management and project leadership simplified (you and I own this thing together). And as a bonus: project management made applicable and even fun! I’m so pumped to see what we can teach each other. Have you ever felt a little lost in that project management chaos? Felt like you were wearing too many hats? Or felt a little incompetent on the best way to lead your team? I’ve been there too. Project Management Done Different I’ve also always felt this inner struggle between my left-brain (logical side) and my right-brain (creative side). I've looked for ways to combine those in my project management style. At Right-Brained Project Management I attempt…