Agile and Scrum User Group (Melbourne, Australia and Beyond)

"Great plans are all alike; every unsuccessful plan is unsuccessful in its own way."

Sprint Planning is one of the most critical events in Scrum—get it right, and the sprint is set up for success. Get it wrong, and the team will spend the next two weeks struggling.

Tonight, we’ll break down what makes a great Scrum-style Sprint Plan and give you a chance to put that knowledge into action.

We’ll start by highlighting the common ingredients of successful Sprint Plans:

• What are the necessary preconditions?
• What planning activities help ensure a smooth sprint?
• What outcomes should a well-structured plan produce?

Then, you’ll dive into a simulation where you’ll plan a sprint for a simple project. In two rounds of planning, you’ll test your approach, get feedback, and refine your plan.

• Introduction (5 mins) – Welcome and set the scene
• Pro Tips for Great Sprint Plans (10 mins) – A focused presentation on key success factors
• Sprint Planning Simulation, Round 1 (20 mins) – Try your first plan based on what you already know
• Reflection & Tip Sheet Handout (15 mins) – How did your plan compare to best practices?
• Sprint Planning Simulation, Round 2 (15 mins) – Apply the insights and run another planning session
• Debrief & Personal Action Plan (15 mins) – Reflect on the experience and set goals for better sprint planning

By the end of the session, you’ll have a clearer framework for running effective Sprint Planning sessions, hands-on experience, and practical takeaways you can apply immediately.

Daily Scrums are one of the things teams get wrong the most, and they do it every single day. Do you want to be making the same mistake over and over?

A Daily Scrum is a team tool to manage risk and accelerate performance. If it is not helping you do that, it is just a habit, not a useful practice.

What to expect
We will start with a short, no-nonsense presentation on

• What the Daily Scrum is actually for
• How to check if yours is doing what it should

You will assess your own team’s practice and ask, honestly, if it is working.

Next, we will cover practical ways to turn up prepared and communicate effectively. That means listening as much as speaking.
Then we will get hands-on with a workshop where you will practice and refine better Daily Scrum behaviours.

What you'll learn

• Why the "Today, Tomorrow, Blockers" format is not always helpful
• Knowing what good looks like and getting permission to change
• How to model better behaviours in your Daily Scrum
• Tips for coaching teammates

This session is for teams who want Daily Scrums that actually help them, not just fill 15 minutes of their day. Come ready to rethink, challenge, and improve how you and your team approach standups.

Scrum Masters can make or break a team. Some are facilitators, some are project managers in disguise, and some leave teams unsure of what they actually do. This session will explore what a good Scrum Master looks like, common failures, and practical ways to improve.

Part 1: What is a Scrum Master Supposed to Do?

• The key responsibilities: facilitation, coaching, removing blockers, supporting the team
• How to measure success as a Scrum Master
• Common misconceptions: over-controlling vs. too passive

Activity: Quick poll or discussion—how does your team view the Scrum Master role?

Part 2: The Good vs. The Bad Scrum Master
The good Scrum Master: empowers the team, removes friction, makes work smoother. The bad Scrum Master Acts as an admin, just scheduling meetings and taking notes, and over-facilitates, making the team dependent on them. Why do so many Scrum Masters struggle to find the right balance?

Workshop Activity: Teams share real experiences—what worked and what didn’t? We will map our observations and experiences onto a Miro board with two zones - the good and the bad.

Part 3: How to Improve a Scrum Master
We will look at the Miro board and address the challenges we see in two forms; how to be a better Scrum Master, and how to influence a Scrum Master's so that their performance gets better.

We will generate a bunch of options and then discuss how to use these ideas to make things better.

Wrap-Up & Takeaways
Each attendee commits to one improvement in their Scrum Master life, then Q&A

Remote work changes how Scrum Masters operate. Without in-person interactions, blockers go unnoticed, team alignment suffers, and engagement can drop. This session will focus on the unique challenges of remote teams and how to adapt the Scrum Master role to support them effectively.

Introduction: Why Remote Makes Scrum Harder (15 minutes)
No hallway conversations or informal check-ins, Harder to surface blockers and keep engagement high, Zoom fatigue, time zones, and async communication struggles. What else makes things harder when working remote?

Activity: A discussion of the biggest challenges in our remote teams?

Part 2: How to Adapt the Scrum Master Role for Remote Work (20 minutes)
Ideas include Making Scrum events engaging in a remote setting
Balancing async vs. real-time communication, Tools that help: Slack, Miro, MURAL, Confluence, Jira, etc. Don;t forget things like tea ceremonies, playing games and other things that help the team come together and perform. And what do you do with your 'in office' days of you have them?

Activity: Breakout groups tackle real remote team challenges and share solutions.

Part 3: Scrum by the Book vs. Reality in Remote Teams (20 minutes)
When strict Scrum helps vs. when it hurts. The power dynamic between Scrum Masters, teams, and leadership. Knowing when to enforce process vs. when to be flexible.

Activity: Scenario discussion—navigating leadership expectations vs. team needs.

Wrap-Up & Takeaways: What one change will you try in your remote team?