Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions Founder and CEO Scott M. Graffius on Review Team for Scrum Alliance Global Scrum Gathering Conference 2024
07 November 2023
Scott M. Graffius — expert agile practitioner, consultant, thinker, creator, multi-award-winning author, and international speaker — was a member of the Review Team for the Scrum Alliance Global Scrum Gathering New Orleans 2024. Graffius and other members of the Review Team scored abstracts of proposed sessions for the conference. The resulting final program will engage attendees through high-quality learning experiences and more.
Graffius is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions and subsidiary Exceptional Agility.
About the Scrum Alliance Global Scrum Gathering – New Orleans 2024
Scrum Alliance’s next Global Scrum Gathering heads to the Big Easy for four days of new connections, educational sessions from experienced agilists, and a little bit of New Orleans magic from May 19-22, 2024. Visit https://hub.scrumalliance.org/global-scrum-gathering-2024-nola to learn more.
About the Scrum Alliance
Founded in 2001, Scrum Alliance is the largest, most established and influential professional membership and certification organization in the Agile community. Scrum Alliance is a nonprofit association with more than 1,200,000 members worldwide. Its vision is to “Transform the World of Work” with a mission to guide and inspire individuals, leaders, and organizations with practices, principles, and values that create workplaces that are joyful, prosperous, and sustainable. For more information, visit https://www.scrumalliance.org.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at 88 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His full bio is available at https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
Connect with Scott on:
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and Exceptional Agility
Led by Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™ provides organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them build and advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities and results to best realize their strategic objectives and initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable.
The firm and its people and content has been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
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© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Scott M. Graffius Speaking at W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference - Helsinki
03 October 2023
Scott M. Graffius—Founder and CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and subsidiary Exceptional Agility—has presented 87 talks and workshops at conferences and other events across 25 countries. His newest (88th) engagement will be at the W Love Games Conference in Helsinki, where he'll present “The Science of High-Performance Game Development Teams” on October 13, 2023.
Graffius’ talk is informed by his first-hand work with video game development teams as well as research and coverage from Activision Blizzard, Gameloft, International Game Developers Association, Microsoft, Rockstar Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and others. The information can provide attendees, their teams, and their organizations with a competitive advantage!
Graffius' image, in the style of GTA, was produced for his appearances at video game development conferences. The visual above includes that stylized image.
About the W Love Games 2023 International Game Development Conference
W Love Games 2023 includes:
💜 30+ speakers
🧡 6 workshops
💛 Showroom
💚 IGDA Finland Mentor Cafe
💙 Networking for all
The conference will run from October 12-13, 2023 at the Helsingin Keskustakirjasto Oodi at Töölönlahdenkatu 4, 00100 Helsinki, Finland.
Secure your tickets for the conference at: https://www.wlovegames.org.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at 87 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His full bio is available at https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
Connect with Scott on:
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and Exceptional Agility
Led by Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™ provides organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them build and advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities and results to best realize their strategic objectives and initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable.
The firm and its people and content has been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
Let's Connect
Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/exc-wlg
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Exceptional's Scott M. Graffius Featured by Erste Bank
06 July 2023
Businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities have used and featured Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions Founder Scott M. Graffius and content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Examples of organizations include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, Yale University, and many others.
Erste Group Bank AG — a financial service provider serving 15.7 million clients in Central and Eastern Europe — was added to the list of organizations as it featured Graffius' Phases of Team Development material in their training.
The picture above shows Erste Bank using Graffius' Phases of Team Development material at their training session.
Erste Bank used the 2019 edition of the Phases of Team Development visual at their session. The image above shows the now-current (2023) edition of the Phases of Team Development visual.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at 87 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His full bio is available at https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
Connect with Scott on:
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and Exceptional Agility
Led by Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™ provides organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them build and advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities and results to best realize their strategic objectives and initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable.
The firm and its people and content has been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
Let's Connect
Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/exc-erste
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Scott M. Graffius Speaking at Conf42 Quantum Computing 2023 Conference
02 June 2023
Scott M. Graffius—Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions—has delivered 86 talks and workshops at conferences and other events across 25 countries. His newest engagement will be at the Conf42 Quantum Computing 2023 Conference, where he'll present “What Successful AI Teams Have in Common.” The talk draws from his work on AI projects as well as research from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, Google, IBM, IEEE, Microsoft, MIT, Software Engineering Institute, United States Artificial Intelligence Institute, and many others.
The conference also includes talks by:
- Daniel Goldsmith,
- Michal Jankowski,
- Trista Pan,
- Myron Giannakis,
- Peter Den Haan,
- Roberto Magnani,
- Sara Marzella, and
- Alberto García García.
To see the Quantum Computing Conference online, subscribe at https://bit.ly/1-signup, and watch it on Thursday, June 29, 2023 starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time | 5:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at 85 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His full bio is available at https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
Connect with Scott on:
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and Exceptional Agility
Led by Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™ provides organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them build and advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities and results to best realize their strategic objectives and initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable.
The firm and its people and content has been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
Let's Connect
Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/conf42-ai
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
"AI is a Team Sport: A Confluence of Diverse Technical and Soft Skills are Crucial for Success" by Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions' Founder Scott M. Graffius
01 May 2023
This article covers the significance of well-rounded AI teams, including how both soft and technical skills are critical and fuel success. It’s informed by Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions Founder Scott M. Graffius' work with AI teams as well as research and coverage from DARPA, IBM, IEEE, MIT, Microsoft, Software Engineering Institute, Stanford University, United States Artificial Intelligence Institute, and others (all listed in the bibliography section of this article). This story was first published at: https://ScottGraffius.com.
Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force across a growing number of industries, revolutionizing how we live, work, and interact. From autonomous vehicles and virtual assistants to personalized recommendations and medical diagnoses, AI systems have become integral to our daily lives. Behind these cutting-edge, life-changing solutions are AI teams that possess a combination of soft skills—also known as core skills, interpersonal skills, people skills, power skills, transferable skills, or transversal skills—and technical expertise.
This article highlights the synergy between soft skills and technical skills in the world of AI. While technical skills provide the general foundation for AI development, it’s the soft skills that elevate AI projects to new heights. From effective communication and critical thinking to leadership and teamwork, soft skills play a pivotal role in translating technical knowledge and capabilities into real-world applications.
The thesis of this article is that the successful development and application of AI requires a combination of soft skills and technical expertise. Technical competencies alone are not enough. Rather, it’s the combination and integration of soft and technical skills that truly unlocks the power of AI.
Next, this article focuses on the importance of soft skills in the AI landscape, highlighting how they complement and enhance technical abilities. The collaboration between these skill sets drives AI innovation.
Understanding Soft Skills in AI Teams
In the realm of AI, technical expertise often takes center stage. However, soft skills advance the successful outcomes of AI projects, as they facilitate effective communication, foster collaboration, and promote critical thinking. Soft skills are powerful facilitators of success.
Soft skills encompass a range of interpersonal and cognitive abilities that enable teams to work harmoniously, adapt to evolving challenges, and solve complex problems. In the AI landscape, where multidisciplinary teams come together to create innovative solutions, these soft skills are essential.
Effective communication stands at the forefront of soft skills in AI. AI teams must articulate complex technical concepts in a manner that is understandable to diverse stakeholders, including non-technical staff and internal or external customers/users. Clear communication promotes collaboration and ensures alignment of purpose and objectives throughout the AI development lifecycle.
Soft skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking are vital as well. AI teams frequently encounter multifaceted challenges, and it is through these soft skills that teams can identify potential bottlenecks, navigate complexities, and devise innovative solutions. By leveraging critical thinking, AI team members can evaluate different approaches, consider ethical implications, and make informed decisions that shape the development and application of AI systems.
Leadership and teamwork skills are also paramount. AI projects involve team members from diverse backgrounds, including data scientists, engineers, domain experts, designers, and others. Effective leadership enables the coordination of efforts and guides the project towards success. Similarly, teamwork skills foster an environment of trust and respect, promoting synergy among team members and enhancing overall productivity.
Recognizing the importance of soft skills in AI is crucial for fostering a balanced and effective team dynamic. It ensures that AI teams possess the interpersonal and cognitive abilities necessary to bring AI projects to fruition. The integration of soft skills alongside technical expertise sets the stage for a cohesive team capable of tackling complex AI challenges with agility and innovation.
The role of technical skills—including how they intersect with soft skills to create a powerful combination that drives success—are covered next.
The Role of Technical Skills in AI Teams
Technical skills provide the tools and knowledge required to design, build, and implement AI systems. This section explores the role that technical skills play in AI and their specific applications in various stages of AI projects.
- Programming Languages and Algorithms: Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, Java, or R is essential. These languages enable team members to write efficient code, manipulate and analyze data, and implement machine learning algorithms. Understanding algorithms, from classic ones like linear regression to cutting-edge deep learning models, empowers AI professionals to leverage mathematical principles and statistical techniques to train and optimize AI systems.
- Data Analysis and Management: AI relies on data, making data analysis and management skills crucial. AI team members need to be adept at collecting, cleaning, and preprocessing data, ensuring its quality and relevance. They must possess the knowledge of statistical methods, data visualization techniques, and data engineering practices to extract insights from complex datasets and prepare them for AI model training.
- Machine Learning and Neural Networks: Technical skills in machine learning are at the heart of AI systems. Understanding machine learning algorithms, such as decision trees, support vector machines, or convolutional neural networks, enables AI team members to create models that can learn from data and make intelligent predictions or decisions. Expertise in neural networks and deep learning architectures equips professionals with the ability to develop complex models capable of handling tasks like image recognition, natural language processing, and reinforcement learning.
- AI Frameworks and Tools: Proficiency in AI frameworks and tools (such as TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch, Caffe, Scikit-learn, and others) are essential for building AI systems efficiently. These frameworks provide pre-built modules, libraries, and APIs that simplify the implementation of AI algorithms and models. Technical skills in utilizing these tools effectively enable AI team members to accelerate the development process, streamline model training, and optimize system performance.
- Domain Knowledge and Application-Specific Skills: Technical skills also encompass domain knowledge and application-specific expertise. Understanding the nuances of the industry or problem domain in which AI is being applied allows professionals to tailor AI solutions to meet specific requirements. For example, healthcare-focused AI projects may require knowledge of medical terminologies and regulatory considerations, while AI solutions for financial services may demand expertise in risk assessment and fraud detection.
Technical skills are essential for AI projects. They enable team members to translate concepts, theories, and algorithms into practical applications. However, technical skills alone are not sufficient for success. The collaborative nature of AI development and the need for a well-rounded AI team—including the synergy between technical skills and soft skills—is covered next.
The Power of Synergy: Soft Skills and Technical Skills in AI Teams
The convergence of soft skills and technical skills is where true innovation and breakthroughs occur. The successful development and application of AI systems rely not only on technical expertise but also on the harmonious integration of soft skills. Here’s some examples of the power of synergy between these skill sets, including how they work together to drive AI advancement:
- Effective Communication and Technical Expertise: Communication bridges the gap between AI professionals and others who may not possess technical backgrounds. AI experts with strong communication skills can articulate complex technical concepts in plain English, ensuring that everyone involved understands the goals, challenges, and progress of the project. By effectively conveying ideas, AI professionals foster collaboration, gather valuable insights, and create a shared vision for AI initiatives.
- Collaboration and Problem-Solving: Collaboration is at the core of AI development, and soft skills such as teamwork, empathy, and active listening facilitate effective collaboration among diverse team members. AI teams with strong collaboration skills can effectively pool their technical expertise, brainstorm ideas, and solve complex problems together. By leveraging their collective intelligence and diverse perspectives, AI teams can overcome challenges, refine AI models, and optimize the performance of AI solutions.
- Critical Thinking and Technical Innovation: Critical thinking, coupled with technical expertise, leads to innovative AI solutions. AI professionals with strong critical thinking skills can evaluate different approaches, challenge assumptions, and identify potential shortcomings or biases in AI models. They can think creatively to address issues such as data biases or fairness concerns, ensuring that AI systems are developed responsibly and ethically.
- Leadership and Team Empowerment: Effective leadership in AI projects involves establishing and maintaining a collaborative and inclusive environment, empowering team members, and harnessing their full potential. AI leaders with exceptional interpersonal abilities can inspire and motivate their team, foster a culture of continuous learning, and provide guidance in navigating complex technical challenges. They encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, respect diverse perspectives, and drive the team towards achieving AI objectives.
The synergy between soft skills and technical skills is the catalyst that drives AI projects towards success. It enables AI teams to go beyond technical expertise and develop AI systems that address real-world problems effectively. By embracing a holistic approach that values both soft skills and technical skills, organizations can foster an environment where AI thrives, resulting in innovative solutions that have a positive impact on society.
Strategies for developing and nurturing soft skills are covered next.
Developing and Advancing Soft Skills in AI Teams
AI teams need soft skills to be successful. Organizations and teams should prioritize the development and advancement of these skills. Here are some strategies to enhance soft skills and foster a well-rounded AI workforce:
- Training Programs and Workshops: Implement specialized training programs and workshops focused on enhancing soft skills. Offer courses in effective communication, leadership (including how to navigate the phases of team development), problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration. These programs can provide AI professionals with the necessary tools and techniques to effectively apply soft skills in their work.
- Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage interdisciplinary collaboration by creating opportunities for AI team members to work alongside experts from diverse fields such as psychology, design, ethics, and business. This collaboration allows for cross-pollination of ideas, encourages different perspectives, and broadens the skill set of AI teams. Foster a culture of knowledge sharing, where professionals can learn from each other and leverage their collective experiences and expertise.
- Real-World Project Engagement: Provide AI team members with opportunities to work on (other) real-world projects, allowing them to apply their soft skills in practical scenarios. Engaging in projects that involve interaction with clients, end-users, and stakeholders helps AI team members develop effective communication, problem-solving, and teamwork skills.
- Continuous Learning and Professional Development: Encourage AI team members to engage in continuous learning and professional development activities. This can include attending conferences, participating in webinars, reading industry publications, and pursuing certifications in relevant areas. Promote a growth mindset among AI team members, emphasizing the importance of lifelong learning and staying current with the latest developments in both technical and soft skills domains.
- Mentorship and Coaching: Establish mentorship and coaching programs where experienced AI professionals guide and support individuals with less experience. Mentors can provide valuable insights, share their experiences, and offer guidance on developing skills. Regular feedback and coaching sessions help AI professionals identify areas for improvement and provide targeted development opportunities.
By implementing these strategies, organizations can cultivate a workforce that excels not only in technical skills but also in the essential soft skills required for AI success. Nurturing well-rounded AI professionals creates a collaborative and adaptive environment, where AI teams can effectively address complex challenges, drive innovation, and deliver impactful solutions.
The next section wraps up this exploration.
Conclusion
The successful development and application of AI systems rely on the synergy between soft skills and technical skills. While technical expertise forms the foundation, it's the integration of soft skills that elevates AI projects to new heights. Effective communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and leadership are among the key soft skills that enable AI teams to excel.
This article explored the significance of soft skills in AI, emphasizing their role in fostering effective teamwork, problem-solving, and innovation. It also acknowledged the indispensable role of technical skills in AI development, including programming languages, algorithms, data analysis, domain knowledge, and more.
Organizations can create well-rounded AI teams with a holistic set of abilities by embracing the power of synergy between soft skills and technical skills. AI team members with strong soft skills can effectively communicate their ideas, collaborate seamlessly, think critically, and provide leadership that empowers their teams.
To advance soft skills among AI professionals, organizations should invest in training programs, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, encourage continuous learning, and foster mentorship and coaching relationships. These efforts will help AI professionals develop the interpersonal and cognitive abilities necessary to thrive in the dynamic and collaborative AI landscape.
AI is a team sport that thrives on the confluence of soft skills and technical skills. By recognizing and embracing this synergy, organizations can unlock the full potential of AI, delivering innovative solutions that address real-world challenges and have a positive impact on the world.
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All of the supplied links were functional when this article was published.
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- Lindzon, Jared (2017, February 28). How AI is Changing the Way Companies are Organized. Fast Company. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/3068492/how-ai-is-changing-the-way-companies-are-organized.
- Marr, Bernard (2023, March 20). Beyond The Hype: What You Really Need to Know About AI In 2023. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/03/20/beyond-the-hype-what-you-really-need-to-know-about-ai-in-2023.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory (2023, January 17). Human-AI Performance Incubator. Available at: https://www.ll.mit.edu/r-d/projects/human-ai-performance-incubator.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (2021, January). Cognitive Science as a New People Science for the Future of Work. Available at: https://workofthefuture.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-Research-Brief-Polli-Kassir-Dolphin-Baker-Gabrieli.pdf.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan (2019, October 15). Winning With AI. MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group. Available at: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/projects/winning-with-ai.
- McNeese, Nathan J., Demir, Mustafa, Chiou, Erin K., & Cooke, Nancy J. (2021). Trust and Team Performance in Human–Autonomy Teaming. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 25 (1): 51–72. DOI: 10.1080/10864415.2021.1846854.
- Mearian, Lucas (2023, February 24). Skills-Based Hiring Continues to Rise as Degree Requirements Fade. Computerworld. Available at: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3689170/skills-based-hiring-continues-to-rise-as-degree-requirements-fade.html.
- Microsoft (2019, June 15). Is the Latest Technology the Key to Your Team’s Success, or is There Something Else? Available at: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/premier-developer/is-the-latest-technology-the-key-to-your-teams-success-or-is-there-something-else.
- New South Wales Technical and Further Education Commission (TAFE NSW) (2019). Soft vs. Hard Skills: Why Successful Australian Businesses Need Both. Ultimo, New South Wales: TAFE NSW.
- O’Dea, Blathnaid (2023, February 17). These are the Top Skills AI and Analytics Professionals Need. Silicon Republic. Available at: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/advice/top-skills-ai-data-analytics-professionals-need.
- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (n.d.). OECD Programme on AI in Work, Innovation, Productivity and Skills. Available at: https://oecd.ai/en/work-innovation-productivity-skills/key-themes/skills.
- Oswald, Andrew. J., Proto, Eugenio, & Sgroi, Daniel (2015). Happiness and Productivity. Journal of Labor Economics, 33 (4): 789-822.
- Project Management Institute (2020, March 10). Tomorrow's Teams Today: The Future of Teaming: Creative, Collaborative and Agile. Pulse of the Profession. Available at: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/pulse-indepth-tomorrows-teams-today-11941.
- PwC (2017). Sizing the Prize: What’s the Real Value of AI for Your Business and How Can You Capitalise? PwC’s Global Artificial Intelligence Study: Exploiting the AI Revolution. Available at: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/data-and-analytics/publications/artificial-intelligence-study.html.
- Rayside, Derek (Ed.) (2023, March 29). Software Engineering Capstone Design Project Handbook (2023 Edition). Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: University of Waterloo.
- Romsey, Joseph (2020, November 30). 5 Tips to Help Workers Upskill and Adapt to Artificial Intelligence. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Available at: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/how-hr-can-help-workers-upskill-and-adapt-to-artificial-intelligence-5-tips.aspx.
- Stanford University (2019, September). Gathering Strength, Gathering Storms. Stanford, CA: Stanford University.
- Tredinnick, Luke (2017). Artificial Intelligence and Professional Roles. Business Information Review, 34 (1): 37–41.
- Ungerleider, Neal (2023, January 1). AI and Jobs: The Human Angle. Available at: https://www.sap.com/denmark/insights/viewpoints/ai-jobs-human-angle.html.
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2021, July 2). AI Ethics: Another Step Closer to the Adoption of UNESCO’s Recommendation. Available at: https://en.unesco.org/news/ai-ethics-another-step-closer-adoption-unescos-recommendation-0.
- United States Artificial Intelligence Institute (USAII) (2022). Factsheet: Fast-Track Your Artificial Intelligence Career in 2023. Stamford, CT: USAII.
- United States Congress Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (2019, September 24). Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work. Report for the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress. Available at: https://www.congress.gov/116/chrg/CHRG-116hhrg37740/CHRG-116hhrg37740.pdf.
- University of Leeds (2023, March 2). The Top 5 AI Skills You Need to Land a Job in Artificial Intelligence. Available at: https://pg-online.leeds.ac.uk/blogs/5-skills-needed-for-ai.
- World Manufacturing Foundation (2020). 2020 World Manufacturing Report: Manufacturing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Available at: https://worldmanufacturing.org/wp-content/uploads/WorldManufacturingForum2020_Report.pdf.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at 85 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His full bio is available at https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
Connect with Scott on:
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
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- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
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- 🇺🇸 United States
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About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
- 🌏 More countries
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and our Exceptional Agility™ subsidiary provides client organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities to best realize their strategic objectives and business initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable. Our seven core values are integrity, objectivity, collaboration, persistence, innovation, continuous learning and improvement, and exceptional results. We confidently provide a Delighted Client Guarantee™. To learn more, visit https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
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The short link to this article is: https://bit.ly/ai-skills
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™.
Content from Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions CEO Scott M. Graffius Featured by Hochschule Zittau Gorlitz University of Applied Sciences
26 April 2023
Businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities have used and featured Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions Founder and CEO Scott M. Graffius and content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Examples of organizations include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
This month, Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz (Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences) was added to the list of organizations. Dr. Ingo Cassack, Professor at the university, incorporated Graffius' Phases of Team Development work into Dr. Cassack's material on project management. Two excerpts follow.
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and Exceptional Agility
Led by Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™ provides organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them build and advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities and results to best realize their strategic objectives and initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable.
The firm and its people and content has been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
About Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz
Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz (Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences) is a non-profit public higher-education institution located in Zittau — in the border triangle between Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland . The institution also has a branch campus in Görlitz, Saxon, Germany. Officially recognized by the Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst (Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Arts), Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz is a top tier coeducational German higher education institution with no tuition fees, state-of-the-art equipment, and intensive support. Visit https://www.hszg.de to learn more.
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The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/zgu-2023
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions Founder Scott M. Graffius Speaking at DevOps Institute's SKILup Day Conference
13 April 2023
Scott M. Graffius — Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and Exceptional Agility™ subsidiary — has delivered 84 talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His newest engagement will be at SKILup Days, an online conference presented by the DevOps Institute. Graffius will deliver "The Science of High-Performance Teams” on April 26, 2023 to a global audience of DevOps Engineers, Developers, Software Engineers, Testing and QA Experts, CI/CD Engineers, Heads of DevOps, Cloud Engineers, and others interested or involved in DevOps. Here's the current agenda (note: times are subject to change).
Registration is free. Sign up here: https://www.devopsinstitute.com/skilup-days-registration.
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and Exceptional Agility
Led by Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™ provides organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them build and advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities and results to best realize their strategic objectives and initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable.
The firm and its people and content has been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
About the DevOps Institute
DevOps Institute is a global learning community that empowers the people who power IT – helping them develop both the professional and personal expertise to make the most of DevOps in both their business and their career.
Focused on all things DevOps, including site reliability engineering (SRE), DevSecOps, and whatever’s next, the DevOps Institute supports professionals at all levels in bringing greater human connection to the world of IT. Providing deep practical knowledge, a welcoming professional network, cutting-edge research, respected certification programs, and unique insider events, the DevOps Institute’s goal is to give people the confidence and know-how to transform their team, their organization, their career, and beyond.
Visit https://www.devopsinstitute.com to learn more.
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Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/io-apr-2023
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Consensus on the Most Valuable Information Technology Related Certifications: 2023 Update
11 April 2023
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions first reported on the most valuable Information Technology (IT) certifications in 2017. As technology advances and the marketplace changes over time, the skills and knowledge required to succeed may also change. Accordingly, we periodically update our related reporting. The prior version was published in 2022. This article provides the new, 2023 version.
In Technology, there's no substitute for experience. However, certifications remain a valuable tool for advancing one's career. Employers want candidates (and employees) with up-to-date knowledge and skills, and certifications demonstrate a person’s mastery of the respective subject. Data from multiple sources — including CIO, Robert Half, Indeed, PC Magazine, Skillsoft, Statista, and ComputerScience.org — were compiled and analyzed to determine the general consensus on the most valuable IT related certifications. Fifteen emerged. Here they are, in alphabetical order:
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, offered from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- AWS Certified Security – Specialty, offered from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, offered from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, offered from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), offered by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).
- Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), offered by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), offered by the International System Security Certification Consortium (ISC).
- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), offered from Scrum Alliance.
- Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), offered by Cisco.
- Google Cloud: Cloud Digital Leader, offered by Google.
- Google Cloud: Professional Cloud Architect, offered by Google.
- Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect, offered by Microsoft.
- Nutanix Certified Professional – Multicloud Infrastructure (NCP-MCI), offered by Nutanix.
- Project Management Professional (PMP), offered from the Project Management Institute (PMI).
- VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization (VCP-DCV), offered by VMware.
Many employers prefer to hire certified professionals, especially those who also have college degrees and successful work experience. Those who invest in professional credentials typically enjoy larger salaries.
References / Sources:
- CIO (2022, October 20). The 15 Most Valuable IT Certifications Today. Available at: https://www.cio.com/article/286762/careers-staffing-12-it-certifications-that-deliver-career-advancement.html.
- ComputerScience.org (2022, December 22). Best IT Certifications to Boost Your Computer Science Career. Available at: https://www.computerscience.org/resources/top-it-certifications.
- Indeed (2022, December 27). Top 17 IT Certifications in Demand for 2023. Available at: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/top-it-certifications.
- PC Magazine (2023, March 1). The 10 Highest-Paying IT Certifications for 2023. Available at: https://www.pcmag.com/news/highest-paying-it-certifications.
- Robert Half (2022, October 6). The 29 More Valuable IT Certifications. Available at: https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/salaries-and-skills/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable.
- Skillsoft (2022, September 29). 15 Top-Paying IT Certifications of 2022. Available at: https://www.skillsoft.com/blog/15-top-paying-it-certifications-of-2022.
- Statista (2023, February 23). 15 Top-Paying IT Certifications. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1258216/us-top-10-highest-paying-certifications-among-it-professionals.
How to cite this article:
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions (2022, April 11). Consensus on the Most Valuable Information Technology Related Certifications: 2023 Update. Available at: https://www.Exceptional-PMO.com.
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and Exceptional Agility
Led by Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™ provides organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them build and advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities and results to best realize their strategic objectives and initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable.
The firm and its people and content has been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
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An earlier version of this article was first published at https://scottgraffius.com.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/val-it-cert
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions' Scott M. Graffius Named an Agile Thought Leader
05 April 2023
Scott M. Graffius — Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions and subsidiary Exceptional Agility — is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author (Agile Scrum and Agile Transformation), and highly sought-after international keynote speaker. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at 84 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
Thinkers360, the world’s first open platform for thought leaders and influencers, included Graffius on their March 31, 2023 list of Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers. Thinkers360's patent-pending approach to ratings factors each candidate’s diverse contributions and content such as articles, books, media coverage, podcasts, social media, speaking events, videos, and more.
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and Exceptional Agility
Led by Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™ provides organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them build and advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities and results to best realize their strategic objectives and initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable.
The firm and its people and content has been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
Let's Connect
Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/exc-influencer
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and Exceptional Agility™ Presents Agile Timeline Infographic
02 March 2023
When did Agile begin? Some say the answer is 2001, but that date doesn't appropriately reflect history. Agile's origins — including incremental software development — can be clearly traced back to 1957. Agile has a relatively long and colorful history. Many key events occurred before, during, and after 2001.
Agile Has a Long and Colorful Heritage: A Timeline Infographic highlights key events and advancements in agile over time. A criteria for inclusion is that each entry has one or more objective and credible citation(s). This infographic references matters spanning from 1957 to 2008; it's not an exhaustive list of every possible event.
A high-resolution version of the infographic (618 KB PDF) is available here.
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and Exceptional Agility
Led by Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™ provides organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them build and advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities and results to best realize their strategic objectives and initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable.
The firm and its people and content has been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
To learn more, visit https://www.Exceptional-PMO.com.
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The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/agilehistory
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and Exceptional Agility™ Presents Project Scoring and Prioritization Kit
24 February 2023
Project and program management focus on “doing the work right,” while project portfolio management (PPM) deals with “doing the right work.” PPM is a vital part of ensuring the success of the organization’s overall strategic plan.
This Project Portfolio Management Project Prioritization Scoring Tool (2023 edition) uses an array of primarily objective criteria to help technology and business leaders assess and prioritize projects to best achieve strategic objectives. Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and Exceptional Agility™ provides this tool a basic example for review and potential adaptation and adoption. The strategic objectives, criteria, scales, and other details must be tailored to your organization’s unique needs.
A high-resolution version of the infographic (5.6 MB PDF) is available here.
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, and Exceptional Agility
Led by Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™ provides organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them build and advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities and results to best realize their strategic objectives and initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable.
The firm and its people and content has been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and many others.
To learn more, visit https://www.Exceptional-PMO.com.
Let's Connect
Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/ppm-2023
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
'Innovation Project Management' (Second Edition) Features Content from Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions CEO and Principal Consultant Scott M. Graffius
17 February 2023
Innovation Project Management features content from Scott M. Graffius, CEO and Principal Consultant, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and Exceptional Agility™.
As shown below, material from Graffius' Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions book heads up the Agile Innovation section of the second edition of Harold Kerzner's Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects.
About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi award-winning author, and international speaker. He has generated over $1.75 billion of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. His expertise spans project, program, portfolio, and PMO leadership inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid approaches. Content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), workshops, speaking engagements, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities including Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Gartner, Deloitte, Project Management Institute, IEEE, SANS Institute, U.S. Soccer Federation, English Institute of Sport, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Wrike, Bayer, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, United States Army, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Tufts University, Texas A&M University, Warsaw University of Technology, University of Waterloo, National University of Ireland Galway, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, and others. Graffius has spoken at 82 conferences and other events around the world, including Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States. Thinkers360 named Graffius a global top thought leader and influencer in four domains: Agile, Change Management, Digital Transformation, and GovTech.
His full bio is available at https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
Connect with Scott on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
- 🌏 More countries
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
- 🌏 More countries
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions helps client organizations strengthen their project management capabilities and realize their strategic objectives and business initiatives. The firm provides advisory, training, and facilitative consulting services related to project, program, portfolio, and PMO management inclusive of agile, waterfall, and hybrid approaches. While every engagement is unique, business outcomes typically include getting more projects done, faster delivery and time-to-market, improved on-budget performance, better management of risks, improved customer and stakeholder satisfaction, more consistent realization of business results, and greater competitive advantage. Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions provides a Delighted Client Guarantee™. For details, visit https://www.Exceptional-PMO.com.
About Harold Kerzner
Harold Kerzner, Ph.D. is Senior Executive Director at the International Institute for Learning (IIL). He is a globally recognized expert on project management and strategic planning, and the author of many best-selling books including Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects.
For 50 years, Dr. Kerzner has shared vital guidance for making project management a strategic tool for competitive advantage and helping companies around the world build a powerful foundation for organizational improvement and excellence.
Dr. Kerzner has an MS and Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Utah State University. He is a former Air Force Officer and spent several years at Morton-Thiokol in project management. Kerzner taught engineering at the University of Illinois and business administration at Utah State University, and he taught project management at Baldwin-Wallace University.
To learn more, visit here.
About Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects by Harold Kerzner
The following information includes excerpts from the product description provided by the publisher.
The newly revised second edition of Innovation Project Management offers tools, processes, and metrics needed to successfully manage innovation projects, providing value-based innovation project management metrics as well as guidance for how to establish a metrics management program.
The highly qualified author analyzes innovation from all sides; through this approach, Innovation Project Management breaks down traditional project management methods and explains why and how innovation projects should be managed differently.
The second edition has exclusive insights from world-class organizations such as IBM, Hitachi, Repsol, Philips, Deloitte, IdeaScale, KAUST, and more. It includes six all new case studies, featuring a dive into brand management innovation from Lego.
Some of the ideas discussed in Innovation Project Management include:
- Continuous versus discontinuous innovation, incremental versus radical innovation, understanding innovation differences, and incremental innovation versus new product development.
- Identifying core competencies using strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis and nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements.
- Implications and issues for project managers and innovation personnel, active listening, pitching the innovation, and cognitive biases.
- Measuring intangible assets, customer/user/stakeholder impact on value metrics, customer value management programs, and the relationship between project management and value.
- With its highly detailed and comprehensive coverage of the field, and with case studies from leading companies to show how concepts are applied in real-world situations, Innovation Project Management is a must-have title for practicing project managers, as well as students in project management, innovation, and entrepreneurship programs.
To learn more, visit here.
Let's Connect
Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/ipm-2023
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™.
‘APAC CIO Outlook’ Magazine Features Content from Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions CEO and Principal Consutant Scott M. Graffius
05 February 2023
APAC CIO Outlook features content from Scott M. Graffius, CEO and Principal Consultant, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions. The magazine includes material from Graffius' second book, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, in their article on innovation and e-commerce. An excerpt from the story is shown below.
About APAC CIO Outlook Magazine
APAC CIO Outlook is a digital and print magazine that provides a platform for CIOs, CTOs and other senior level IT buyers and decision makers along with CXOs of solution providers to share their experiences, wisdom, and advice with enterprise IT community of Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries. To learn more, visit https://www.apacciooutlook.com.
About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi award-winning author, and international speaker. He has generated over $1.75 billion of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. His expertise spans project, program, portfolio, and PMO leadership inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid approaches. Content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), workshops, speaking engagements, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities including Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Gartner, Deloitte, Project Management Institute, IEEE, SANS Institute, U.S. Soccer Federation, English Institute of Sport, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Wrike, Bayer, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, United States Army, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Tufts University, Texas A&M University, Warsaw University of Technology, University of Waterloo, National University of Ireland Galway, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, and others. Graffius has spoken at 82 conferences and other events around the world, including Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States. Thinkers360 named Graffius a global top thought leader and influencer in four domains: Agile, Change Management, Digital Transformation, and GovTech.
His full bio is available at https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
Connect with Scott on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
- 🌏 More countries
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
- 🌏 More countries
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions helps client organizations strengthen their project management capabilities and realize their strategic objectives and business initiatives. The firm provides advisory, training, and facilitative consulting services related to project, program, portfolio, and PMO management inclusive of agile, waterfall, and hybrid approaches. While every engagement is unique, business outcomes typically include getting more projects done, faster delivery and time-to-market, improved on-budget performance, better management of risks, improved customer and stakeholder satisfaction, more consistent realization of business results, and greater competitive advantage. Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions provides a Delighted Client Guarantee™. For details, visit https://www.Exceptional-PMO.com.
Let's Connect
Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/at-apac
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™.
Leverage the Phases of Team Development -- Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning -- to Help Your Teams be Happier and More Productive: 2023 Update
14 January 2023
For permission requests and high resolution versions of the Phases of Team Development image, see below.
2023 Update
Want happier and more productive teams? Among other things, it takes great leadership. And proven strategies can provide you with a real advantage! That’s where the work by Bruce W. Tuckman and others comes in.
Tuckman — Ph.D. in Psychology from Princeton — conducted extensive research on team dynamics, and he published a related framework in 1965. At that time, the model included four phases: forming, storming, norming, and performing. However, Dr. Tuckman subsequently determined that adjourning was so important that he, with Mary Ann C. Jensen, updated his model in 1977 to add adjourning as the fifth phase. According to Tuckman, all five phases — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — are necessary for teams to grow, tackle problems, find solutions, plan work, and deliver results.
In 2008, Scott M. Graffius started developing material on advancing teams’ happiness, productivity, and success. His respective Phases of Team Development content factors the work of Dr. Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen; Graffius's experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance; and research, recommendations, and coverage from additional sources (examples are listed below).
The Phases of Team Development highlights the performance level, characteristics, and proven strategies for each of the five phases: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. Project Managers, Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, DevOps Leads, and other leaders can apply the information to help handle challenges or issues experienced by teams. By doing so, they’ll advance the teams' (and their own) happiness, productivity, and success.
Graffius updates the content periodically. This article features the newest (2023) version of the Phases of Team Development material. Read on for details including information on permission requests and downloadable high-resolution versions of the image.
Five Phases of Team Development
1. Forming
Characteristics of Forming include displaying eagerness, socializing, generally polite tone, sticking to safe topics, unclear about how one fits in, and some anxiety and questioning.
Strategies for this phase include taking the ‘lead,’ being highly visible, facilitating introductions, providing the ‘big picture,’ establishing clear expectations, communicating success criteria, and ensuring response times are quick.
2. Storming
Traits of Storming include some resistance, lack of participation, conflict based on differences of opinions, competition, and high emotions.
Strategies for this phase include requesting and encouraging feedback, identifying issues and facilitating their resolution, normalizing matters, and building trust by honoring commitments.
3. Norming
Features of Norming include purpose and goals are well-understood, more confident, improved commitment, members are engaged and supportive, relief (lowered anxiety), and developing cohesion.
Strategies for this phase include recognizing individual and team efforts, providing learning opportunities and feedback, and monitoring the ‘energy’ of the team.
4. Performing
Characteristics of Performing include high motivation, trust, and empathy; individuals defer to team needs; effectively producing deliverables; consistent performance; and demonstrations of interdependence and self-management.
Strategies for this phase include ‘guiding from the side’ (minimal intervention), celebrating successes, and encouraging collective decision-making and problem-solving.
5. Adjourning
Typical traits of Adjourning (also referred to as Transitioning or Mourning) include potential sadness, recognition of team and individual efforts, and disbanding.
Strategies for this phase include recognizing change, providing an opportunity for summative team evaluations ('lessons learned'), providing an opportunity for individual acknowledgments, and celebrating the team’s accomplishments — which may involve a party and possibly an after-party.
As shown, performance fluctuates as teams move through the phases. Review the characteristics to help identify the team's current phase, then apply the corresponding proven strategies to help them advance.
Select (partial) sources:
The Phases of Team Development by Scott M. Graffius factors the work of Dr. Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen; Graffius's experience, observation, and analysis; and research, recommendations, and coverage from additional sources such as Google, Harvard Business Review, IEEE, MIT, Fast Company, NASA, Microsoft, TNW, Project Management Institute, Scrum Alliance, Scrum.org, Gartner, CIO, RAND Corporation, Software Engineering Institute, University of Edinburgh, Cisco, KPMG, Warsaw University of Technology, Software Engineering Institute, DevOps Institute, American Express, SANS Institute, Zurich University, SAP, ViacomCBS, Oxford University, American Management Association, AT&T, University of Southern California, IBM, and many others.
Select (partial) bibliography:
- Alford, J. (2019, April 11). Our Co-Production Journey: From Sandpits to Bird Boxes. London, United Kingdom: Imperial College London.
- Bennett, M., Gadlin, H., & Marchand, C. (2018). Collaboration Team Science: Field Guide. Rockville, MD: National Institutes of Health.
- Couture, N. (2016, October 27). A Note About Teams. CIO. Boston, MA: International Data Group (IDG).
- Daly, L. (2002). Identify Your Project Management Team’s Level of Development and Facilitate It to Success. Paper presented at Project Management Institute Annual Seminars and Symposium, San Antonio, TX. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
- Deloitte (2017). Digital Era Technology Operating Models, Volume 2. New York, NY: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.
- Finkelstein, S. (2017, October 29). Why Companies Should Hire Teams, Not Individuals. The Wall Street Journal. New York, NY: The Wall Street Journal.
- Forbes (2018, April 23). How to Fast-Track Any Team to Success. Forbes. New York, NY: Forbes.
- Forbes (2012, October 27). How the iPad Mini is Defining Tim Cook’s Apple. Forbes. New York, NY: Forbes.
- Glover, P. (2012, March 13). Team Conflict: Why It’s a Good Thing. Fast Company. New York, NY: Mansueto Ventures.
- Graffius, Scott M. (2021). Phases of Team Development. Los Angeles, CA: Scott M. Graffius. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.22040.42246.
- Jovanovic, M., Mesquida, A., Radaković, N., & Mas, A. (2016). Agile Retrospective Games for Different Team Development Phases. Journal of Universal Computer Science, 22: 1489-1508.
- Kane, G. C. (2014, October 7). Why Your Company is Probably Measuring Social Media Wrong. MIT Sloan Management Review. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan Management Review.
- KPMG (2017). The Digital Fund, Season 2. Amstelveen, Netherlands: KPMG International.
- Madden, D. (2019, May 19). The Four Stages of Building a Great Team – and the One Where Things Usually Go Wrong. Inc. Magazine. New York, NY: Inc. Magazine.
- Makar, A. (2011, July 13). Lessons Learned in Norming and Performing Team Development Phases. Louisville, KY: TechRepublic.
- Martinuzzi, B. (2012, June 8). Six Tips Guaranteed to Reduce Workplace Frustrations. New York, NY: American Express Company.
- Microsoft (2019, June 15). Is the Latest Technology the Key to Your Team’s Success, or is There Something Else? Microsoft Developer Support. Accessed at: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/premier-developer/is-the-latest-technology-the-key-to-your-teams-success-or-is-there-something-else. Redmond, WA: Microsoft.
- Mocko, G., & Linnerud, B. (2016). Measuring the Effects of Goal Alignment on Innovative Engineering Design Projects. International Journal of Engineering Education, 32: 55-63.
- Romanelli, M. (2019, September 11). Teamwork Accelerated. PM Times. Newmarket, Ontario, Canada: Macgregor Communications.
- Riggs, A. (2020, October 15). Why I Start All My Video Meetings with Collaborative Games (Spoiler: It’s Not Boredom). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: The Next Web (TNW).
- Rowley, D., & Lange, M. (2007). Forming to Performing: The Evolution of an Agile Team. IEEE Computer Society Proceedings. Agile 2007, 1: 408-414.
- Scrum Alliance (2020). Learning Objectives Examples. Denver, CO: Scrum Alliance.
- Sakpal, M. (2020, March 3. Learn How to Debunk These Five Restructuring Myths. Stamford, CT: Gartner, Inc.
- Stern, S. (2018, September 26). Is Your Team Working the Rory Underwood Way? Financial Times. London, United Kingdom: The Financial Times, a Nikkei Company.
- Telford, R. (2013, June 4). This is Where It Gets Interesting. Armonk, NY: International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation.
- Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental Sequence in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63: 384-399.
- Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977). Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited. Group and Organizational Studies, 2 (4): 419-427.
- United States Army (2015). Innovative Learning: A Key to National Security. Washington, DC: United States Army.
How to cite this article:
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, January 14). Leverage the Phases of Team Development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — to Help Your Teams be Happier and More Productive: 2023 Update. Available at: https://www.exceptional-pmo.com.
To request permission to use the Phases of Team Development content, contact Scott M. Graffius.
If a request is approved, terms and conditions will be provided along with—if applicable—downloadable high resolution versions of the Phases of Team Development image in JPG and PNG formats.
About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi award-winning author, and international speaker. He has generated over $1.75 billion of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. His expertise spans project, program, portfolio, and PMO leadership inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid approaches. Content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), workshops, speaking engagements, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities including Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Gartner, Deloitte, Project Management Institute, IEEE, SANS Institute, U.S. Soccer Federation, English Institute of Sport, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Wrike, Bayer, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, United States Army, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Tufts University, Texas A&M University, Warsaw University of Technology, University of Waterloo, National University of Ireland Galway, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, and others. Graffius has spoken at 82 conferences and other events around the world, including Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States. Thinkers360 named Graffius a global top thought leader and influencer in four domains: Agile, Change Management, Digital Transformation, and GovTech.
His full bio is available at https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
Connect with Scott on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
- 🌏 More countries
About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle worldwide. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States
- 🌏 More countries
About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions helps client organizations strengthen their project management capabilities and realize their strategic objectives and business initiatives. The firm provides advisory, training, and facilitative consulting services related to project, program, portfolio, and PMO management inclusive of agile, waterfall, and hybrid approaches. While every engagement is unique, business outcomes typically include getting more projects done, faster delivery and time-to-market, improved on-budget performance, better management of risks, improved customer and stakeholder satisfaction, more consistent realization of business results, and greater competitive advantage. Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions provides a Delighted Client Guarantee™. For details, visit https://www.Exceptional-PMO.com.
Let's Connect
Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
This story was published at https://ScottGraffius.com, https://AgileScrumGuide.com, and here.
The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/2023-leader
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™.
Top 10 Agile Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow on Twitter: Update for 2023
01 January 2023
If you're involved or interested in agile—and you're on Twitter—this article highlights agile thought leaders and influencers you may want to follow on the platform.
Update for 2023
We started with over 400 Twitter accounts and progressively refined it down to the top 10. We're transparent about the criteria and calculations for making this list; so, here's how we did it.
To qualify, Twitter accounts were required to meet all of the following six characteristics:
- Account is for a person or a professional association,
- Account is 3 or more years old,
- Account is active (defined as 5 or more tweets in the last 30 days),
- 1,000 or more tweets,
- 7,000 or more followers, and
- 90% or more of tweets have engagement (e.g., likes and retweets).
The accounts meeting the above qualifications were then weighted and ranked ordered on three factors:
- Number of followers (weighted at 1x),
- Number of tweets in the last 30 days (weighted at 1x), and
- Percent of tweets with engagement (because this reflects the effectiveness of tweets, and to what degree they are connecting with followers, it was weighted higher—at 3x).
Notes: The data source is Twitter. Conducted analysis on 9/21/22. Edited story on 1/1/23. Disclosure: Scott M. Graffius is the author of Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. Source of screen shot images: Respective Twitter accounts. Names, marks, and images are the property of their respective owners.
The top 10 follow.
#1 | Project Management Institute (PMI)
- Twitter handle: @PMInstitute
- Direct link: https://twitter.com/PMInstitute
- Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Our mission—Making you and your projects more successful
#2 | Henrik Kniberg
- Twitter handle: @HenrikKniberg
- Direct link: https://twitter.com/henrikkniberg
- Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Former Minecraft game designer/developer/coach @ Mojang. Cofounder of http://GoClimate.com. Like to jam! Previously Spotify/LEGO. I'm MrHenrik in MC.
#3 | Scott M. Graffius
- Twitter handle: @ScottGraffius
- Direct link: https://twitter.com/scottgraffius
- Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Agile, project management and PMO leader. Award-winning author. Keynote speaker. Global Fortune 500 experience in leading business and tech transformations.
#4 | Scrum.org
- Twitter handle: @ScrumDotOrg
- Direct link: https://twitter.com/Scrumdotorg
- Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Scrum.org, the Home of Scrum, was founded by Scrum co-creator Ken Schwaber as a mission-based organization to help people and teams solve complex problems.
#5 | Jeff Sutherland
- Twitter handle: @JeffSutherland
- Direct link: https://twitter.com/JeffSutherland
- Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Co-Creator of #Scrum and #ScrumatScale and Signatory of the #AgileManifesto
#6 | Mike Cohn
- Twitter handle: @MikeWCohn
- Direct link: https://twitter.com/MikeWCohn
- Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: I'm an agile software development consultant, trainer, author and practitioner. I blog at http://mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog #MGSClasses
#7 | PM Voices
- Twitter handle: @PMVoices
- Direct link: https://twitter.com/PMVoices
- Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Insights on all things PM, created by and for project practitioners
#8 | Agile Alliance
- Twitter handle: @AgileAlliance
- Direct link: https://twitter.com/AgileAlliance
- Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: #Agile Alliance is a global nonprofit membership organization dedicated to people and organizations that apply the values and principles of the #AgileManifesto
#9 | Scrum Alliance
- Twitter handle: @ScrumAlliance
- Direct link: https://twitter.com/ScrumAlliance
- Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: We advance real-world agility by equipping changemakers with what they need to get the job and get the job done.
#10 | Esther Derby
- Twitter handle: @EstherDerby
- Direct link: https://twitter.com/EstherDerby
- Bio/description as it appears on Twitter account: Coach and consultant. Helping ppl create work environments that are humane and productive. Podcast: http://changebyattraction.simplecast.com
Follow the 10 Twitter accounts for insights on agile.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi award-winning author, and highly sought-after international keynote speaker. He has generated over $1.75 billion of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the CEO and Principal Consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. Content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, U.S. Soccer Federation, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. National Park Service, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Warsaw University of Technology, and others. Graffius has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile and technology leadership at 82 conferences and other events across 24 countries.
His full bio is available at https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
Connect with Scott on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
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About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change
Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
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🇨🇦 Canada
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
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🇫🇮 Finland
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🇩🇪 Germany
🇬🇷 Greece
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About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and our Exceptional Agility™ subsidiary provides client organizations with advisory, training, speaking, embedded talent, and facilitative consulting services to help them advance their agile project, program, portfolio, and PMO management capabilities to best realize their strategic objectives and business initiatives, making them more competitive and valuable. Our seven core values are integrity, objectivity, collaboration, persistence, innovation, continuous learning and improvement, and exceptional results. We confidently provide a Delighted Client Guarantee™. To learn more, visit https://Exceptional-PMO.com.
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© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius/Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™.