Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches

How A Product Cancellation Tests a New Scrum Master's Growth | Season Hughes

Feb 24, 2025

Season Hughes, a strategist and e-commerce expert, discusses her growth as a new Scrum Master after facing product cancellation. She shares how her initial oversight in allowing team members to skip standups led to low engagement. Season transformed this challenge into an opportunity for learning during retrospectives, emphasizing the importance of maintaining team ceremonies while supporting individual development. Her experience illustrates the significant impact of a people-centric approach in navigating tough transitions.

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ANECDOTE

Unexpected Absence from Daily Scrum

Season Hughes had to lead a team through a product cancellation shortly after becoming their Scrum Master.
She allowed the team to skip daily scrum if they had higher priorities, resulting in low attendance and demonstrating a key learning moment.

ADVICE

Focus on Helping Individuals

Focus on helping the individuals within a team.
The team members, not the Scrum Master, are the ones who do the work.

ADVICE

Beyond the Scrum Guide

Don't rigidly follow the Scrum Guide; some situations require flexibility.
Scrum mastery involves empowering people, which sometimes goes beyond process.

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Season Hughes: How A Product Cancellation Tests a New Scrum Master's Growth

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.

As a new Scrum Master, Season faced a challenging situation when her team learned their product would be canceled. Initially, she made the mistake of telling team members they could skip daily standups if they had higher priorities, leading to unexpected low attendance. During the retrospective, she transformed this challenge into a learning opportunity by helping team members reflect on their personal growth and lessons learned. This experience taught her the importance of maintaining team ceremonies while providing individual support during difficult transitions.

In this segment, we talk about ORSC, a systems inspired team and relationship coach training.

Self-reflection Question: How would you maintain team engagement and motivation when facing a product cancellation?

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About Season Hughes

Season is a strategist and creator who empowers customers and teams to excel. From designing clever, fandom-inspired apparel at Tomorrowland Transit Authority to coaching high-performance teams, Season is passionate about delivering value and driving growth. Now focused on ecommerce success, Season's mission is to turn goals into epic adventures.

You can link with Season Hughes on LinkedIn.