The Humanizing Work Show

Backlog refinement is essential for Agile teams, but it's easy to fall into the trap of overloading the backlog with too much detail—or not enough. In this episode, we tackle one of the most common and painful mistakes teams make: detailing work too early or too late. Discover how to keep refinement manageable and effective by structuring your backlog with just the right level of detail, using the...

Too many year-end retrospectives suffer from recency and peak-end biases, causing them to devolve into superficial reviews or Q4 gripe sessions. In this episode, we share a structured approach to help teams and organizations overcome those biases and conduct meaningful reflection sessions that drive real improvement. Learn how to: ✨ Start with purpose to ground your retrospective Use the ORID fra...

"A beautifully detailed plan feels great—until reality intervenes." In this episode, Richard and Peter share hard-earned lessons about annual planning from their work with hundreds of organizations. They reveal why most companies should spend less time on detailed strategies and more time clarifying vision. Episode page: https://www.humanizingwork.com/annual-planning-that-works/ Share a challenge...

What’s the real difference between Product Owners and Product Managers? This episode explores the evolving definitions of these roles and highlights how modern Product Management thought leadership aligns with the fundamentals of Great Product Ownership. Episode page: https://www.humanizingwork.com/are-product-owners-product-managers-the-same-thing/ Share a challenge or episode idea: mailbag@human...

"We've cut scope as much as we can, but the team still isn't fast enough." Sound familiar? In this episode, Richard and Peter reveal what actually makes teams faster—and it's probably not what you think. Learn the three key levers that influence team speed, common pitfalls to avoid, and practical steps you can take to sustainably increase your team's capacity. Perfect for engineering leaders, prod...

Are deadlines the enemy of Agile? Many teams think so. But while unreasonable deadlines can destroy morale and quality, legitimate business timing needs shouldn’t be ignored. In this episode, we explore how to work productively with deadlines while maintaining Agile principles: Why the “no deadlines in Agile” mindset can be counterproductive Understanding the Iron Triangle and its relationship to...

How do you lead a high-performing, empowered team? Kevin Goldsmith, a former Adobe and Spotify leader, joins the Humanizing Work Show to share his journey from engineering to executive leadership. We explore his take on the Spotify Model, how he approaches mentoring new managers, and why positional authority matters more than most leaders realize. Perfect for anyone in tech, leadership, or agile,...

Get an inside look at how professional facilitators design and run high-stakes remote meetings. Follow along as we dissect a real 50-person marketing team retrospective, from initial planning through execution and lessons learned. Perfect for anyone looking to level up their meeting facilitation skills or manage large-scale remote collaboration. Useful Links: https://www.humanizingwork.com/fix-you...

Does it take meeting after meeting to get to a decision in your organization? Do decisions you thought were done come back to life if someone later feels like they weren’t included enough? In this episode, Richard and Peter discuss how to identify a consensus culture and share some practical tools and advice for making faster, more effective decisions while still maintaining the values that create...

In this edited rebroadcast from Season 2, Episode 2, we explore the surprising lessons a professional jazz quintet can teach us about business cultures and teams. The original, unedited version with all of the music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhvOJoZmTMs Episode page: https://www.humanizingwork.com/business-and-jazz/ Share a challenge or episode idea: mailbag@humanizingwork.com Connect with...

A HW Show Classic Rebroadcast from 2022, this is one of our most viewed episodes, and we're excited to bring it to our broader audience. Episode page: https://www.humanizingwork.com/but-we-must-management/ Share a challenge or episode idea: mailbag@humanizingwork.com Connect with Humanizing Work: https://www.linkedin.com/company/humanizingwork https://www.facebook.com/HumanizingWork https://twitte...

Are you tired of wasting hours in unproductive meetings? The average professional spends over 30 hours each month in meetings that go nowhere. In this episode, we introduce the Focused Conversation method from the influential book "The Art of Focused Conversation" edited by Brian Stanfield. This isn't just a tool for better meetings—it's a transformative approach to thinking, communicating, and co...

In this episode of the Humanizing Work Show, Peter and Richard delve into the often messy world of cross-team coordination. While collaborating within a team has its challenges, coordinating between teams can feel like navigating a maze—too much information, missed details, and meetings that waste everyone's time. We explore why common approaches to cross-team coordination often fall short: Unstru...

“We’re agile—we don’t need to plan.” “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Which is right? In this episode, Peter and Richard explore two common mistakes around planning—either trying to plan everything or not planning at all—and why the alternative is something that looks like both planning and execution at the same time. Learn how successful organizations like Pixar use iterative plan...

"Strategy just gets in the way of us doing our job." - Jos de Blok, CEO of Buurtzorg In this thought-provoking episode of the Humanizing Work Show, we examine a counterintuitive approach to leadership. While creating clarity through purpose, vision, and strategy is often crucial, sometimes the best leadership move is to step back. We explore the case of Buurtzorg, a Dutch home healthcare provider...

Most projects start green but end up in crisis mode. Instead, make your project "Earn Green" by directly tackling risk and complexity first. We’ll share real-world examples of how sequencing work this way makes the end of the project calm and peaceful, even when you can't ship incrementally. Whether you're a project manager seeking on-time delivery or an Agile advocate looking to make a difference...

In this action-packed episode of the Humanizing Work Show, hosts Peter and Richard break down the art of delivering thoughtful, articulate responses to unexpected questions. Whether you're a coach, nonprofit leader, or professional looking to enhance your communication skills, this episode offers concrete strategies you can start using today. Learn five key techniques to master impromptu speaking:...

Is your Daily Scrum dragging on? In this episode, Peter & Richard dive into a real-world case of a 20-person Scrum team struggling with long, ineffective Daily Scrums. We explore why simply changing the format isn't always the answer and uncover deeper issues in team structure and work organization. Learn how to identify if Scrum is the right fit for your team, when to consider alternatives li...

Is there one true Agile? In this episode of the Humanizing Work Show we break down the three Agile tribes—People, Performance, and Process—and discuss why the conflict between them is surface-level and how they can be integrated for greater success. Episode page:   https://www.humanizingwork.com/agiles-three-tribes-people-performance-and-process/ Share a challenge or episode idea: mailbag@humanizi...

In this episode of the Humanizing Work Show, hosts Peter Green and Richard Lawrence dive into the art of setting effective team goals that drive motivation and performance. Discover the research-backed reasons why some goals inspire while others fall flat. Learn five actionable tips on how to set goals that your team will embrace, covering the Source, Size, Category, Criteria, and Persistence of t...

Richard facilitated a session at Agile2024 on “Addressing the Psychological Costs of Agile.” In this episode, he dives into the fishbowl facilitation method used in the session as well as some of the key takeaways from the conversation. Episode page: https://www.humanizingwork.com/fishbowl-and-psych-costs-of-agile/ ‎ Share a challenge or episode idea: mailbag@humanizingwork.com Connect with Humani...

In this episode, we address the most common mistakes leaders make when communicating important decisions and information by sharing three proven strategies to ensure your decisions create clarity and alignment throughout your organization. Misalignment and miscommunication can lead to confusion and inefficiency, but with the right approach, you can keep everyone on the same page. Tl;dr on the thre...

Organizations succeed or fail in large part based on the quality of their leadership. But most so-called “leadership teams” aren’t really teams—they’re just leaders who have meetings. In this episode, we look at why and how to launch a cross-functional leadership team so it achieves meaningful results. Episode page: https://www.humanizingwork.com/launch-an-effective-leadership-team/ Share a challe...

What can we learn about effective teamwork from the world of professional music? In this episode, Peter shares insights from his recent experiences playing in various musical groups and draws parallels to creating high-performing teams in any work environment. Episode page: https://www.humanizingwork.com/5-lessons-from-music/ Share a challenge or episode idea: mailbag@humanizingwork.com Connect wi...

In this episode, we introduce you to two polar explorers that vividly illustrate our tendency to see leadership potential in babblers, braggarts, and braggarts regardless of their actual competence. We share several ways you can bring things back into balance, separating actual effectiveness from the noise, whether you’re the quiet high-performer or the leader trying to build an effective team. Ep...