#ProgramManagement
Scott M. Graffius to Speak at Project World Business Analyst World Toronto
20 November 2018

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions and author of Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, will be speaking at Project World * Business Analyst World Toronto 2019. He will be presenting best practices on project management, including tools and techniques which attendees will be able to immediately apply at work. Scott's session will be held on Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Canada. You can read more about it here: http://bit.ly/AGILE-1.

About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, CSP, CSM, CSPO, PMP, ITIL, LSSGB is a project management expert, consultant, international speaker, and award-winning author.
Scott is the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, a professional services firm, where he partners with client companies to help them achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. The consultancy provides project, program, portfolio, and PMO management services inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid development and delivery frameworks. Business results include improved responsiveness to business needs, faster delivery and time-to-market, upgraded on-budget performance, higher customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and greater competitive advantage. For infographics and additional resources, visit http://Exceptional-PMO.com.
A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with a client in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott’s book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. The publication has garnered 17 first place awards. Scott and his book have been featured in Yahoo Finance, the Dallas Business Journal, BookLife by Publisher’s Weekly, Innovation Management, and additional media outlets. A trailer, high-resolution images, reviews, a detailed list of awards and more are available at https://AgileScrumGuide.com.
Scott is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.
Scott regularly speaks at conferences and other events in the United States and internationally where he delights audiences with presentations on agile, traditional, and hybrid project, program, portfolio, and PMO management. He integrates and includes professional standards, best practices, and his first-hand experience with successful implementations. Scott uses everyday language and vibrant visuals to make complex topics clear and understandable, and he provides audiences with practical information they can use. His upcoming and past appearances are listed at http://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html.
Additional information is available at http://Exceptional-PMO.com/who_we_are/bio.

About Project World * Business Analyst World Toronto 2019
The conference—which appears stylized as ProjectWorld*BusinessAnalystWorld—is an educational and training event for project management and business analysis professionals. Thought leaders will arm attendees with new skills, tools, and techniques that can be immediately applied in the workplace. Over 30 expert speakers will present more than 40 interactive sessions, workshops, and keynotes. All sessions are Project Management Institute (PMI) and International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) accredited. Offering professional development units (PDUs) and continuing development units (CDUs) for each hour of learning, attendees can earn up to 26 credits over the four-day period. It will be held on May 27-30, 2019 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Canada. The official hashtag is #PWBAWTOR19. The website for the conference is here: https://www.pmbaconferences.com/toronto.

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© Copyright 2018 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™.

"Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" by Scott M. Graffius Quoted by Informa Middle East
14 December 2018

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, had consulting engagements with a division of a global entertainment business. A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with that client was the inspiration for Scott's book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is an update related to the book.
Content from Agile Scrum (Scott M. Graffius, author; Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, technical editors) is quoted in a piece by Informa Middle East. Informa is a leading Dubai-based company offering business intelligence, academic publishing, and services in event management.
A red arrow in the accompanying image (a higher resolution version is available here) points out the quote. You can read the Informa article by Anishka Abraham—which includes what to do and avoid with metrics—here: https://www.informa-mea.com/blog/7-mistakes-to-avoid-when-measuring-innovation/.


About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, CSP, CSM, CSPO, PMP, ITIL, LSSGB is a project management expert, consultant, international speaker, and award-winning author. He is the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, a professional services firm, where he partners with client companies to help them achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. The consultancy provides project, program, portfolio, and PMO management services inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid development and delivery frameworks. Business results include upgraded responsiveness to business needs, faster delivery and time-to-market, improved on-budget performance, higher customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and greater competitive advantage. Scott is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets. Additional information is available at: http://Exceptional-PMO.com/who_we_are/bio.

About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott M. Graffius’s multi award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 978-1533370242).
Here's an excerpt from the book: "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. Traditional development and delivery frameworks such as waterfall are often ineffective. In contrast, Scrum is a value-driven agile approach which incorporates adjustments based on regular and repeated customer and stakeholder feedback. And Scrum’s built-in rapid response to change leads to substantial benefits such as fast time-to-market, higher satisfaction, and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage."
With clear and easy to follow instructions, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps you:
- 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. Get your copy today!
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇪 Belgium
- 🇧🇷 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

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Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

© Copyright 2018 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™.

Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions CEO Scott M. Graffius Speaks at Events Around the World
05 June 2020
Scott M. Graffius, CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, delivers dynamic and engaging talks at in-person and online conferences and other events—public and private—around the world. He delights audiences with presentations on IT leadership and project, program, portfolio, and PMO management inclusive of agile, waterfall, and hybrid approaches. Scott uses everyday language and vibrant custom visuals to make complex topics clear and understandable, and he provides audiences with information they can use. Check out his speaker reel (above).

Bio for Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius is a project management practitioner and consultant with expertise in project, program, portfolio, and PMO leadership inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid approaches. He is an award-winning author and international speaker. His content has been used by businesses, governments, and universities.
Scott is a Principal Consultant and the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, a professional services firm, where he helps clients strengthen their project management capabilities and realize their strategic objectives and business initiatives. The consultancy provides advisory, training, and facilitative consulting services related to governance and project, program, portfolio, and PMO management. The firm’s expertise spans agile, traditional waterfall, and hybrid approaches. While every engagement is unique, outcomes typically include getting more projects done, faster delivery time, improved on-budget performance, improved customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and more. Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ confidently backs its services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.
A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott’s first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242). It helps technical and non-technical teams develop and deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage. The book has garnered 17 first place awards from national and international competitions. Scott and Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions have been featured in Yahoo Finance, the Boston Herald, NBC WRAL, Informa, Innovation Management, the Dallas Business Journal, Computer Weekly, the PM World Journal, BookLife by Publisher’s Weekly, NHD Podcast, Learning Solutions, Dr. Harold Kerzner’s Innovation Project Management, and additional media outlets and publications. The trailer, high-resolution images, reviews, a list of awards, and more are available in the digital media kit.
His second title, 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 (ISBN-13: 9781072447962), was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Scott's content has been used by businesses, governments, and universities—including Gartner, Cisco, RSA, Ford, LITE-ON Technology Corporation, Liberty Mutual Group, the State of Wisconsin, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, James Madison University, Santa Clara University, Brigham Young University, Texas A&M University, The Open University, Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, and others.
Scott is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets, as well as experience spanning 20 countries.
Scott has a bachelor's degree in Psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds seven professional certifications: Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM), Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL). He is a member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
He has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Scott was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI EMEA Congress 2019, and he served as a member of the review team for the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gathering—New York City 2020.
Scott delivers dynamic and engaging talks at in-person and online events in the United States and around the world. He delights audiences with presentations on technology leadership and project, program, portfolio, and PMO management inclusive of agile, waterfall, and hybrid approaches. Scott uses everyday language and vibrant custom visuals to make complex topics clear and understandable, and he provides audiences with information they can use. To learn more, visit here.
He resides in Los Angeles, California.

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 models. 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.


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© Copyright 2020 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™.

Scott M. Graffius Named a Top 20 Global Thought Leader and Influencer on Agile
17 September 2020

Scott M. Graffius is the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions. Content from his award-winning books on agile project management, speaking engagements, and more has been used by businesses, governments, and universities including Gartner, Cisco, RSA, Ford, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Army, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, James Madison University, Santa Clara University, Brigham Young University, Texas A&M University, and others.
Thinkers360, the world’s first open platform for thought leaders and influencers, named Scott as a Top 20 Global Thought Leader and Influencer on Agile. Thinkers360's highly-differentiated and patent-pending approach to rating thought leaders and influencers factors each candidate’s diverse contributions and content such as articles, books, media coverage, podcasts, social media, speaking events, videos, and more.



About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius is a project management practitioner and consultant with expertise in project, program, portfolio, and PMO leadership inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid approaches. He is an award-winning author and international speaker. His content has been used by businesses, governments, and universities.
Scott is a Principal Consultant and the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, a professional services firm, where he helps clients strengthen their project management capabilities and realize their strategic objectives and business initiatives. The consultancy provides advisory, training, and facilitative consulting services related to governance and project, program, portfolio, and PMO management. The firm’s expertise spans agile, traditional waterfall, and hybrid approaches. While every engagement is unique, outcomes typically include getting more projects done, faster delivery time, improved on-budget performance, improved customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and more. Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ confidently backs its services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.
A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with a client organization in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott’s first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242). It helps technical and non-technical teams develop and deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage. The book garnered 17 first place awards from national and international competitions. His second title, 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 (ISBN-13: 9781072447962), was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority. Scott and his works have been featured by media outlets and publications including Yahoo Finance, Computer Weekly, the Boston Herald, NBC WRAL, Informa (UAE), Innovation Management (Netherlands), the Dallas Business Journal, the PM World Journal, ip-label (United Kingdom), BookLife by Publisher’s Weekly, Software Quality Management, Human-Station (France), Learning Solutions, DZone, Innovation Project Management by Dr. Harold Kerzner, NHD Podcast, and others.
Scott is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets, as well as experience spanning 20 countries.
Scott has a bachelor's degree in Psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds seven professional certifications: Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM), Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL). He is a member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
He has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Scott was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI EMEA Congress 2019, and he served as a member of the review team for the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gathering—New York City 2020.
Scott delivers dynamic and engaging talks at in-person and online events in the United States and around the world. He delights audiences with presentations on technology leadership and project, program, portfolio, and PMO management inclusive of agile, waterfall, and hybrid approaches. Scott uses everyday language and vibrant custom visuals to make complex topics clear and understandable, and he provides audiences with information they can use. For details including his speaker reel video, visit the public speaker section of his website.
Content from Scott's award-winning books, speaking engagements, and more has been used by businesses, governments, and universities including Gartner, Cisco, RSA, Ford, LITE-ON Technology Corporation, Liberty Mutual Group, Atlassian, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Army, the State of Wisconsin, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, James Madison University, Santa Clara University, Brigham Young University, Texas A&M University, The Open University, Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, and others.
He resides in Los Angeles, California.

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© Copyright 2020 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™.

Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions CEO Scott M. Graffius Quoted in BMC Article on Software Metrics
21 April 2020

Shout out to Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ CEO Scott M. Graffius for being quoted in BMC Software's article, Software Quality Metrics Explained. An excerpt from Graffius' first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, heads up the BMC article. The content is “If you don’t collect any metrics, you’re flying blind. If you collect and focus on too many, they may be obstructing your field of view.” Thank you to Stephen Watts and BMC for including it!

About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management consultant, practitioner, award-winning author, and keynote speaker. Content from his books, speaking engagements, and more has been used by businesses, governments, and universities including Gartner, Cisco, RSA, Ford, Liberty Mutual Group, Qantas, Atlassian, Bayer, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Army, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, James Madison University, Santa Clara University, Brigham Young University, Texas A&M University, The Open University, Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, and others. Thinkers360 named Scott a global top thought leader and influencer. He resides in Los Angeles, California.
To learn more, see his full-length bio.

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 BMC Software
BMC Software, Inc. is an American enterprise software company. BMC offers SaaS-based and on-premises software and services in areas including cloud computing, IT service management, automation, IT operations, and mainframe.
BMC has unmatched experience in IT management, supporting 84% of the Forbes Global 100, and earning recognition as an ITSM Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for six years running. Their solutions offer speed, agility, and efficiency to tackle business challenges in the areas of service management, automation, operations, and the mainframe.
For more information, visit their website at https://www.bmc.com.

About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions

Our mission is to help organizations strengthen their project management capabilities and realize their strategic objectives and business initiatives.
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions provides advisory, training, and facilitative consulting services related to project, program, portfolio, and PMO management. Our expertise spans agile, traditional 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 has a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Our proven approach organizes projects into manageable deliverables with success criteria. When our clients are delighted with the results, we get paid.
To learn more, visit https://www.Exceptional-PMO.com.


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© Copyright 2020 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™.

Largest Single-Payer Healthcare System in Europe Utilized Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
11 November 2024

An earlier version of this article was published at ScottGraffius.com.

Introduction
Scott M. Graffius is a global leader in agile project management, an expert on teamwork tradecraft, an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms, a creator, a consultant (Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions and Exceptional Agility), an award-winning author (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), and an international public speaker.
His intellectual property is appropriately utilized by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities around the world. Unfortunately, some individuals and organizations engage in unethical and illegal actions, such as plagiarism and copyright infringement.
Graffius actively upholds, enforces, and safeguards his copyright and other intellectual property rights. He employs multiple measures, including identifying infringers, to preserve the integrity and value of his intellectual contributions and to deter future violations. This story highlights one such instance.
Background
Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development’ as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development—Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning—inclusive of a graph showing how performance varies by phase, as well as the characteristics and strategies for each phase.
Graffius' intellectual property is registered with the US Copyright Office.
He initially developed his ‘Phases of Team Development’ unique material in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it.
Exhibit 1, Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property—the edition applicable to this case, is shown below and attached. It is also available here and here and other locations. The integrated text applies.

As shown in Exhibit 1 above, Graffius’ copyright ownership details are integrated into and appear on his copyrighted property. Specifically, it reads: “Copyright © 2008-2021 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact scott@scottgraffius.com.”
Organizations around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries, including:
- Armenia,
- Australia,
- Brazil,
- Canada,
- Czech Republic,
- Finland,
- France,
- Germany,
- Greece,
- Hong Kong,
- Hungary,
- India,
- Ireland,
- Lithuania,
- Luxembourg,
- Nepal,
- Netherlands,
- New Zealand,
- Norway,
- Romania,
- Sweden,
- Switzerland,
- United Arab Emirates,
- United Kingdom,
- and the United States.
Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ intellectual property is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at here and here, respectively.
With authorization/license from Graffius, his ‘Phases of Team Development’ property is featured and used by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities worldwide. Examples include:
- Adobe,
- American Management Association,
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
- Bayer,
- Boston University,
- Broadcom,
- Cisco,
- Deimos Aerospace,
- DevOps Institute,
- Ford Motor Company,
- Hasso Plattner Institute,
- IEEE,
- Johns Hopkins University,
- LeadingEng,
- Manufacturers Alliance,
- Microsoft,
- New Zealand Government,
- Oracle,
- Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
- Singapore Institute of Technology,
- TBS Switzerland,
- Torrens University Australia,
- US National Park Service,
- US Tennis Association,
- UC San Diego,
- University of Galway Ireland,
- Virginia Tech,
- Warsaw University,
- Yale University,
- and many others.
Copyrights protect the intellectual property rights of creators, ensuring they receive recognition and compensation for their work, thus incentivizing creativity and innovation. Graffius is vigilant in upholding, protecting, and enforcing his copyrights and other intellectual property rights.
The National Health Service (NHS) — the Largest Single-Payer Healthcare System in Europe — Violated Graffius’ Intellectual Property Rights
Here's information on the NHS’s infringing publication:
- NHS event: ‘NHS Trusts and Primary Care Collaboration Knowledge Sharing Event.’
- Date of NHS event: 16 October 2024.
- Title of infringing NHS publication: ‘System Convening.’
- Known locations(s) of the HNS’s infringing 2024 publication: The delivery of the infringing NHS publication was recorded and published as a public video here.
Exhibit 2 is shown below and attached. It provides excerpts from the NHS’s ‘System Convening’ infringing publication, which was delivered at the ‘NHS Trusts and Primary Care Collaboration Knowledge Sharing Event’ on 16 October 2024 (recorded and published as a video). The exhibit shows:
- Slide titled “NHS Trusts and Primary Care Collaboration Knowledge Sharing Event”
- Slide titled “System Convening”
- Slide titled “Agenda”
- Slide titled “Continuing to Develop as a Partnership”
- Zoomed-in view of slide titled “Agenda”
- Zoomed-in view of slide titled “Continuing to Develop as a Partnership”

Indisputable proof of the violation is delineated next.
Again, Graffius’ copyright ownership details and permission request information are integrated into and appear on his 2021 intellectual property.
The NHS (inclusive of its entities and people) did not request nor receive permission to use Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property.
Nevertheless, the NHS used Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property in its 2024 infringing publication.
NHS’s infringing 2024 publication used a significant volume of Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property.
NHS’s infringing 2024 publication failed to acknowledge Graffius' ownership of his respective content, thereby misleading others including the public into believing that it, the NHS, is the author and rightful owner of Graffius' intellectual property.
A review of the NHS’s 2024 publication uncovered a slew of infringing content.
Exhibit 3 is below and attached. It provides a side-by-side view of content from Graffius’ 2021 ‘Phases of Team Development’ copyrighted property and the NHS’s 2024 infringing publication.

As shown in Exhibit 3 above, the NHS blatantly infringed on Graffius’ copyright.
The NHS’s infringing 2024 publication used Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted content word-for-word.
In what is reasonably considered to be the NHS’s demonstration of its knowing and willful infringement, the NHS author(s) of the infringing 2024 publication seemed to attempt to conceal their theft by slightly altering some words. The NHS author(s) localized some content (such as changing "socializing" to "socialising") and made a few other slight alterations (such as changing "&" to "and"). All of that is still infringement.
Supplemental to Exhibit 3, here’s a comparison of content from Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property and what the NHS has in its infringing 2024 publication.
Forming Phase: Characteristics and Strategies:
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Displaying eagerness”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Displaying eagerness”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Socializing”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Socialising”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Generally polite tone”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Generally polite tones”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Sticking to safe topics”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Sticking to safe topics”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Unclear about how one fits in”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Unclear about how one fits in”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Some anxiety & questioning”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Some anxiety and questioning”
Storming Phase: Characteristics and Strategies:
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Some resistance”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Some resistance”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Lack of participation”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Lack of participation”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Conflict based on differences of feelings & opinions”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Conflict based on differences of feelings and opinions”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Competition”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Competition”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “High emotions”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “High emotions”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Starting to move towards group norms”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Starting to move towards group norms”
Norming Phase: Characteristics and Strategies:
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Purpose & goals are well-understood”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Collectively understood purpose & goals”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “More confident”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Increased confidence”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Improved commitment”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Improved commitment”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Members are engaged and supportive”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Members are engaged”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Relief, lowered anxiety”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Relief and lowered anxiety”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Developing cohesion”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Greater cohesion”
Performing Phase: Characteristics and Strategies:
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “High motivation, trust & empathy”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “High motivation and empathy”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Individuals defer to team needs”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Individuals defer to partnership needs”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Effectively producing deliverables”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Effectively producing deliverables”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Consistent performance”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Consistent performance”
🟢 Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property includes: “Demonstrations of interdependence & self-management”
🔴 The NHS infringing 2024 publication includes: “Demonstration of interdependence and self management”
Conclusion
Graffius’ copyright ownership details and permission request information are integrated into and appear on his intellectual property. The NHS did not request nor receive permission to use Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property. But, the NHS’s infringing 2024 publication used Graffius’ copyrighted 2021 property.
The NHS’s infringing 2024 publication used Graffius’ 2021 copyright content word-for-word.
In what is reasonably considered to be the NHS’s demonstration of it knowing and willful infringement, the NHS author(s) of the infringing 2024 publication seemed to attempt to conceal their theft by slightly altering some words. The NHS author(s) localized some content (such as changing "socializing" to "socialising") and made a few other slight alterations (such as changing "&" to "and"). All of that is still infringement.
The NHS’s 2024 infringing publication used a significant amount of Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property.
NHS’s infringing 2024 publication failed to acknowledge Graffius' ownership of his respective content, thereby misleading others including the public into believing that it, the NHS, is the author and rightful owner of Graffius' intellectual property.
The NHS’s infringement has damaged the marketability and value of Graffius’ intellectual property.
The NHS’s use of Graffius’ 2021 copyrighted property was not ‘fair dealing’ nor ‘fair use’ nor otherwise allowed.
Copyright infringement is disgraceful, unprofessional, unethical, immoral, and illegal.
So long as the NHS’s infringing material exists anywhere, in any form, the NHS continues to spread misinformation and violate Graffius’ intellectual property rights. Accordingly, time is of the essence.
The NHS must immediately implement the following two (2) actions:
- Remove the Infringing Material. Electronic Versions: Immediately remove the infringing material (any and all publications/products with infringement) from digital platforms where it is advertised, promoted, sold, or distributed; this includes removing or disabling any online access to it. Physical Copies: If physical copies of the infringing material are in inventory or circulation, stop further distribution; recall any copies already distributed; destroy copies.
- Issue an Apology. Send a written apology to Graffius. It will acknowledge the infringement and the steps taken (such as Action 1, above) to mitigate the situation. The apology will present the facts as they are—it will not "spin" or "downplay" the infringement.
Time is of the essence. Both actions must be fulfilled by 6:00 PM Pacific Time on Friday, 15 November 2024. By doing so, the NHS will convey transparency, professionalism, integrity, accountability, and respect. However, if the NHS fails to do so, it will conversely demonstrate a lack of transparency, a lack of professionalism, a lack of integrity, a lack of accountability, and a lack of respect.
Copyrights protect the intellectual property rights of creators, ensuring they receive recognition and compensation for their work, thus incentivizing creativity and innovation. Mr. Graffius maintains, enforces, and protects his copyright and other intellectual property rights.
Graffius resides in the United States and the NHS is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. However, the United Kingdom and the United States have treaties regarding copyright: Berne (Paris) Dec. 5, 1887; Bilateral July 1, 18918; UCC Geneva Sept. 27, 1957; Phonograms Apr. 18, 1973; UCC Paris July 10, 1974; WTO Jan. 1, 1995; WCT Mar. 14, 2010; WPPT Mar. 14, 2010; VIP Jan. 1, 2021. Additionally, the United Kingdom has strong copyright laws. Copyright laws apply to this case.
Graffius expressly reserves his rights in this disturbing, damaging, and consequential matter.
Graffius communicated the preceding information to the NHS—including multiple departments, leaders, and others—via email on 9 November 2024.
Current Edition of Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ Intellectual Property
Graffius initially developed his respective material in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it. Information on the current (2024) edition of his 'Phases of Team Development' IP is available here.
About the NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive healthcare systems. Founded in 1948, the NHS provides a wide range of services, including primary care, secondary care, and public health. Its network encompasses thousands of hospitals, clinics, and GP practices, employing millions of healthcare professionals. While primarily funded through general taxation, the NHS offers most services free at the point of use, making healthcare accessible to all residents. As a cornerstone of British society, the NHS plays a vital role in the nation's health and well-being.
About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, ITIL, LSSGB is an Agile project management expert practitioner, consultant, creator, multi-award-winning author, and international public speaker.
Graffius is CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions and subsidiary Exceptional Agility. He's generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he's served. Businesses and industries range from consumer products to advanced technology (including AI, R&D), e-commerce, music, streaming/OTT video, television, film, video games, financial services, government, and more.
Graffius and content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities around the world. Examples include Adobe, American Management Association, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Bayer, Boston University, Broadcom, Cisco, Deimos Aerospace, DevOps Institute, EU's European Commission, Ford Motor Company, Hasso Plattner Institute Germany, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, London South Bank University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, New Zealand Government, Oracle, Project Management Institute, Torrens University Australia, UC San Diego, TBS Switzerland, UK Sports Institute, University of Galway Ireland, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Tennis Association, Virginia Tech, Warsaw University of Technology, Yale University, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, and many others.
He delights audiences around the world with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops. He's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries. Visit here to learn more and here to ask Scott to speak at your event.
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 company is committed to giving back ❤️. That’s why it provides a set amount of pro bono (no charge) work for charities and non-profits each year.


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Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

