What are the best ways to collaborate with customers in Scrum?

In my opinion the collaborative approach should start with a discussion which should focus on identifying key problems or areas of optimization. Then we can define an iterative product vision and strategy which should aim to add value to customer business. Most importantly it is important to define a strategy to measure the outcome of value added Leaders should take collective learship approach which refers to combined synergies to achieve a common purpose. Entire value realization process should be mutually reinforcing for all stakeholder such that end result is greater than sum of individual contribution.A sense of shared responsiblity should exist.

Collaborate with customers in Scrum through regular sprint reviews, involving them in backlog refinement sessions, seeking continuous feedback, and incorporating customer representatives as part of the Scrum team. Open communication channels, such as feedback loops and user testing, enhance customer collaboration throughout the development process.

There are a number of ways to collaborate with the customer in Scrum. One common approach is to have the customer representative on the Scrum team. This allows the customer to be directly involved in the planning, development, and testing of the product. Another approach is to have regular meetings with the customer to review the product backlog and the progress of the team. This allows the customer to provide feedback and to ensure that the team is on track to meet their needs. The customer should be kept informed of the team's progress through regular demos and updates.

In my experience as a former Scrum Master, backlog refinement sessions were pivotal to the long term success of the scrum team. Here is why you should always consider inviting customers/stakeholders to refinement sessions: ✅ Identifying and/or resolving grey areas. Instead of having the team estimate story points based on their thoughts, bring in the customers to ask questions and make an appropriate estimate. ✅ Prioritization. Talk with your customers about what is more important to them. Continue to move stories up or down the backlog based on priority. ✅ Exposure. Let your scrum team shine by asking questions and speaking directly to the customer. ✅ Healthy Backlog. Have user stories ready to go and scoped out prior to planning.

Sprint Reviews are both fun and scary at the same time! However, it's an amazing opportunity to showcase the hard work of your scrum team. I recommend the following: Step 1: Prepare for the sprint review by leveraging your PM tool (e.g. Jira etc) to understand which stories have been completed and/or will roll over to the next sprint. Step 2: Gather all of the completed stories and see which make sense to showcase in a demo. Invite any relevant customers to check out the progress. Make sure the team is prepared. Step 3: After the Demo Session, have some time blocked to go over sprint metrics. For example, what was our completion percentage? How did the team do (e.g. burnout chart)? Step 4: Repeat and Iterate.

I echo most of it as this could be a starting point where they feel more confident about the team and deliverables. Later they can be advised to attend more ceremonies and this may help to get more involvement of the customers.

Design thinking helps to ensure that communication with customers is not only regular and transparent, but also focused on understanding their needs, wants, and pain points. By using design thinking methods such as empathy mapping and user journey mapping, Scrum teams can gain a deeper understanding of the customer's perspective and tailor their communication accordingly. This can help to build trust and rapport with customers, and ensure that they are engaged in the product development process.

In Scrum, the most critical element for collaborating with customers is maintaining a close and continuous partnership through active and transparent communication. This involves involving customers in the development process, regularly seeking their feedback, and adapting the product based on their input. Customer collaboration ensures that the product meets their needs and expectations, leading to a more successful and valuable end result.

Distance is inversely proportionate with effective communication and collaboration. Bridge the distance between stakeholders/customers and developers by strategically integrating their involvement into the project roadmap: invite representatives to Daily Scrums, senior stakeholders to Retrospectives, and leadership to Demos

Don't let Scrum come in the way of doing proper research of what your customers need. Your customers expect a good experience from you, so don't let things like "good enough" or "we will fix that later", become a norm. No matter how well your Scrum works, customers in the end do not care about it. What they care about is how their experience with your product is.