presentationWhat is Scrum? An Introduction to the Scrum Framework, tune in to the Knowledge Trainaudio1 Jul 2026 version , or read the full Scrum is an agile framework that empowers teams to deliver complex projects through collaboration, transparency, and iterative progress. Discover how Scrum supports adaptive software development and effective teamwork.transcript .
About the speaker
Rose James is a keynote speaker and leadership strategist who focuses on influence without authority, engagement, and burnout. She has extensive experience in portfolio leadership, transformation, and enterprise change. That experience gives her insight into how governance, culture, and stakeholder behaviour affect delivery teams.
She works with leaders and project professionals who must move people and decisions forward in complex organisations. Her approach blends neuroscience, leadership psychology, and practical tools that can be applied quickly. She focuses on helping people strengthen their presence, communicate with clarity, and manage pressure more effectively.
Rose speaks regularly at conferences, professional associations, and corporate leadership forums. She is known for clear structure, grounded examples, and sessions that prompt lasting shifts in how people think about work and performance.Should I do PMP or Agile certification?
TranscriptAre Agile courses worth it?
Here’s the full transcript of the webinar.
00:00:02 Sevcan Valiyeva Simon Buehring: Hello, everyone. Welcome to today’s webinar. We have Rose with us today. Rose, thank you so much for joining. It’s only for a few minutes while people enter. Feel free to write your name and your location in the chat.23 Feb 2026
00:00:29 Sevcan Valiyeva : Hi, Catherine.Find out if Agile courses are worth the investment and how they can fast-track your career. Scroll down for more details.
00:00:33 Rose James : Hi, Catherine.
00:00:35 Sevcan Valiyeva : Hi, Lauren. Hi Paula, Hi Lisa. This is exciting.
00:00:57 Sevcan Valiyeva : Hi James.
00:01:04 Sevcan Valiyeva : Okay, so just to give a bit of a background, I am Sevcan, I’m the market executive for Knowledge Train. We are in partnership with agileKRC today. We have Rose, as I just mentioned. Rose, thank you so much for joining. I really appreciate it. It does seem like a very exciting topic, one that is applicable to everyone, to be honest. The webinar will be recorded. You will receive an e-mail most probably next week. You would also receive the presentation slides. If you do have any questions, pop them down in the chat and Rose will go over them right at the end. So Rose, over to you.Six Sigma
00:01:40 Rose James : Thank you. Hello, everyone. I’ll say good afternoon, everyone. Good morning. For me, I am very excited to be here. You should be seeing my screen, so let’s get started.Simon Buehring
00:01:55 Rose James 22 Apr 2026: Before we do, do this with me. Silent your phones. Turn off your e-mail notifications. During this hour, resist the urge to multitask. Give yourself permission to be fully here, because burnout cannot be beat if we are only half present. I’m going to give you a moment.
00:02:28 Rose James Six Sigma offers tools for improving business processes and quality. Read on to see how it can benefit your projects.: Great.
00:02:31 Rose James : Let’s ground ourselves in what we’ll take away from today’s discussion. First, we’ll break down the stages of burnout, what it looks like, how it creeps in, and why it’s especially relevant in project management. From there, we’ll move into strategies you can actually use, practical tools to both build wellness and resilience into how you lead and work. My goal today is not to add more to your plate, far from it. My goal is to shift how you approach what’s already on your plate.
00:03:14 Rose James : Before we talk solutions, we need to talk truth. For many of us, the way we are working is not working. Imagine this for a moment. You are knee-deep into a critical report for an important meeting when chat notifications starts pinging one after the other. an urgent e-mail lands in your inbox demanding your immediate attention. Just as you are trying to focus, you remember the lineup of back-to-back meetings on your calendar for the rest of the day. If that sounds familiar, drop a note in the chat or a thumbs up to just tell me, yes, I understand or this resonates, you’re speaking to me.
00:04:10 Rose James : Yeah. But the truth is it doesn’t stop there. After work, there are appointments, there are errands, there’s school pickups, there’s after-school activities for the kids or for yourself. Life does not pause when your workday ends. And we are often told to do more with less.
00:04:36 Rose James Agile project management: Frameworks, benefits and how it works: So we keep squeezing productivity into every available moment, answering emails while we are in meetings, multitasking through fatigue, taking work home and checking on work after we leave the office, and ignoring the signs our bodies are sending.
00:05:02 Rose James Simon Buehring: I like my presentation to be very interactive, so if I am speaking truth to power for you, please drop a note in the chat or just signal me with an emoji. It is no surprise then that 44% of employees report feeling stressed throughout the day. Globally, a significant portion of workforce reports experiencing high levels of stress on a daily basis. Until we see numbers like this, it is easy to assume we are the problem.1 Jul 2026
00:05:39 Rose James : We think we are not strong enough. We think we are not organised enough. We think we are not doing enough. But let me be clear. This is not a personal failure. It is a systemic pressure cooker. One that demands awareness, boundaries, and change.Agile project management is an adaptive and collaborative project approach focused on iterative delivery, continuous improvement, and stakeholder involvement. Discover key Agile frameworks, compare Agile with Waterfall, and see how Agile is applied across industries.
00:06:07 Rose James : Before we can shift out of burnout, we have to understand what it actually is, because it rarely starts with flames. More often, it starts with the slow, invisible erosion of chronic exposure to stress.
00:06:31 Rose James : The World Health Organization recognises burnout as the result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. According to the National Library of Medicine, burnout is a work-related stress syndrome. Psychology today takes it even further that it is a state of chronic stress that leads to exhaustion, detachment, and a sense of ineffectiveness.
00:07:06 Rose James : So let me pause here, because this means that it is not a personal failure. It is a predictable response to prolonged exposure with too few recovery points. Here is the hard truth. Burnout does not just drain your energy. It chips away at your purpose, at your confidence, and at your joy.
00:07:42 Rose James : So let me ask you, where are you in this matchstick progression? Are you lit up with momentum? or quietly smoldering, almost out. Some of us are holding it together with caffeine and composure, but inside, we are halfway burnt.Agile business analysis explained
00:08:15 Rose James : Stress is triggered by what we call stressors, and these can either be internal or external. Internal stressors include our thoughts, our beliefs, and even psychological factors like negative self-talk, perfectionism, or chronic illness. These are the stressors we often have the most influence over.Knowledge Train
00:08:45 Rose James 1 Jul 2026: And then there are the external stressors, things like major life events, heavy workload, or family conflict. These tend to be outside of our control. While we cannot always control external circumstances, we can focus on managing our internal stressors. The beliefs we hold, the way we talk to ourselves, and how we respond to pressure. That’s where real transformation begins.
00:09:30 Rose James Agile Business Analysis blends business analysis skills with Agile values to maximise value delivery in fast-paced environments. Discover key concepts, principles, and best practices for effective Agile teams. : Now that we’ve seen the most common sources of stress, both internal and external, let’s take a moment and look at where that stress can take us if left unmanaged. Burnout is not something that happens overnight. It is a progression.
00:09:54 Rose James : What you are looking at here is the five stages of burnout, starting with stage one, the honeymoon phase, where we are enthusiastic, motivated, and optimistic. But if we don’t manage it well, step 2 starts to creep in, which is the onset of stress, where you might begin to feel stagnant, or mentally cluttered. Then comes step three, where stress becomes chronic. Frustration bails. You might notice sleep disturbances, irritability, or even physical fatigue becoming more common. By stage four, we’ve hit full burnout. Energy is low, apathy sets in, and it becomes difficult to stay engaged with the work we once loved. Habitual burnout is stage five, which is the most concerning. This is when burnout becomes embedded in our daily lives. It starts affecting our health, our relationships, and how we show up in the world.
00:11:17 Rose James : The yellow and red arrows here show how both physical and emotional exhaustion build as we move across these stages. Recognising where you are is the first step towards reclaiming your energy and choosing a different direction.
00:11:43 Rose James : So ask yourself, honestly, what stage are you actually operating in today? Not where you want to be, where you are today.
00:11:58 Rose James Lean management: I have a poll here, so we’re going to launch it right now. And take a moment, assess, reflect, and make your selection.
00:12:16 Rose James Simon Buehring: Can we launch the poll?19 Feb 2026
: And this is really the time for discussion.
00:41:59 Rose James : So Sevcan, I don’t know if it’s possible they can come off mute, they can come off mute, they can come on camera.Marketing
00:42:09 Rose James : I see a note by Shizu, wondered if that’s a question.
00:42:15 Rose James : Yeah, and Lauren says, to hear that I am not alone in the way I feel and that it’s okay to push back and protect myself.
00:42:24 Rose James : Lauren, I am so glad to hear that. You are not alone. There are so many people in the world that are going through this. I’ve given this talk to so many people across so many different countries. And like I said, the number of emails, the number of people that reached out to me on a daily basis from all over the world, and this is the same thing I hear.
00:42:53 Rose James : You are not alone, Lauren. None of us are.The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
00:43:03 Rose James Manage options: What did, what did, what, Paula, what are you saying yes with an exclamation point to? Tell me.Manage services
00:43:14 Rose James Manage {vendor_count} vendors: What is your yes to?Read more about these purposes
00:43:27 Rose James : Yeah, that’s true.Accept
00:43:30 Rose James : Paula says is to Lauren saying she’s not alone. Yes.Deny
00:43:35 Rose James : What else is resonating for you or what is coming up for you as we have this discussion?What thoughts are you having or what questions do you have? Let’s talk about it. This is a safe space.View preferences
00:44:14 Rose James : We talked about mindset shifts. We talk about behavior shifts. We talk about having structure in the work, in the path to recovery.Save preferences
00:44:25 Rose James : I see a cheeky question, so I’m curious, what is a cheeky question? Let me read it.View preferences
00:44:36 Rose James {title}: No need to answer. Among the 56% who aren’t burned out, how many are managing themselves well and how many are just slacking off, do you reckon?{title}
00:44:46 Rose James {title}: James, I like that question.Manage Consent
00:44:48 Rose James : So here’s my take on it. As I do this presentation, and most times I do it longer, I do 2 polls. I do a poll at the beginning. Who thinks they’re burned out off? Where do you think you are?And most people may come in at one level.To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
00:45:06 Rose James : And then after going through the presentation and learning more about the signs of burnout, what it feels like, what it looks like, how it impacts you, I do the poll again, and then the numbers change.Functional
00:45:22 Rose James : So most times, so what that indicates for me is that most people don’t know that they are burned down or don’t recognise that they’re burned down. So yes, might have that 44% that are in reality, they’re burned out, but the 56% either they don’t know that they’re burned out, they don’t recognise the signs, they don’t recognise that what’s happening is actually down a path to burnout.
00:45:53 Rose James : So great question. Not A cheeky one. It’s a great question, James.
00:46:00 Rose James Functional: Any tips on handling unrealistic expectations from leadership?
00:46:05 Rose James Always active : Paula, there is not a time that I have given this talk or had a coaching session where someone doesn’t bring that up. I was wondering, wow, you guys, no one’s asking that question, so I’m glad you did.
00:46:16 Rose James : So here’s the rub. And it ties back to that point I made about making trade-offs visible, talking about priorities. Unrealistic expectation is a number one reason that causes burnout, most of the people that I work with. So how do you talk about unrealistic expectation with the leader is laying the facts out. What I’ve seen is that they may not know, this leader may not know that what they’re presenting you or what they’re putting on your shoulder is unrealistic expectation.
00:46:55 Rose James : So making those very clear has been helpful. I have task A, task B, task C, and D that you’ve given me and they all have the same deadline. Which of these is the most, is the highest a priority to help manage our time and energy well? And most of the people I coached, when they present that back, it’s like they said, I think the biggest one that came for me was the eyes was like, whoa, I didn’t realise that I gave you that much to do.
00:47:31 Rose James : Okay, so let’s reprioritise. And that helps to set really clear expectation with that leader. I can only do one thing at a time. Not saying, I’m not going to do all of it, but I can only do one at a time. Help me understand which is the highest of priorities for you. We’ll focus on that and then we’ll sequence the rest in order.The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
00:47:58 Rose James : Is that helpful? Paula?Preferences
00:48:11 Rose James : Do any of you work for NHS? Okay, so that’s a private question. All right.
00:48:18 Rose James : What else comes to mind for you?Preferences
00:48:26 Rose James : How are you dealing with stress in your world? How are you dealing?
00:48:34 Rose James : Oh, I feel burnout is so common in NHS. I’m sorry.
00:48:39 Rose James : Paula says some data I always…Oh, okay.
00:48:48 Rose James : Paula, so you’re responding to the response I gave, that you feel the response is going to be all of it is a priority. Yeah, I can hear you, but let’s try this out and then let me know. Try it out by laying out all of the work and saying, this is everything.The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
00:49:06 Rose James : Can you help me identify which one is the most priority? And then we’ll focus on that and it’ll help to cascade your time and focus appropriately. And let’s see.Statistics
00:49:22 Rose James : All right, Paula, let’s try that. I’m curious. Do reach out and let me know how it turns out.
00:49:29 Rose James : And James says, further to that point about unrealistic expectations, I would have the conversation Rose described as soon as you realise the expectations are unrealistic. Then they can’t grumble that you should have come to them sooner. Great point, James.Statistics
00:49:48 Rose James : Lauren says, we are also going through a time of uncertainty with NHS England in the process of being abolished, but the work is not stopping and there’s pressure to get things over the line before this happens.
00:50:03 Rose James : Yes, Lauren. That is, that tends to be modus operandi for a lot of companies in a situation like that. And I feel for all of you that are having to deal with that.
00:55:06 Rose James : And I can stop share, right?
00:55:08 Sevcan Valiyeva : Yeah, of course, yeah.
00:55:10 Rose James : Okay, I can stop sharing, but I can stay on while people, if they have any questions.
00:55:22 Sevcan Valiyeva : You’re obviously free to go, everyone, if you don’t have any questions or you’ve got a meeting or if you want to read about burnout.
00:55:29 Sevcan Valiyeva : But I will end the webinar in about two minutes.
00:55:51 Sevcan Valiyeva : Thank you, Lauren.
00:55:53 Rose James : Thank you, Lauren.
00:55:54 Rose James : Thank you, Nicole.
00:55:58 Rose James : Thank you, Catherine.
00:55:59 Rose James : Thank you, James.
00:56:01 Rose James : Thank you, Rob.
00:56:02 Rose James : Thank you, Paula.
00:56:02 Rose James : Thank you, Martin.
00:56:04 Rose James : Thank you, Hassan.
00:56:05 Rose James : Thanks, James.
00:56:08 Rose James : You guys have been just a great audience. I love, love, love the engagement. I love the conversation. I love the sharing.
00:56:20 Sevcan Valiyeva : Very big thanks to Rose as well. She woke up at 6am for this webinar. I really appreciate it, Rose. Yeah, absolutely.
00:56:31 Rose James : Absolutely. I love this.
00:56:36 Sevcan Valiyeva : So if anyone’s having any more comments or questions, I’m going to end the webinar. Thank you, everyone, once again, and hope to see you in our next webinar.
00:56:47 Sevcan Valiyeva : Thank you, Rose.
00:56:48 Rose James : Thank you.
00:56:49 Rose James : Have a great day.
00:56:50 Sevcan Valiyeva : Thank you.
00:56:51 Rose James : Bye-bye.
00:56:52 Sevcan Valiyeva : Bye.