I Swear I Thought We Talked About It (And Other Famous Last Words of Unspoken Expectations)

Ever wrapped up a sprint and thought, "Wait, I swear we talked about this"? You're not alone, and the good news is the fix is simpler than you'd expect.

In this recorded Scrum Alliance webinar, Ricardo Rottmann-Ordoñez, learning experience designer and co-founder of Courseworq, unpacks why teams that talk all the time still end up misaligned, frustrated, and reworking things everyone thought was settled.

Here's his big reframe: the problem usually isn't poor communication. It's unspoken expectations nobody thought to confirm. As Ricardo puts it, "You just never checked that you were imagining the same future."

Why this one's worth your time

If you're a scrum master, product owner, team leader, or agile practitioner chasing stronger alignment and fewer silent assumptions, this session gives you practical tools you can use right away, no contract negotiations required.

What you'll take away

• Align on outcomes first so work starts with a shared picture of success instead of a guessing game
• Spot the five friction points where expectations quietly go unstated: roles, Definition of Done, availability, autonomy, and commitment dates
• Expose hidden expectations by countering the three forces that keep them invisible: assumptions, projection, and avoidance

Ricardo also walks through a simple upfront expectation-mapping practice built on four questions that clarify ownership, decisions, and check-ins. Then he shows you how to keep those working agreements alive with regular check-ins and blameless postmortems that fix the system, not the person.

Ready to name the unnamed?

Watch the recording now and start surfacing the expectations that make or break your team's trust, autonomy, and delivery.