register for free on EventBrite;
A Position Paper is a plain text response to the following questions:
- What's your experience coaching teams toward being Agile?
- What do you plan to learn /explore at this conference?
- How do you plan to contribute?
If you're planning to attend the Agile Coach Camp March 19 - 21 in NC, the registration process on EventBrite includes answering the above questions.
A Position Paper is required for Admission:
We are looking for passionate and responsible individuals - XP Coaches, Scrum Masters, Trainers, Change Agents and Mentors. If you are actively engaged in helping a team or organization adopt Lean or Agile software development, or in helping an established team sustain their continuous improvement, please mark the date! The event is free, but we insist on your position paper.
Still want to know more?
Your position paper must include at least one Potential Topic you might be interested in hosting as a session. You don't have to be an expert in the topic, in fact you might not even have a clue about this topic, but you are interested in posing it as a question, exploring it. Questions make great session topics. Please note that these are potential topics, not final. If you want to start your conversation early, we have a Forum for potential topics, but the final list will be "whatever happens" on the Saturday of the conference, when we collaborate to create an agenda.
The conference will be free. Your Position Paper (and, following that, your time, energy and passion) is the real investment you are making.
Note: Position Papers will be public after they are reviewed. This might help others decide whether this event interests them, or what they want to talk about.
Rationale for requesting position papers
What we've seen at various leading conferences like OOPSLA, AWTA (Austin Workshop on Test Automation), AAFTTVW (Agile Alliance Functional Testing Tool Visioning Workshop), SDTConf (Simple Design and Testing Conference), etc is that having people write a position paper before coming to a conference leads to better discussion because people have thought about what they want from the conference. You don't spend half the time figuring out what you want to figure out.
Position papers are rarely rejected. If we are not happy with the position paper, we might ask the participant specific questions to help them come up with a better position paper.
Recently at the Simple Design and Testing Conference, we introduced similar position papers. The feedback from the participants was that it was a great idea and it really helped them come more prepared to the conference. Out of 82 position papers, we sadly had to reject 8 position papers (after giving them enough feedback and time). Basically they worked very well for us and we would like to continue using the same technique till we discover a better one.
A PositionPaper makes an excellent springboard for a Lightning Talk, though you may choose to talk about something entirely different, too. See LightningTalks for a list of ways to approach.
The 2010 RTP, NC Position Papers!!
Attendance is limited to 100, so send us your Position Papers when you register to hold your place at AgileCoachCamp via your submission on EventBrite.
Grassroots or Sea Change: What's Better? JaredRichardson
Some teams convert via grassroots efforts, others change completely tomorrow. Which way hasworked best for you? Has it been a function of your coaching style or the team's culture? I'mlooking for an interactive session discussion what works best for each of us.
Agile Measurement, LarryMaccherone
There is little guidance available (beyond velocity and burn down) on how to do measurementfor agile projects. Principle-based advice often sounds like it came from pre-agilethinking by calling for predetermined questions and indicators. Flexible analysis toolslike spreadsheets lack necessary support for the domain. A truly Agile measurement practicewould be of use to the folks doing the work. It would attempt to capture the issues of importanceto growing a successful Agile culture like collaboration and communication. It would helpyou to capture the value unimportant work not done. My position paper proposes an approach tomeasurement that heads down this path. It assumes that given the right tools, the folks doingthe work are better able to interpret the data than a predetermined indicator.
Just The Artifacts, DeniseKarbarz
Scrum introduces a new set of artifacts for project teams to maintain. So what are theartifacts from traditional waterfall methodologies become totally redundant? With manydeliverables no longer required by the team to communicate requirements and design detailswith each other, what are the ones that we really cannot do without in order to evolve andmaintain the applications in the future? If your agile team was assigned to rewrite an app orportion of a system developed by another scrum team five years ago, what are the key artifactsthey would need to do an effective job?
Introducing and Piloting Scrum as an emerging technology to new organizations, JimmyRay
According to Ferrell et al. technology is “the application of knowledge, including theprocesses and procedures to solve problems, perform tasks, and create new methods to obtaindesired outcomes.†Emerging technology is not just that technology on the leading or evenbleeding edges, but any technology that is new to a an organization. Scrum and other Agilemethodologies are new to many organizations. Can we use scoping, searching, evaluating, andcommitting processes to introduce, pilot, and reinforce Scrum as a disruptive, yet positiveemerging technology that businesses can use to erect barriers to their competitiveadvantage.
Customizing Without Compromising, SusanDavis
Introductory literature about Agile processes tends to stress a recommended set of practices, which beginners are advised not to depart from. And a common failure mode of organizations attempting Agile transitions is to implement some Agile practices half-heartedly without really understanding well, and blaming the resulting mess on some supposed fault in the Agile approach itself. Yet in reality, there isn't One True Way to "do Agile," and processes can and should be successfully tailored to an organization's circumstances. The boundaries of this tradeoff, and some of the things that can be customized, are explored.
How to be Agile in non-SW projects, JoseSolera
Agile has been an outstanding success in SW projects but not so much for non-SW projects. A technique developed at Intel, now called Commitment-Based Project Management, provides an Agile solution to non-SW efforts.
Tag Team Coaching, DonGray
Coaching can be a lonely sport. We work isolated from other coaches. How can we create a way ask questions and share information in near real time?
How the Right Tools Can Facilitate Agile Development, JimmyBosse
What's your experience coaching teams toward being Agile? For the last 2 years, I have been working as a Team Lead on a consulting project where the client and both consulting development groups are believers in Agile development. We are always looking for ways to produce better code, improve the development process, and improve value to the client. Every two weeks we evaluate what works for our team, and what isn’t working. Sometimes this means changing our tools, and sometimes it means changing our process. In the last 6 months we have made some significant changes to the tools we use, two of the most visible is our switch to Git and our abandoning the TargetProcess software platform in favor of a physical task board.What do you plan to learn /explore at this conference? I would like to talk with others about how they deal with the adoption of new tools and techniques or shed existing tools and processes in an ever changing business environment. Can you throw out accepted fundamental elements of an “Agile†development process and still be agile? We have done away with planning poker on our team because we felt it no longer added value to the team or the client. We have certain areas of the system where we have begun documentation because specific documents add value.How do you plan to contribute? I am eager to share our experiences in switching from Subversion to Git and how the new tools have allowed us to revise our branching strategies to respond to daily changes about what features are published, and when. Also, our transition to a physical task board is a great story I would love to share, weighing the pros and cons of tools and as a team deciding what works best as opposed to dictated methodologies from a committee on high.
The difference between "coaching" and "teaching", DickCarlson
It seems like just about anybody can hang out a "coaching" shingle nowadays. I'd like to talk about the difference between "coaching" and "teaching" -- are there job skills necessary, particular educational requirements, or does the fact that you like to give advice to others pretty much make you a "coach"?
Discussion on leadership, CatherineLouis
Had an interesting experience with a client who wanted to know about Agile Leadership. I wrote down four or five points on a flip chart, the flip chart was then photographed 5 times and taken home by one of the managers. I'd like to discuss "leadership" in an open space environment to improve on this first iteration.
Creating Effective Agile Workspaces, AlanHensel
Would you design a team workspace with a public walkway right through it? Sometimes you have to
just do the best you can with what you've got, but 5 of the 9 Agile team workspaces that I've
worked in had this particular defect. How common is this, and other things? New workspaces are
being built every day; how can we design them better? This is a deep topic. It dives into
psychology, where little things can make a big difference, especially over time. Some of the
things I'd like to discuss are: - The use of cubicle furniture. - Pair programming station
design. - The benefits of multiple monitors and/or very large monitors, especially in the
context of pair programming station design. - How the decor affects mood: green plants,
pretty pictures, and wall colors. - High ceilings. (Google claims they are mentally
expansive, which I am skeptical about, but what do I know? I've had my mind crushed down by low
ceilings my whole career.) - Surveillance culture: the effect of feeling that someone could
look over your shoulder at any moment, and how to arrange the furniture as a result. - Phone
arrangements in the team workspace. - Separation from other teams. - The availability of
private space for individuals. - The old XP rule "There Must Be Food". - Natural light, and team
rooms with a view. Compare this list against the Agile workspaces you've seen. How do they
stack up? What could have been improved? What stands out as a factor, that didn't make the list?
What makes a workspace productive? What makes it fun? I will readily admit that what happens in
the workspace is far more important than the workspace itself, but the workspace forms a
constant backdrop for the work at hand, and makes its small contribution or detraction every
day. It adds up.
Is fine grained story level estimation dead? JeffreyCanna
I have been an agile practitioner for several years, initially as a developer, than a coach and currently as a manager for multiple agile teams. Through this experience I started questioning the need for story estimation, in whatever form it takes. I Even tried running a team without doing estimation. Recently I have been working in a lean pull system. Driving the team with a Kanban board and have found that this method of operation is much more effective from a management and estimation perspective than previous attempts. It also fits in well with the agile mindset and the developers are also excited about it.
TDD Benefits, Successes and Failures, KatieMcCroskey
What’s your experience coaching teams toward being Agile?
I have no experience coaching teams on how to become Agile, which is why I am so interested in attending the conference. I want to learn from the experiences of others and create my own style of Agile coaching. I do have experience influencing teams to initiate becoming Agile and increasing their level of involvement and complexity such as using Test Driven Development.
What do you plan to learn / explore at this conference?
I am very interested in learning what benefits teams are experiencing from using TDD and what projects it works with well and not so well. While attending this conference I hope to explore others’ experiences using Test Driven Development on different types of projects with variations like time constraints, tight budgets, levels of experience, and familiarity with Agile. It would be interesting if the group could discuss sample projects for TDD with predicted levels of the likelihood of success and failure. Our team uses TDD for almost everything and I am curious what other teams encounter while explaining the benefits to their clients and stakeholders.
How do you plan to contribute?
My contribution to the group will be my willingness to share my experiences with Agile and TDD and my eagerness to ask questions and learn. Some of the main benefits our team encounters with TDD include: reduction in complexity – breaking down the task to the simplest solution; quality – confidence in the code, lack of bugs, ease of maintenance and future additions.
Here are some paraphrased benefits from TDD developers on our team:
- Using TDD for documentation in source control, more concise, compiled knowledge
- Easier to test features as they are implemented
- Spending least amount of time implementing requirements – keep it simple
- Easy refactoring – increased flexibility of the design
- Gives us confidence in the code
- Makes finding and fixing bugs easier
In certain circumstances use of TDD on a project is more successful than others. Personally I have experienced one project where extreme time to market was the primary concern with a limited product lifetime - TDD was not beneficial in such “throw away†applications. This is my only knowledge of a situation in which TDD is not optimal. A specific example of a project I have seen where TDD was crucial to the success involved multiple large complex systems combining to work with one application with strict business requirements. My team members, who have been working with Agile longer than I, have seen projects where TDD is crucial to the success such as adding new features to old code, and projects that are complex and lengthy. TDD seems to improve the maintainable life of the code base. Inversely our team also has seen projects where TDD is not best such as code spikes. Additionally, TDD does not work with dependencies that can’t be faked out easily (C++/COM/low level code). Overall our team agrees Test Driven Development is imperative in day to day development and is used consistently.
DO more, LlewellynFalco
There seems to me to not be enough coding in agile coaching. I'm been working on new ways to DOmore actual programming.
Where Does Documentation Fit in Agile? AmrElssamadisy
Documentation has a place in Agile development. We are always playing today’s game and setting up for tomorrow’s game; something where documentation plays a crucial role. At the same time, traditional documents have a significant handicap: documentation !=understanding. Evocative documents are created collectively evoke memories of experiences and conversations and communicate much more effectively than representational documents. Attendees will learn about evocative vs. representational documents and how many of our errors and pains can be addressed by this type of documentation.
Transitioning QA Teams to Agile, JasonBenton
Some of the biggest challenges with transitioning to agile revolve around the shift in mindset for the QA team. I'd like to discuss these challenges and how to coach QA teams to adopt a more agile approach within their testing process.
Change Management and Learning: Like Horse and Carriage, ManishNandy
Most change management initiatives flounder after an enthusiastic start because they are premised on the arrogant assumption that you know what change package you need to implement.You don’t. Circumstances change, sometimes radically, making a folly of a fancy. The true change management initiative must embrace a clear learning management strategy: you have to change the client organization to be sure, but, more important, you have to change yourself and your approach, consciously and constantly learning yourself and helping others learn.
Gestalt Protocol for Expereince Sharing, BruceEckfeldt
Gestalt Protocol is a format for sharing ideas and knowledge based on personal experience rather than giving advice or suggestions. The power of this method is that it allows the receiver to pull learning rather than being told what to do. It also promotes critical analysis of the information which increase comprehension and absorption of the learning.
Agile and Prince2, KimberlyBailey
Prince2 requirement management methods and how it correlates to the Agile Product Backlog.
Is it possible to put together a team that can complete Agile operations within the traditionally organized waterfall type of project management? CraigMcCrary
Keeping an Agile team together within a traditional waterfall organization can pose extreme challenge’s to both management and team members. Perhaps the team could be viewed as a function within a computer code based view. The Agile function might be called when specific knowledge is not available creating a perfect environment for Agile methodology to excel within the waterfall methodology.
Sprint Capacity and Employee Turnover's Effects on Velocity, MikeBerberich
At our company, we currently employ several part-time intern employees (students). This leads to a decrease in the predictability that a team can have and it is hard at any given time to determine a team's velocity. I am interested in talking with people about keeping a team's velocity consistent even with the ever-changing team capacity due to team members availability and team member turnover.
Implementing Agile in the Federal Government, RichardCheng
This paper will look at: - How appropriate is Agile for the Federal government - What value does Agile bring to the Federal government - Obstacles to Agile in the Federal government and how to address them - Strategies and approaches to implementing Agile at the Federal government -Opportunities and examples of Agile at the Federal government
Being as agile as possible when the organization forbids it, MarkusSilpala
Some of my recent engagements have involved departments or divisions that honestly wanted to do the right thing from top to bottom, but couldn't because they were restricted by enterprise-wide rules which blocked certain key practices (e.g. frequent releases). I find it an interesting challenge to help these groups to continuously improve without breaking the rules (and getting shut down) and without growing complacent about where they can't improve.
Agile and Lean: Which Principles and Practices are Best for Different Environments, KenFurlong
What’s your experience coaching teams toward being Agile? I have been working as a projectmanager in an ISV for several years and we finally made the switch to Agile methodologies abouta year ago. Since then, I’ve been a Scrum Master for one of our Scrum teams and also serving as apseudo-Product Owner for out Networking and Desktop support team. I also take point onvarious quality management functions, particularly root cause analyses and processmodifications. What do you plan to learn / explore at this Conference? First, I’d like tobuild a network of other Agile professional to whom I can go with specific questions andproblems my organization faces as they come up – learning from the expertise and experienceof others to make my organization better faster. I’d love to learn more about a wide range ofspecific topics including: how to create an Agile environment that really benefits teammembers and improves their quality of life and job satisfaction, how to get developers moreinvolved with our POs in story creation and refinement well before those stories are droppedinto a sprint, Kanban and its applicability in various situations, and suggestions forimplementation of Continuous Deployment. How do you plan to contribute? I’ve spent thelast several years thinking about the principles and mechanics of quality management and thelast year exploring the principles and mechanics of Scrum, XP, Lean, and TQM – and theirintersections. I’m quite passionate about exploring why certain principles andpractices work well and reinforce other generally accepted best practices and would love todiscuss what we’ve learned as well as the problems we have yet to solve.
Introducing Agile teams to Kanban Pull-Systems, JohnGoodsen
Over the past two years, I've been experimenting with using Value Stream Maps and Kanbanboards as a tool to engage the entire business in my coaching assignments. I've seenincredible organizational changes and process improvements occur when people learn to seetheir value stream and begin to limit work in progress. I'm still not convinced that this is agreat first-step for people who are new to Agile/Lean thinking. I'd like to explore with othercoaches that have opinions or experience with Kanban how to best lead teams towards acomplete, pull-driven, Kanban style process. Should we lead them there? If so, do we startwith iterations first and wean the times towards Kanban later, or is it better to start Kanbanout of the gate and not confuse them with iterations?
Overcoming Objections In "Selling" Agile to Potential Clients and within Home Organizations, RussEge
Over the past couple of years of practicing Agile and as a Scrum Master, I have noticed an increasing resistance within client organizations to incorporate Agile into their development processes. This position paper will attempt to identify the sources of the resistance to adopt agile practices and provide practical solutions on how to overcome those objections.
The Application of Pareto's Principle to the Adoption of Agile Practices, JimSally
If you believe in Pareto's Principle (otherwise known as the 80-20 Rule), then you believe that it can be applied literally everywhere. At its heart, Agile practices are about doing what works and ignoring the rest (at least until the time is right). In a world where people are constantly searching for silver bullets, getting distracted by zealot turf wars, and feeling the crunch of deadlines, novice adopters of Agile practices need to learn what out of"agile" is immediately important for their situation, and what they can safely ignore until a latter point in time.
Sharing the Product Vision through Drama and Storyboarding, DennisBritton
Use dramatic re-creation and movie storyboarding techniques to bring the product vision tolife. This will help convey the product vision to a distributed, cross-language,cross-cultural team due to its visual and kinesthetic medium full of context. This will alsoserve as a way to map organize and connect the stories, showing how they complete the vision.Lastly, it can serve as a way of conveying progress or status. For many projects, the productowner meets with a few individuals such as a business analyst or a tech lead or scrum/iterationmanager who then writes a one-dimensional story based on these interviews. Then variousinterviews take place, either directly with the product owner or with the interviewer of theproduct owner to explain. In those interviews, the entire product vision context isreiterated verbally. Much of this information is missed due to language and poorconnections. One way to create these storyboards, is to have the entire team assist inrecreating the workflow of the features, representing the actual pieces of information(infons?) and the systems they flow through. (Similar to usage scenarios) In this way, whenthe team is together, they can directly experience the product using all their senses. Thisexperience can easily be captured using storyboarding tools. Having a true storyboard toreference at any time will aid in understanding the context and purpose of each story as neededfor bringing team members up to speed at any time.
Chicken Training - how to help managers become effective agile leaders, JoshAnderson
This talk is generally directed for existing leaders who are leading teams in the transitionto agile, but I will extract the key learning points and tips that an agile coach can use to helpleaders with this difficult transition.
Mature Agile teams, consider adding Lean, GregFrazer
Is your team approaching master levels of Agile/Scrum? Do your weekly iteration plans,retrospectives, TDD approach, and daily stand-ups feel like an old, comfortable T-Shirt?Ever get the feeling like there might be more? If so, consider adding Lean principles andmethods to improve your software development process.
Many strong Agile teams continue tostruggle with a few basic questions, such as:
- Since we cannot compare our own velocity withthat of other teams, how do we compare?
- What is the most risky or volatile part of our entireSoftware Development process?
- What happens to our velocity if resources or technologychanges significantly?
- If we weren’t time-boxing, how fast could we complete a newfeature?
Many high-efficiency teams have demonstrated how you can transition smoothly awayfrom time-boxes, story points, and the dependency on sprint planning meetings to achievemore agility and even faster deliveries. Using evidence-based Lean metrics and visibility,your team can attain better, more consistent throughput in combination with a verysignificant drop in a feature’s cycle time.
With this topic, we can discuss ways ofdesigning our processes using Lean principles and elements. We can blend data and visualsignals to push the process and value deliveries forward. We can focus on the value (storycards) and flow to constantly reinforce the need for fast, frequent collaborations? We canvisit the use of Real Options Theory and pull mechanisms to limit large wasteful backlogs, andrecord cycle-time to establish service-level agreements with our customers. Ultimately,we want to explore how to use Lean and Kanban concepts to give us not only a direction, but also aclear goal to conduct the current ‘system’ and its evolution.
Learning how to be a Coach, JosephFlahiff
I work in an Enterprise environment in which the EPMO runs the projects, mostly waterfall. Butthe IT organization is moving more and more to agile for delivery. I am one of the few Agiletrained PMs and I am actively coaching teams and Project Managers within my organization. Ihave recently started providing online training in the role of the Project Manager inenterprise agile work. I plan to learn and explore what other agile coaches are doing, how theygo about the actual coaching process for their teams. I have just fallen into coaching agile soI am eager to learn structure unstructured approaches to agile coaching.
Firewalling Agile, JasonLittle
Foreward: I have been working in an enterprise telecom company (25,000+ employeesworldwide) for 8 months helping a department of 250 adopt Agile across their portfolio. Thisencompasses developer, testing, release management, product management and productionsupport. There are outside constraints on our reach, namely the IT restrictions and controlsacross the organization implemented with a heavy 'home grown' process. I say 'home grown'because I don't recognize the methodology being currently used. It's waterfall with about 10times more waste associated with it. Perhaps they should patent it? Kidding aside, verypolitical organization, many silos, large disconnect between management and workers, lowmorale 'in the trenches', dissolution on behalf of management that thinks 'things work greatnow!' Focus: a recipe for enterprise agile transformation, firewalled or not. That means itis entirely possible for the scope of this transformation to provide benefits to this soledepartment even if the rest of the company does not recognize the value of Agile and fails toadopt it. Interest topics: - moving from tall hierarchy to flat organization - transitioningtraditional functional managers - portfolio and team organization (some outsourced,handling specialist roles like architecture, UI/.Design, Legal, Marketing) -cross-project knowledge sharing and feedback techniques - how does PMO and process groupsfit into the equation? What I hope to share: - practices we've successfully implemented -practices we will be trying - practices we've failed at
Bringing Agile upstream, KathyGettelfinger
What's your experience coaching teams toward being Agile? I have been working in IT since 1995with my first move into software development in 2002 with a startup developing LBS software.That was also my first exposure to XP development. I've worked in a wide variety of processchange initiatives but am now working for ThoughtWorks enabling client projects tDAo movetoward agile methodologies. My current project for example involves "agilifying" a team oftwo 3rd party vendors (one of which is Microsoft). This involves implementing CI, TDD,Automation, the works. I have a few topics in this area which interest me. Leading a reluctanthorse to water. Giving transparency a good name. Knowing how much to bite off at a time when youwant to have everything. What do you plan to learn /explore at this conference? I would like toexpand my cohort of peers beyond the ThoughtWorks realm and hear other peoples ideas onenabling others. I would like to share my experience and skill of facilitation and find newideas on which to expand. I want to expand and learn on several topics about which I would like towrite: + Leave them wanting more out of admiration not desperation - how you can convincepeople that hoarding knowledge actually hurts them and that collaboration raises them up. +Bringing Agile upstream - how to help the business/product people feed the well oiled devmachine + Changing fast to get to the new normal - Why ripping the band-aid off is better thanslowly removing it How do you plan to contribute? I plan to contribute by bringing myexperience and being open with it, making as many great connections as I can and asking a lot ofquestions. I know there are many things I can learn and plan to take as much information from asmany different sources as I can and assimilate it. I am very excited to get a chance to be withmany people doing similar work with passion. I also plan to use the new knowledge to createthings to share such as blogs and presentations
Agile in Different Cultures, ThiyaguGopal
The reason for me to attend this coach camp is to learn the coaching techniques from the othersenior coaches. I am sure all the experienced agile coaches knowledge will make me moreknowledgeable. I also would like to discuss how cultural differences makes a difference inAgile deployment and also would like to discuss how to create new agile practices. I mean whencan i say that a new practice which we have invented, which also yielded results can be called asan Agile practice.
Successes and Failures of my teams using Scrum, RobinKargoll
I will contribute by actively engaging in conversations and sharing my experiences inbuilding strong teams that own their deliverables as well as sharing some of the downfalls myteams have experienced, such as letting the test cycle get offset from the dev cycles andletting work be carried over on regular basis instead of as an exception.
Experience Report: A Supposedly Agile Environment, VictorGoldberg
Experience Report: A Supposedly Agile Environment Scenario: A Big Corporation. A city blocksize building. A floor mostly occupied by cubicles. Many of these cubicles are empty. Theycould be easily rearranged into a common open working space, but not, can't be done. People innearby cubicles talk with each other by phone, or by email, or instant messaging. A few yearsago a directive came down from the corporate offices: Agility has to be implemented, in twomonths...
Agility in QA, MehmetEfe
I am not ready yet. But I hope to have something by then. I introduced the "Agile Tripod ofQuality Assurance" at Yahoo!
"Delivering Business Value" Coach, AimmeKeener
Sometimes, I get too caught up in the various practices out there and forget about the agileprinciples. That's when I have to remember what I am being paid to do: deliver high, businessvalue software that is potentially releasable. It is also in those instances that I need toremember a Ron Jeffries' email signature that I came across that says something to the effectthat no company has ever won an award for being agile. Instead, companies win awards fordelivering high business value. I am interested in hosting a session and learning from otherson how to avoid the mechanical coaching trap and how we can focus coaching more on helping teamslearn how to deliver business value.
Expanding the possibilities--finding the boundaries, DanPuckett
What's your experience coaching teams toward being Agile? For two years, I served asScrumMaster of a small team in a big company. I was also the Product Owner, a developer, and thelead evangelist for using Agile techniques on this particular project
From Vision to Acceptance Test via a Decoupled Agile Request Pipeline DavidBulkin
Today large scale enterprise agile enablement’s are becoming the norm, but they often fail. One common ill is code that is not ready at the end of the iteration. It is frequently said that nothing should leave the iteration that is not done, but to make this happen, nothing should enter the iteration that is not ready.
But how can we get requirements to ready in the complex environments where we use agile today? This presentation will share a straightforward requirements model for agile that spans the gamut from high level vision down to low level acceptance test, demonstrating how to use a decoupled kanban to get requirements to ready prior to iteration planning, thus making it possible to get to done at iteration end.
Agile in context to other emerging organizational philosophies, ChrisAdams
Unknown Details
Is There an "Agile for Dummies" Book Available?, SteveHolliday
I hope to gain a better understanding and knowledge of how the Project Manager and Agile co-exist with the approach we are using currently. During my time using Agile at IBM, the Project Manager performed the full-time duties of the Coach, so his role was well defined, here in the government sector, not so much.
The Spirit of Agile Leadership, EricHorlbeck
Is there a conflict between Agile/Lean and modern management practices? If so, what can we do about it?
Requirements-Driven Agile Planning, EllenGottesdiener
As teams build steady velocity, they begin to recognize the need to understand not just the“now view†(current iteration requirements) but the “pre-view†(release) and“big-view†(product roadmap). What are useful techniques to raise the team andcustomer/product owner’s awareness and competencies in requirements-driven agileplanning? How do we demonstrate the value of conducting “just enough†agilerequirements analysis to expose requirements dependencies and risks so customers canbalance those with business value? How can we integrate product roadmapping (not justrelease planning) in our work? Let’s explore concrete ways to help our teams figure out howto build the right product at the right time.
Agile in the IT field, DonnaLoPinto
We were just starting to use Agile in my last assignment and I found that the interactionbetween the clients and the users made the testing process much more cohesive, although thechange was resisted at first. I would like to discuss .. "Why the fear?" And how to speak toclients and testers regarding the fear of change. In networking in the IT field, I would like todiscuss how the benefits of using Agile will help in looking for new IT/Testingopportunities.
agile growth in volatile times, RaduRosu
agile growth in volatile times - how we grew in 2009
Agile in a Federal Contracting environment, ManojVadakkan
I am no means an expert in the subject of Agile with Federal Contacting and Fixed termcontacting. I would like to learn from other experts. I have more questions than answers as Ijust started coaching in an organization that does a lot of Federal contracts. I will be happy to host a session.
strong alignment provides sticky transformations, MattGelbwaks
Theory U as a process is an exceptional tool for creating a deep and lasting alignment aroundideas and interests. I have begun to incorporate the Theory U concepts and the Change Labpractices into my agile practice as a way of fostering a stronger alignment and a more selfdriving transformation. I would like to explore the concepts further with my peers and see ifthere is a place for this in our work. I would also like to get some feed back on the approach as atool for alignment to make agile transformations much more sticky. I would like to offer adiscussion about the approach and if there is interest, do a quick U Process journey todemonstrate the concept. For more on Theory U, seehttp://www.presencing.com/presencing-theoryu/theoryu.shtml. for more on the ChangeLab, see ReosPartners.com
When Gaming An Agile Metric Isn't Bad, CamilleBell
I propose to give a lightening on gaming the Running Tested Feature metric. In that talk I'llintroduce the RTF metric for those who are unfamiliar with it and then discuss a variety of waysthat RTF might be gamed and show that as long people don't actually lie, attempts to otherwisegame RTF produce desired behavior changes that RTF is designed to encourage. Accordingly theRunning Tested Features metric is an agile metric that all agile coaches should have theirtool kits. For those new to RTF, this lightening talk should give them enough to get startedusing it and for those familiar with RTF, they should come away with some new insights in howthey could best use RTF with their teams.
The Beer Game Part 2 - Introducing Variation and Measurements into Managing the Agile StoryCard Wall, TomLooy
This presentation is a follow up to last year's Beer Game presentation from Agile 2009 thattaught the fundamentals of Lean and Theory of Constraints using an Agile Story Card Wall. Part2 introduces the concepts of common cause variation vs special cause variation to the Agileplanning process. Part 2 will also introduce the difference between measuring which can bedisrupting and information radiating which should be empowering.
Agile processes and evolutions: We all came from somewhere, ChrisHagenbuch
Agile provides a way to organize for a common goal or purpose. Early societies organized inmuch the same manner and as we evolved, so did our organizations. In software development wefind waterfall proccess that were originall intended to support highly optimized anddeveloped processes like CMMI L5. IN society we have grid lock in governing bodies as well.What can we learn from this evolution that will assist us in the agile revolution?
Agile project management and role of a tool, SyedRayhan
Although many coaches and trainers discourage using a tool, in practice we know a tool can helpmanaging a project really easy. It would be helpful to understand and share how a tool can play arole in adoption and managing an Agile project and dispel the myth around it.
N/A, NimatHaque
Agile and Fixed Bid contracts, Agile and Lean/Kanban.
Dealing With "Anal Sphincters", SaleemSiddiqui
This topic was inspired by DawnCannan at the unconference.
Dealing with difficult people -- colloquially called @$$holes -- can be difficult. Part of the difficulty springs from separating behavior from the individual ("X is an @$$hole" vs "X is behaving like an @$$hole"). In this session, we explored what behaviors, in the context of an Agile team, invite that unflattering label and how an Agile coach can deal with such behavior patterns.
Unmeeting notes: DealingWithAnalSphincters
Introverts and Extroverts, SaleemSiddiqui
This topic was inspired by several references to Introversion/Introverts and Extraversion/Extroverts at the unconference.
Personality types -- while being a controversial and criticized model of classification of people -- are often used to understand the patterns behind the variances in human behavior. Most personality type models use the distinction between Introversion and Extraversion, either as discrete types or on a continuum. The purpose of this session was to find any patterns between Introversion/Extraversion and Agile coaching styles and preferences
Unmeeting notes: IntrovertsAndExtroverts
Lean Manufacturing Versus Agile, JerryHelms
This presentation reviews the basic principles of lean manufacturing and identifies how ithas been applied to Agile software development. Getting teams to focus on the seven primarysources of waste could help to create new improvements.
Fidelity, EllenGrove
At the moment I'm really interested in working with customers to create release maps thatallow them to effectively manage the fidelity of individual features as implementationprogresses. I'm also interested in the concept of fidelity as it applies to a team's agiletransition - how can a team decide that they're doing "enough" of any particular agilepractice?
Agile and COTS, GlennWaters
Discuss the differences and challenges between using Agile for Commercial Off-the-shelf software versus software development projects. Starting with using Agile for procurement and moving through deployment and testing of the COTS software.
Exploring Technical Test Debt, BobGalen
The agile community has brought the notion of technical debt into the light of day. We've beendiscussing it for a number of years and strategies for managing and eliminating it. There'sanother sort of debt in agile teams - technical test debt that I think has equally broadimplications. Particularly in at-scale agile teams. I want to explore aspects of TTD andstart conversations around it.
First Engagement with Agile Vendor, LilaKRosa
Lessons learned as an Agile coach serving as the liaison between an Agile-ignorant internalproject team and an Agile-savvy software vendor to deliver a customizedSoftware-as-a-Solution (SaaS) web app.
Effective Estimation for Agile projects, RavikanthKondapalli
By nature Agile projects are executed in a dynamic environment and ever changing priorities.One of the key challenges is to come up with reasonable effort estimate and identify the size oftasks for inclusion in the scope of current sprint
Transforming the PMO from Score Keeper to Agile Transformation Partner, JaneTudor
Reboot: It’s time for an Adaptive and Transformational PMO Gear Stream is not suggestingthat PMO’s aren’t working hard to align strategically with their partner organizationsor that PMO’s universally do a poor job of delivering against their initiatives. We arehowever saying that it’s time we acknowledge that the changes caused by leaner and moreagile business methods, regulatory and auditing challenges, and cost restraints requireall of us to think differently and consider different approaches to an ever-evolvingprofession. Project Management Organizations have traditionally focused as an isolatedcomponent of strategy, not overseeing the lifecycle of the strategy. In the Classic InwardlyFocused PMO Model, the Project is the deliverable. The Program, if we’ve reached that stateof maturity, outlines how those projects help to form a strategy or align efforts together tomake more effective use of resources (financial, physical, or human). For mostorganizations, the effort begins and ends with the delivery of the initiative. The ProjectManager or Program Manager is happy to conduct a turnover and walk away. The battle may havebeen won, but what about the rest of the war? This is where disconnects begin betweentraditional “inwardly focused†Project/Program Management (focused primarily on“People, Process, and Toolsâ€) and where the next frontier of managing overallinitiatives must lead us. Businesses are demanding that project management be more tightlyaligned to product, business purpose, and organizational strategy. Demonstrating resultsrather than simply implementing processes, training and tools will be key as businessesbecome more competitive and time-to-market pressures increase.
Acceptance Test Driven Development, KenPugh
The practice of Agile software development requires a clear understanding of businessneeds. Misunderstanding requirements causes waste, slipped schedules and mistrust withinthe organization. Acceptance tests decrease misunderstanding of requirements. Testsshould be collaboratively developed by the customer, tester, and developer, prior to anyimplementation.
Integrating testers into agile teams, DawnCannan
I've been working hard to help integrate testers as valuable members of any softwaredevelopment team for most of my career. The Agile movement has made this a more publiclysupported endeavor. However, I still feel like my biggest weakness lies in the "people side"of helping these teams integrate testers, accept them as valuable, and work in a new way. I'dlike to be able to talk about my experiences and learn some more about how I can better coach thistransition.
Scrum Fatigue, LindaCook
Some of the teams I've coached express fatigue after many months of iterations, improvements, and collaboration. The purpose of this discussion is to discover ways to help teams overcome process fatigue. First we discuss how to recognize fatigue in your team. Once we witness fatigue in our team, the question is what should you, as their coach/leader do about it. Should companies adopt a policy about some form of a break for a long-term, intact team? Is process fatigue one of the reasons agile adoptions fail?
Understanding Agile Values and Principles, ScottDuncan
In being brought in to coach organizations, I note they have often started their Agileexperience with method/practice training. Inevitably, they need to modify certain thingsfor their environment, but, having never understood the Agile Manifesto's Values andPrinciples, they do so in ways that reduce (or downright impair) the value of theirexperience. I believe, we, as coaches/trainers, should make sure we present the intent of theValues and Principles, so organizations considering adoption will understand thefoundation of whatever method(s) or practice(s) they adopt, giving them the ability to"become," not just "do" Agile. Thus, I want to discuss/explore ways to do this and explore ourown views on the intent of the Values and Principles.
The Change Agent's Mantra, SirajSirajuddin
This paper / talk is a summary of my understanding of the dynamics and forces around adoptinglean / agile.
Agile Analysis Debt, MaryGorman
An agile project may intentional incur technical debt for valid reasons. Much has been written about how to address and pay back such debts. But what about a project's analysis debt load? What is analysis debt; what's the difference between good and bad analysis debt; what are causes and remedies for such debt? http://ebgconsulting.com/Pubs/Articles/ManagingYourAnalysisDebt_Gorman_Gottesdiener.pdf
Paircoaching as a model for on the job learning, MichaelSahota
I am interested in paircoaching as a model for providing outstanding value for clients and anopportunity to learn as a coach. I have done a pair-training with Yves Hanouille and apair-assessment with Gerry Kirk and have found results similar to pair-programming:substantially higher quality and lots of learning. In this session, I would like to exploreexperiences with paircoaching and brainstorm around the possibilities and challenges thatcome with this model.
Why Spock has difficulty influencing people, CharlesSuscheck
Spock is the pillar of logic, but a logical argument doesn't seem to do the trick in convincing people of a certain point. You need to consider the emotional and social aspects of the groups involved before a convincing argument can be made. Even then it's hard. Let's discuss some of the ways we influence without specific authority!
An Agile Player/Coach, DeclanWhelan
Being an effective Player/Coach on an agile team. Often I find I need to "get in the trenches"with a team to really understand what the obstacles and opportunities are. This often meansbeing a team member in terms of estimating, signing on for tasks, pairing etc. I would like toexplore this role with others particularly in making sure that the coach does not get tooinvolved and can remain objective while also gaining sufficient context to help where help isneeded.
Why am I attending the Agile Coach Camp? BrandtBraswell
A quick paper discussing my background as a ScrumMaster and de facto Agile coach within myorganization, and several topics I'd like to discuss at the conference.
Distributed Agile in a Multicultural World, RobertDempsey
Drawing on his experience of working from the U.S. with teams in the Philippines, Columbia,India, Canada, and across the U.S., Robert will dive into how a company can build amulticultural team around Agile principles, in a fully distributed global environment,remaining on the same page at all times, and getting things done. He'll cover the tools thatenable collaboration, and the biggest gotcha's go be aware of when working with peopleoutside of your company and home cultures.
Value Driven Agile Transformations, MikeCottmeyer
Agile at Scale How we define value Value vs. Valuable
Instilling trust between the business and technical team and management stakeholders, PaulBoos
I'm interested in exploring ways to (preferably quickly) instill trust so that the team canhave the empowerment to self-organize and experiment to improve delivery.