Southern Fried Agile 2016

While there is much benefit to using Agile approaches there are myths that tend role as to over-expecting and apparent under-delivering. Address these myths at inception to manage expectation.

Have you ever wondered how to progressively harness focus on your goals and influence your outcomes?

Woody Zuill once famously quoted _‹ÐIf you could adopt only one agile practice, then let it be retrospectives. Everything else will follow_‹. The constantly evolving world of business in modern times demands frequent inspection and adaptation of methods and strategies in order for the latter to stay relevant. The empirical nature of agile features such assessments that can help individuals and teams adjust to constant change and establish a sustainable pace to deliver complex products.

Behold the _‹€Zorro Circles_‹_ to create an excellence in execution in behaviors and tactics. Discover the essentials of designing retrospectives by understanding the multi layered circles of projects' and peoples' characteristics. Experience the applicability of the _‹€Zorro Circles_‹_ in a variety of locales through real world instances and walk away with a handful of effective techniques to design moments of inspection and adaptation in your organization_‹_s ecosystem.

_‹ÐAt regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly._‹  -Agile Manifesto Principle 12

Throughout this process, we will also share real world instances that will demonstrate the applicability and success of the Zorro Circles.

Given below is the session outline.
1. Introduction (5 min)
2. The real world impact of retrospectives (10 min)
3. The Zorro Circles (15 min)
4. Three retrospective techniques (10 mins)
5. Open Forum (5 min)

Timing : Presentation 45 min

Learning objectives
1. Understand the real world impact of retrospectives on individuals and teams.
2. Walk away with a secret sauce for designing a successful retrospective.
3. Walk away with three effective techniques for retrospectives.

Vivek Angiras's speaking experience:
Agile Conferences/Events _‹_
1. Triagile Raleigh 2016
2. Agile Dev West Las Vegas 2016
3. Heart of Agile Philadelphia 2016
4. Big Apple Scrum Day 2016
5. Global Scrum Gathering Orlando 2016
6. IIBA BA Development Day 2015

Agile User Groups/Local Meet ups _‹_
1. DC Area Scaled Agilists  
2. Agile Professionals VA
3. Baltimore Agile  
4. Agile Chicago Style Podcasts

Aakash Srinivasan's speaking experience:
Agile Conferences/Events _‹_
1. Triagile Raleigh 2016
2. Agile Dev West Las Vegas 2016
3. Heart of Agile Philadelphia 2016
4. Big Apple Scrum Day 2016
5. Global Scrum Gathering Orlando 2016
6. Agile 2015  
7. AgileIndy 2015 

Agile User Groups/Local Meet ups _‹_
1. DC Scrum User Group
2. Illinois Regional Agile Users Group 
3. DC Area Scaled Agilists 
4. Agile Professionals VA 
5. Baltimore Agile  
6. Agile Chicago Style Podcasts  
7. Learning Tree Scrum User Group  
8. IIBA DC

Working within an Agile environment requires more than learning a framework or process.  This scenario driven conversation will address how we traditionally react to the organization and teams as a project manager, and the mental models and behaviors we need to adopt to successfully shift to agility.

Is there symmetry between Agile and Football? You would think the answer is no. Software development methods vs. one of the more physical sports. Surely there can't be similarities. Nor can agile folks learn much from this grimy sport.

Well, just like Scrum has its naming roots in the esteemed sport of Rugby, perhaps there is something to it. Join Bob Galen and Josh Anderson as they explore American Football and look for similarities, lessons, metaphors, and tactics that align and amplify our agile team practices.

We'll explore things like: making game time adjustments, the importance of tempo, coaching, practice, importance of goals, and game films driving continuous improvement as some of our topics. Come join us and you'll never look at a football game quite the same way again.

The ninth principle from the Agile Manifesto states that technical excellence enhances agility, but when the codebase is ugly and the deadlines are tight, most teams don't choose to refactor mercilessly, adopt TDD, or evaluate automated testing tools - unless they have the proper support. In our experience working with multiple teams in a single codebase, developers can feel victim to a legacy codebase if only a few people are writing clean code or refactoring; guiding them on how to decrease technical debt while delivering their projects helps "unstuck" their other agile practices. We will talk about the challenges we've seen with Product Owners, Managers, and Scrum Masters interacting with teams at various stages of agile+technical excellence and how a focus on technical practices sparked a wider interest in craftsmanship. Learn how can you influence the team towards the right practices while fostering their sense of ownership. Getting serious about technical excellence requires support from technical and non-technical roles, and we'll share how we partnered as coaches to help an organization through a technical turnaround with some tips for others who need to do the same.

Do you work in an Agile environment but interact with external vendors that aren't?

Have you found it challenging to make this work?

Are you spending more time writing status reports?

Are your partner teams resistant on working with you on an Agile path?

If you have experienced any of this, this session is for you!

Here is what you can expect to take away from this session:

• Tips for getting your vendor working in an agile way without even their realizing it
• Tools and techniques to create integrated plan that work across Waterfall and Agile environment
• Critical adjustments we mutually made