PowerPoint (or Keynote, the Apple equivalent) is a great tool to work with, and disseminate distilled information, but not a good tool for learning, brainstorming, discovering. I still remember the last time I sat through a training session only to read at the bottom of the slides the dreaded words: “Page 1 of 367”… the collective groan in the room was palpable, and effectively severely diminished the learning environment the trainers were just starting to create. [Read more...]
Thanks to the Mass Bay PMI Chapter for the invitation to teach a mini-course last night, it was a lot of fun for me. I can’t help but feel like we’re at a point of inflection. Agile is going mainstream in a serious way and people are looking for more input on how to apply the concepts in increasingly complex and challenging environments. During some of the QA, I was really impressed with the insights of everyone there about why they would or are already pursuing Agile projects.
Anyway, several people asked for slides, which I’m happy to make available: http://www.bigvisible.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Your-First-Agile-Project-v1.0.pdf. Hope everyone there had as much fun as I did.
Thanks to the Boston IIBA for an excellent presentation & discussion last night about collaboration, requirements and how the role of the analyst fits into an Agile project. For me, the discussion was quite interesting and I came out with a couple key points that are worth reiterating. I find myself being confronted with the question, “so what does an analyst do in an Agile project?”. There are a number of derivations on this query, but the thinking seems to go something like this: the job of the analyst is to write the requirements, if we’re now putting the customer in direct contact with the development team, what’s the point of an analyst? One participant even mentioned that taking a complex document away and simply helping people write user stories sounded like “a glorified secretary”.
As promised at the PMI North American Global Congress, I have made the materials available for the “Agile Simulation” we played last week. I have included a zip file with the presentation, product backlog, one page team instructions, task board and charts. Running the simulation with such a large audience (nearly 300 people), was exciting energizing and at points a little terrifying! There were a few key lessons learned for me I would like to share with the group. [Read more...]
This Saturday I had the opportunity to speak at the PMI Metrolina Chapter’s Professional Development Day in Charlotte. Thanks to everyone who attended, making it a fun and interesting experience. I must highlight the keynote activity, the Musical Paradigm presented by Roger Nierenberg. This was a real powerful experience.
Roger worked with a local orchestra to demonstrate different concepts about organizational dynamics, leadership, and team work. The audience had the opportunity to sit amongst the musicians and observe them play. It was an incredibly powerful experience because the nature of the orchestra delivers immediate feedback. The whole group works together in real time and produces product (music) constantly.
The exercise worked through several powerful examples such as when he singled out the violins, role playing that they were in a reality show where their goal was to play their individual parts as well as possible such to stand out from their peers. I’m not an expert, but the deterioration in the quality of the music was quite noticeable. What a powerful demonstration of how a team is more than a bunch of great individual contributors trying to look their individual best. There were a number of other powerful demonstrations, but I don’t want to give away too much, you really should see it for yourself.
Anyway, I also wanted to the presentations I gave available to anyone who would like them.
Agile from the Project Manager’s Perspective – this is an introductory presentation discussing some of the planning & project management activities that happen with a day, an iteration and a release.
Agile projects within the Enterprise – one of the big challenges we face is applying some of the small team based interactions and mechanics that make Agile projects so effective and figuring out how to reconcile them with the world of enormous teams, specialized roles and multiple interrelated projects.
I had a great time meeting a bunch of cool Agilists at the Agile Boston meeting on this past Wednesday night. I had a chance to present on a topic I am particularly passionate about: Agile Metrics and Diagnostics.
The pdf of the presentation can be found here:
Thanks to everyone from the Mass Bay PMI Chapter for coming to see me speak about Agile in the Enterprise. It was a great discussion and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have made my slides available from tonight’s presentation, they can be downloaded here.
Also, several people expressed some interest in local Agile groups so that they could learn more. I would point out three specific ones that have monthly meetings and support vibrant communities of both learners and practitioners:
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