This webinar series addresses aspects of what it takes to be be effective in Agile at Scale. Each session in the series highlights how we do work differently. Each session in the series is about 50 minutes in length.

Webinar sessions

What is Agile at scale? The different approaches to achieve it

April 17, 2018
Al Shalloway | Recording | Slides (PDF)

Most organizations are trying to scale Agile. But what is scaled Agile? Is it making projects bigger? Or just spreading Agile across the organization. This is an important distinction and both approaches are necessary at different times.

This talk describes what is necessary to do whether you are looking to have more capacity to work on a project (scaling Agile) or wanting to achieve Agile in an already large project (Agile at Scale). It will then go on to describe how the two most popular approaches – SAFe and LeSS – attend to these challenges. A quick overview of FLEX (FLow for Enterprise Transformation) will also be discussed.

Agile Product Management

May 15, 2018
Al Shalloway | Recording | Slides (PDF)

This webinar provides an overview of how Agile Product Management (APM) helps achieve business agility – the quick realization of business value, predictably, sustainably and with high quality. APM is more than how to take epics to features to stories. In fact, epics are an old artifact that we believe should no longer be used. APM should start at the beginning – what is the mission of the organization. Then continue to the objectives to achieve this, the strategies to guide them and the initiatives that spring from the objectives. Only then do we get something that defines what we’re going to work.

At that point the creation of Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) and Minimum Business Increments (MBIs) are required. But these should not occur in isolation. We must consider the relationship between the business offerings we already have and the business capabilities on which they are built. At his point we’re ready to give the MVPs/MBIs to technology in a concerted manner that can guide us to realize business value quickly.

APM bridges the gap between the business focus and technology. This webinar will provide key concepts required as well as some takeaways you can use immediately.

Collaboration and Dependency Management Event

June 5, 2018
Al Shalloway | Recording | Slides (PDF)

If you are familiar with SAFe, you know that much of its success centers around the program increment planning event. There are many good things about the event.

• It is great for collaboration event
• It helps to identify and map dependencies across teams
• It eliminates thousands of emails
• It helps promote more accurate release plans

This webinar offers a take on this by focusing on these issues with something we call the Collaboration and Dependency Management Event

 

FLEX as an operating model

To be rescheduled.
Al Shalloway | Recording | Slides (PDF)

An operating model is a representation of how an organization works and is defined and used in order to help make decisions throughout the business development process.

A framework is a set of roles, events, artifacts, and the rules that bind them. While frameworks are intended to have practices added to them, the frameworks themselves are mostly immutable. Operating models, on the other hand, are designed to help organizations create their own roles, events, artifacts and the rules that bind them and have these evolve over time as the organization evolves.

Operating models should have the following:

• a “to be” state to provide guidance
• a method to determine if the operating model is achieving its intended result
• a support structure to help coaches navigate the challenges that are likely to occur
• a set of terminology to use
• a set of agreements on how people should work together (e.g., the guardrails)

FLow for Enterprise Transformation is Net Objectives’ approach to agility at both mid and large scale. It goes beyond framework by being an operating model. As an operating model it provide guidance for:

• The vision, mission and strategy of the organization
• The workflows used to realize value by the organization
• The values of the organization
• Leadership and management methods used by the organization
• Lean-principles to guide decisions made on who the organization can improve its operating model
• Metrics used to guide decision making
• The methods for continuous improvement of the people and the systems within which they work
• The tools used by the organization
• The Guardrails system: agreements made within the organization amongst each other
• A starting point that fits the organization using it

This webinar discusses how FLEX can be used on its own or to wrap frameworks such as SAFe or LeSS to enable them to be more effective.

Agile across multiple teams

To be scheduled
Al Shalloway | Recording | Slides (PDF)

Many people are looking at adopting SAFe or LeSS when all they really need to do is know how to manage a few teams efficiently in working together.  This talk provides 4 case studies to show how this can be done for organizations as large as 300 people.

• 25 people in 3 teams: Why cross-functional teams are so important
• 75 people in 7 teams: Follow natural laws more than rules – the dynamic feature teams
• 150 people in many teams: Coordinating backlogs
• 300 people with many stakeholders and many teams: The need for product management

Each of these case studies teaches us lessons about how to coordinate teams from a business Agility perspective.

Using Guardrails to align your people across the organization

To be scheduled
Al Shalloway | Recording | Slides (PDF)

The Guardrails for Lean-Agile transformation are a set of agreements and questions to help the organization assure it is staying on course in its transformation and to be able to make decisions at a local level that are aligned to the rest of the value stream. The agreements are to:

• Work on items that will realize the greatest amount of Business value across the enterprise.
• Collaborate with each other in order to maximize the realization of Business value across the enterprise.
• Ensure that all work will be made visible.
• Take the necessary steps to sustain or increase predictability.
• Keep the work throughout the value stream within capacity.
• Encourage everyone to strive for continuous improvement.

Agreeing how to work with each other is more effective than agreeing to follow a framework. It enables both the creation of a better organization and self-organization with it.

Using Test-First to obtain clear requirements

To be scheduled
Al Shalloway | Recording | Slides (PDF)

Description TBD.

Scrum as Example: Rethinking Scrum as a framework

July 2018
Al Shalloway | Recording | Slides (PDF)

Description TBD.

Becoming an effective Scrum Master: The essential ingredients for supporting new Scrum teams

To be scheduled
Al Shalloway | Recording | Slides (PDF)

Description TBD.

Agile templates and practices useful for new Agile teams

To be scheduled
Al Shalloway | Recording | Slides (PDF)

Description TBD.