Agile Alliance 2013 Conference

1. Agile Alliance 2013 Conference Scott Killen

2. Context • PayPal sent 5 people to the conference. • We divided up all sessions and made sure we had attendance at allkey presentations. • I was awarded all of my first-choice sessions • Back at the office we summarized our experiences.

3. The Gaylord Opryland Is A Big Place 1725 Conference Attendees 2884 Rooms in Hotel 12 Restaurants

4. And it’s Hermetically Sealed

5. My Conversation With Jeff Sutherland What successful patterns have you seen for individual performance appraisals in the context of agile teams? Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)

6. Jeff on Performance • Performance ratings demotivate people • Evaluating performance is a collaborative exercise • Individuals Rate themselves • Managers then review and revise • Team 360 ratings are simple Thumbs Up, Down, Sideways. Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)

7. Jeff on Grade Level Advancement To advance, an employee needs written documentation that she has … Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)

8. Jeff on Compensation • Start at industry baseline salaries • Train employees in company financials • To get a raise and employee must make a business case • Product Owner’s tied to revenue points Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)

9. Google Backlog Model • Always work directly off the backlog • Always take from top of the backlog. • No excuses. Don’t know how to do it, you learn! • Impediments go directly to the top of the backlog. Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)

10. Other Interesting Factoids from Jeff • Teams that have interruptions and learn to handle them have higher velocities than other teams. • At Spotify, managers are responsible for communities of practice. • High performing teams need two Product Owners. Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)

11. Conversation Enhancer/Detractor Exercise Yes, but … Yes, and … Great idea for retrospectives! Agile Negotiation: The Agilist’s Guide to Persuasion and Influence (Adam Weisbart, Emily Epstein)

12. Agile Negotiation Framework Agile Negotiation: The Agilist’s Guide to Persuasion and Influence (Adam Weisbart, Emily Epstein)

13. Hot Buttons Exercise Listener: Selects controversial topic w/opinion Uses inquiry and acknowledgement Speaker: Takes opposite position Antagonizes listener Can only use advocacy Coach: Keeps the listenr on track Agile Negotiation: The Agilist’s Guide to Persuasion and Influence (Adam Weisbart, Emily Epstein)

14. Team’s Emotional Bank Account Research shows that high performing teams have a deposit ratio of 5 to 1 Conflict Facilitation as a Leadership Skill: A Systems Approach for Leaders & Coaches (Michael Spayd, Lyssa Adkins)

15. User Stories Maturity Classification(Tracked with Kanban Board) Continual Backlog Refinement, Get Stories to Ready (David Bulkin, Kevin Fisher)

16. Backlogs Tied To Value Streams Consider backlogs tied to value streams and NOT just to teams. Backlogs can be constructed at customer entry points and at other stations in the the value stream. Enterprise Product Owner's Challenge: Managing Networks of Backlogs (Alan Goerner) 

17. Types of Questions Questions are used for many more reasons than to elicit information. They are used rhetorically, to inspire, to create, to direct, to change minds, to provoke discussion, to poke fun and many more When NOT to Have All the Answers: Stop Giving Advice and Start Asking Questions (Judith Mills, Christopher Avery)

18. Final Impressions The quality of presentations was generally disappointing. Networking was fantastic! There were many key nuggets of learning I felt claustrophobic after 5 days in the Gaylord Opryland hotel