agile

Philly ETE 2016 – Scott Ambler – Agility at Scale: Tactical and Strategic Approaches

This talk describes, step-by-step, how to evolve from today’s vision of agile software development to a truly disciplined agile enterprise. It briefly examines the state of mainstream agile software development and argues for the need for a more disciplined approach to agile delivery that provides a solid foundation from which to scale. It then explores what it means to scale disciplined agile strategies tactically at the project/product level and strategically across your IT organization as a whole. Your disciplined agile IT strategy, along with a lean business strategy, are key enablers of a full-fledged disciplined agile enterprise. The talk ends with advice for how to make this challenging organizational transition.

Philly ETE 2016 – Doc Norton – Agile Metrics: Velocity is NOT the Goal

Doc walks us through the Hawthorne Effect and Goodhart’s Law to explain why setting goals for velocity can actually hurt a project’s chances. Take a look at what can negatively impact velocity, ways to stabilize fluctuating velocity, and methods to improve velocity without the risks. Leave with a toolkit of additional metrics that, coupled with velocity, give a better view of the project’s overall health.

Philly ETE 2016 – Leigh Ann Shaffner – Agile HR

Agile HR represents a new, emerging way for HR to partner with their leaders and people. The paradigm is shifting from one of controls and standards to a new level of engagement – one that focuses on the facilitation and improvement of organizational agility. This means helping to build and drive programs that create adaptability, foster innovation, provide transparency, and inspire collaboration. Building on these principles, Comcast’s Technology + Product team is reimagining Performance Management. We are an innovative and agile organization and we are transforming our Performance Management approach to reflect our culture, provide real-time feedback, and develop our most important resources – our talent.

Philly ETE 2016 – Johanna Rothman – Agile Hiring: It’s A Team Sport

You can apply agile approaches to your hiring, iterating on everything. You can get feedback as you go, and involve the entire team, including the sourcing. You can teach your recruiters to use a kanban board to track candidates and where they are in the pipeline. You can iterate on the job description (and job ad) based on what you see in candidates. When you involve the entire team, you can create questions and auditions that work for you. You can identify candidates who fit your culture and those who don’t. This session is a timeboxed interactive workshop. Be prepared to experiment and learn. Let’s make your hiring more agile.

TechCast #96 – Philly ETE Happy Hour Chat

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In this episode of the TechCast, Ken Rimple and Sujan Kapadia talk to five speakers of Philly ETE – Mike Hartington of Drifty, Jeff Labonski of Chariot Solutions, Martin Snyder of Wingspan, Alex Miller, co-author of Clojure Applied and organizer of The Strange Loop conference, and Andrea Falcone of Twitter.

Philly ETE 2016 – Martin Snyder – Delivering Agile Methodologies and Emerging Technologies in Hostile Environments

Innovating in such environments can be a challenge, but it is both personally and professionally rewarding to do so. In examining the motivations behind these hostile cultures, we can see patterns and opportunities where individuals or teams of developers can serve two masters and deploy cutting-edge technologies and techniques while still honoring both the spirit and the letter of a myriad of restrictions.

TechCast #95 – Doc Norton on Agile Metrics – “Velocity is Not the Goal”

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An outspoken critic of the way I.T. companies organize their projects, Doc Norton will be a speaker at Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise. His talk is called Agile Metrics: Velocity is NOT the Goal. His company, CTO2, helps companies implement Agile development practices. Today, Ken and Doc discuss some of Doc’s most recent opinion pieces … Read More

Philly ETE 2015 #37 – Diana Larsen – Improving and Extending Retrospective Outcomes

Diana Larsen, co-author of Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great, will introduce you to a simple framework for getting better outcomes from retrospective meetings, suggest ways to maintain the relevance of improvement to the work of your team, and provide tips and pointers to get great returns from the time your teams devote to every meeting.

Philly ETE 2015 #22 – Michael Toppa – Agile Contracts for Software Consultants

You’re ready to go with all the best Agile practices: you’ll develop incrementally and iteratively, you’ll have sprints and retrospectives, and you can’t wait to tell your clients about your velocity and show them your burndown charts. But all of your prospective clients are telling you they want firm quotes, and contracts with detailed specifications and delivery dates. How do you convince them a traditional contract is actually riskier than they think, and persuade them to instead sign an Agile (time and materials) contract?