As a proud sponsor of Agile 2023, Scrum Alliance is excited to be in Orlando and connect with agile changemakers from around the world. We’re thrilled to join you as you explore, innovate, and advance agile values at Agile 2023. Be sure to stop by the Scrum Alliance booth to learn more about our certifications and membership benefits, and help us build our Changemaker Photo Wall!
We're also excited to share that a number of our Certified Agile Coaches® and Certified Scrum Trainers® have been selected to speak at the conference. Read more about their sessions and what you can expect to learn from the below.
We can't wait to see you in Orlando!
Sanjiv Augustine
3 Steps to Leap from Agile Teams to Business Agility
Tuesday, July 25 from 10:45 am - 12:00 pm
Is your organization struggling to fully embrace agile? Outdated waterfall management practices might be the root cause. A bimodal approach is needed to achieve end-to-end business agility, which involves transforming middle-management practices and supporting agile teams. Prioritizing portfolios effectively, making decisions faster, linking strategy to execution, and delivering value quickly are all crucial elements. In this session, we'll explore three steps to achieve that:
- Setting up end-to-end Value Stream Teams
- Establishing an Agile Value Management Office (VMO)
- Transitioning from yearly budgeting to fixed funding
We'll cover case studies of how this approach has unshackled agile teams and liberated managers to deliver positive customer outcomes.
John Barratt
Clean Interviewing: A Hands-On Approach to Customer-Centric Product Development
Monday, July 24 from 2:00-3:15
Developing products that truly meet customer needs is essential for business success. Clean interviewing is a powerful tool that can help you achieve this goal.
In this practical workshop, you'll learn how to ask open-ended questions and practice active listening to gather unbiased insights into customer preferences and behaviors. By avoiding bias, you can make data-driven decisions that improve customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and sales.
With a non-judgmental attitude and empathy, you can create a collaborative and understanding environment. This workshop offers hands-on experience with clean interviewing, providing an opportunity to take your product development to the next level. Don't miss out on this chance to enhance your skills!
Melissa Boggs
Necessary Evils - Debate
Monday, July 24 from 3:45 - 5:00
Come join a lively engaging debate tackling What necessary evils must we continue to support and grow in our mission of agility throughout our organizations? Let's explore sticky subjects like;
- Frameworks
- Certifications
- Scaling and enterprise-size systems
For this session there will be two nominated debaters, who will represent their teams in a head-to-head, 2v2 dialogue about a topic on our themes. Their teams will have 20 minutes to help them prepare for their cerebral battle. If you are in a more reflective mood, there will be a third group who will participate in a more passive and observing way. Moderators will keep the debate moving in a cable news style fashion, injecting levity and boundaries for conversation.
Kim Brainard
Necessary Evils - Wicked Questions
Wednesday, July 26 from 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Come and join this interactive session with discussions prompted by wicked questions around:
What necessary evils must we continue to support and grow in our mission of agility throughout our organizations? Let's explore sticky subjects like:
- Frameworks
- Certifications
- Scaling and enterprise-size systems
Table groups will have discussions about heated topics from our theme, and present new thoughts and ideas to the group. Facilitators will heat up the room with Wicked-Question-style prompts, and make space for all voices to be heard.
Emilia Breton-Lake
Agile Games: The Secret to a Happy and Energized Team!
Thursday, July 27 from 2:00 - 5:00 PM
Looking for a way to add some excitement to your team's everyday routine? Our engaging session can help! Discover your play personality and learn how to create Agile Games that will infuse fun and learning into your team's day.
From agile simulations to team-building exercises to problem-solving games, we'll guide you through the process of creating games that will elevate your team's morale, creativity, and problem-solving abilities. Whether you work in-person or remotely, our session offers practical advice and tips on how to incorporate play into your team activities. Leave your seriousness at the door and join us for a fun-filled session that will show you how to build better bonds through play!
Tricia Broderick & Diana Larsen
Leadership Through Learning: why it matters to leaders and teams
Wednesday, July 26 from 2:00 - 5:00 PM
In business, when something goes wrong, it's easy to get caught up in assigning blame. However, this approach doesn't lead to productive results. Instead, successful leaders create environments that encourage team collaboration and learning. Join Diana Larsen and Tricia Broderick, co-authors of the book Lead without Blame, as they unpack the journey and expectations of leadership from expert control to false empowerment to building resilient learning teams. This session offers an opportunity to discover and practice these techniques, rather than a magical checklist. By embracing continuous learning, teams can achieve their goals and become more effective in the long run.
Jake Calabrese
Common Practices - Emergent Talk & Discussion
Thursday, July 27 from 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Come join our wonderful speaker as they provide a 20 minute talk on the information that emerged throughout the week at the Audacious Salon on the following topic:-
It seems like every year companies push for troublesome practices like "performance management", metrics and measurements, accountability, etc. How can we finally realize these things in a healthy, productive way?
- Performance management
- Accountability
- Measurement and metrics
- And more!
These experienced speakers will attend each session that pertains to their topic and put together a takeaways session for the final day.
Open Space
Passionate about helping improve your organization? Learning to see yourself as a leader so you can help others? Thursday's Open Space is the place to be!
Open Space is an amazing framework that gives everyone (including you) the opportunity to create a new menu of conference sessions to:
- fill in gaps from other sessions and integrate learnings from the week,
- dig deeper into topics you are interested in with others who have similar interests,
- explore a topic that was not on the program,
- meet and connect with attendees who you would not have otherwise met.
Whether you are new to open space or have experienced a great one, join us! We will explain the structure so that you (and everyone else) can create and learn from amazing sessions and content!
Antoinette Coetzee
Sugar and Spice and all that's nice - that's NOT what relationships are made of!
Monday, July 24 from 3:45 - 5:00
Developing authentic relationships is crucial for success, as emphasized in the Agile Manifesto's "Individuals and Interactions" value. Safety is key to building strong connections, which is why Team Startups and Working Agreements or Alliances are essential to consciously shape our relationships. But how can we develop exceptional relationships, not just with others but also with those we work with? Is it a matter of talent or specific steps we can take?
Join me on a journey into the science of trust, connection, vulnerability, and betrayal. Let's explore practical tools and skills to benefit your relationships, whether you're a coach, team member, leader, or anyone else.
Mike Cohn & Brian Milner
The Elements of Agile: Becoming Agile at an Atomic Level
Thursday, July 27 from 2:00 - 3:15 PM
Transitioning to agile can be challenging for organizations, as they may struggle to identify the essential components to achieve their goals. To simplify the process, Mountain Goat Software has developed a free tool called The Elements of Agile. It identifies 20 crucial aspects of successful agile transformations, helping teams and organizations identify their strengths and areas for improvement. By using this tool, users receive an evaluation of their current status and actionable steps to improve their weaker areas. In our interactive session, we'll walk through these elements and share our experience report with those who have taken the assessment. Join us to learn the requirements for a successful agile transition.
Jesse Fewell
Transforming Backwards - Unexpected Ways Agile Coaches BLOCK Agility
Tuesday, July 25 from 10:45 am - 12:00 pm
Are you wondering why your teams are stuck in a fixed mindset? Why, despite supportive leadership, training workshops, & embedded coaching have they simply not grown?
Have you ever wondered, whether, it might be YOU?
In this provocative session, we will introduce key psychological behavior patterns among agile leaders, coaches, and Scrum Masters that actually impede the growth of the very people we serve. We'll explore how our key assets (past experience, passion, etc) are often the very things that blind us to the right move to make at the right time. You'll walk away with a concrete self-assessment on how YOU might be the blocker to agility, and what to do about it.
V Lee Henson
Vanilla Ice Was The PERFECT Agile Coach - Understanding Fixed vs Growth Mindset
Tuesday, July 25 from 2:00 - 3:15 pm
Vanilla Ice was a HUGE part of the Agile movement even if he did not realize it. The lessons we learn from music can help us become much stronger Agile Coaches and innovative disruptors. How do we become innovative disruptors? How can we change from a fixed to a growth mindset? Building a culture of psychological safety where radical candor rules and people love where they work is no easy undertaking. Most organizations fail at their Agile implementation because they have the wrong stance coming out of the starting blocks. This song filled, action packed, highly interactive and humorous presentation will surely be one of the most educational and memorable sessions you have ever attended.
Chris Li
Cooking with the Wrong Ingredients: Why your educational design choices matter
Wednesday, July 26 from 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Have you ever experienced a training event where the information presented was confusing and disconnected? The instructor rushes through slides and then suddenly switches to a game involving dice or paper airplanes. When the exam comes, you're faced with multiple-choice questions, and your head starts spinning. The misalignment can happen in any learning experience. In this session, you'll learn about the choices instructors make when designing these experiences and how those choices affect attendees. By understanding the relationship between knowledge, method, and assessment, you'll gain practical knowledge on designing a successful learning experience that maximizes attendee experience and retention.
Necessary Evils - Emergent Talk & Discussion
Thursday, July 27 from 9:00 - 10:15 AM
Come join our wonderful speaker as they provide a 20 minute talk on the information that emerged throughout the week at the Audacious Salon on the following topic:
What necessary evils must we continue to support and grow in our mission of agility throughout our organizations? Let's explore sticky subjects like:
- Frameworks
- Certifications
- Scaling and enterprise-size systems
These experienced speakers will attend each session that pertains to their topic and put together a takeaways session for the final day.
Tommy Norman
Check Out My Flow: Agile Metrics For Smooth Delivery
Tuesday, July 25 from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Teams strive to achieve a flow state where they consistently produce value at a sustainable high rate, but many still fall short. This can often be because the metrics most companies track for their software teams are either fairly useless or influence the wrong behaviors that hinder flow. This session will dive into a practical collection of team metrics around the delivery of value and how to use them properly to move closer to that elusive flow state. We will cover building a balanced metrics quadrant and how to evolve what you measure through the four stages of analytics: informative, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive. Equipped with this practical data, your teams will be able to quickly identify areas of concern, focus continuous improvement activities to remove obstacles, and reach that ultimate flow state!
Jeff Patton
Shift: why it’s so hard to shift to a product mindset
Friday, July 28 from 9:00 - 10:15 AM
Come to understand the difference between a product and project mindset, and why it's so hard for even the best of us to make the shift to product thinking. Leave with some concrete practices to help you and your organization begin to shift. We often say the word product in agile development. We talk about product backlogs and product ownership. But, do we really know what that means? We'll talk about a product mindset and how that's different from a project mindset. You'll see how project thinking is baked into the agile manifesto and common agile practice. We'll discuss some simple practices that'll help shift you and your team to a product mindset. Plan on time to listen and learn, time to share with each other, and time to ask lots of questions.
Dave Prior
Tuning Your Distributed Team with a Right Environment Exercise
Tuesday, July 25 from 2:00 - 5:00 PM
Distributed Teams have always presented challenges, but how many of those challenges are driven by the environment that has been installed by others without input from the actual team?
When this happens, the team is too busy trying to conform to a process rather than organically developing their most effective way to collaborate.
What if we could create systems that invite distributed teams to:
- Rise up to become the students of how they work
- Design their work ecosystem
- Own their social system of work
Join us to run a Modus Right Environment Exercise to help your distributed teams build the social systems and ecosystems that works best for them (or any team)
Eric Rapin
Lightning Talks
Monday, July 24 from 2:00-3:15
Attending Agile2023 and want to share your thoughts in a shorter fast-paced session? Have some ideas you want to try out and get some feedback on? It’s time to propose a Lightning Talk. The purpose of the Lightning Talk Track is to provide a lightweight, flexible opportunity for speakers to share valuable information with participants. Presentations are short with one of the following formats:
- 3-minute Lightning Talk (no slides)
- 5-minute Lightning Talk (slides)
- 7-minute Pecha Kucha style presentation
The themes of lightning talks will follow these themes: Energizing People and Teams, Enriching Organizations, Accelerating Products, Technology for all, Career Stories, and Other.
These sessions provide an opportunity for rapid and diverse learning on a variety of topics.
Michael Sahota
Lost in Translation: The Manager's Role in Agile
Friday, July 28 from 9:00 - 10:15 AM
When organizations shift towards autonomous, self-organizing teams, they often leave their managers to redefine their roles - whilst taking away their authority. However, without clear authority, this can become inhumane and unhelpful for making lasting change. Agile Transformation must be viewed as an evolution of organizational culture through leadership, with changes in behavior from both staff and management being essential. Rushing towards high autonomy can be a painful trap, so an incremental and iterative approach to shifting power is crucial. Join us to learn how Agile can help create lasting change, with a focus on empowering individual contributors and teams for more effective outcomes.
Reese Schmit
Agile Coaching- Wicked Questions
Monday, July 24 from 2:00-3:15
Come and join this interactive session with discussions prompted by wicked questions around:-
- How does agile coaching need to evolve to be a greater benefit to organizations?
- Agile coaches often have more experience telling others how to do things, than doing it themselves
- What if Management is really where agile coaching should be?
- Can coaches cause change w/o explicit authority?
Table groups will have discussions about heated topics from our theme, and present new thoughts and ideas to the group. Facilitators will heat up the room with Wicked-Question-style prompts, and make space for all voices to be heard.
Dave Sharrock
You Need a Product Office
Monday, July 24 from 2:00-3:15
The Product Office plays a critical role in ensuring the successful delivery of products using Agile methodology. Unlike projects, products require a different approach, with a focus on continuous delivery. The Product Office oversees the process, establishes priorities, and provides transparency to enable informed trade-off decisions. Shifting from a project to a product mindset requires redefining the work, funding, tracking, and release process. The Product Office ensures that products are managed effectively, avoiding issues that can arise from managing products like projects. This session introduces the Product Office, its alignment with product delivery, and its benefits for Agile teams.
Alex Sloley
The Best Agile Metrics - Everything Else Sucks!!!
Thursday, July 27 from 9:00 - 10:15 AM
Look, you need metrics for your agile organization, #amiright? In the immortal words of Peter Drucker,
If you can't measure it, you can't improve it.
So, you need to measure things, and measure them well. And you need to measure the right things too!
Metrics on employee happiness, theoretical value, and throughput of work are just plain silly. I will reveal the metrics that you need. That mean something. And that get results.
Join us as we discover THE BEST AGILE METRICS!
Bryan Stallings
A Peek Behind the Curtain - A look inside the professional coaching relationship
Tuesday, July 25 from 3:45 - 5:00 PM
Experience the world of professional coaching through powerful questions and gain insights from an experienced coach. Join us to observe a live coaching demonstration from both perspectives and foster greater self-awareness and curiosity. Jessica, who had firsthand experience with agile coaching, found it helpful to attend a bootcamp to learn more about it. During the demonstration, she was introduced to the world of professional coaching through powerful questions that led to significant changes in her life. As Jessica and Bryan share their story, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings. Don't miss out on this life-changing experience.
Stuart Young
Storytelling through the product lens
Monday, July 24 from 2:00-3:15 PM
Product professionals constantly tell stories to engage, inspire, teach, and learn. But it's essential to consider the audience, problems being solved, and assumptions being tested. Storytelling is crucial in building products, but people often struggle to articulate why product evolution is necessary, progress towards goals, and key learnings. Developing a clear path based on personal perspective and product disposition is necessary for success. In this talk, we'll explore the product lens and identify which stories to tell based on personal product stance and the situation at hand. Discover strengths and blind spots while bringing stakeholders on a compelling journey.
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