6 Tips to Convince Your Boss to Invest in the Gathering

You know you want to attend the Global Scrum Gathering in Portland, but how do you convince your boss to fund the experience? One way is to show them how the event will provide value in the form of your growth and how that can positively impact your company or organization.

6 Ways to Describe the Value of the Gathering to Your Employer

The future is agile! I need to understand agile principles, practices, and values to support our organization’s ability to grow and remain competitive.

If you’re championing agility at your company or organization, the Gathering is the place to dive deeper into the agile community and bring back what you learn.

Plus, the Gathering isn't tailored to a specific industry or career path. You can find useful insights and information to apply to your life, wherever your goals and dreams may be taking you.

I’ll be able to cultivate new relationships in the agile community so we have resources and support.

Peers, mentors, and friends power many of our journeys to become more agile. The Gathering is a great place to meet new people and reunite with familiar faces to exchange ideas, share wins and challenges, and grow. 

The event will provide me with tools and ideas I can immediately use at work.

You never know what you’ll learn at a Global Scrum Gathering, but you can be sure you’ll leave with knowledge and tools you didn’t have before. Oftentimes, the learnings from a speaker session, Open Space, or the Coaches Clinic can be utilized as soon as you return to work.

I’ll bring back inspiring stories to motivate our teams.

Agile shouldn’t be a cold set of practices but a rich, multi-faceted, transformative way of working. People leave the Gathering feeling inspired and ready to show their colleagues and employers the joy that agile can bring.

These specific sessions are related to what we do here.

Browse the agenda and show your employer the various helpful, engaging speaker sessions you want to attend. Point out sessions that could be immediately relevant to something at your job.

This will help me maintain my Scrum Alliance certification.

If you hold a Scrum Alliance certification, attending this event earns you 24 Scrum Education Units to apply for renewal! Let your employer know earning these SEUs is an essential part of your professional development and demonstrates your continued commitment to learning and growth.

More Tips

• Be prepared! Before you approach your team, Human Resources, or other internal parties, have your goals, plans, and cost estimates outlined in an easy-to-digest format.
• Connect it to your organization’s strategy. At a high level, highlight a company goal, initiative, or current impediment that the organization is facing. Connect it to the skills you’re looking to take away from the Gathering to show how this is a good investment for the organization.
• Be specific. Study the Gathering program and session descriptions and identify three to four sessions that demonstrate what you plan to take away from attending the sessions and Gathering as a whole. 
• Do the math. Break down the estimated cost for attending the Gathering, including registration, hotels, and travel. If budget is a concern, we have an amazing virtual option with pre-recorded sessions, exclusive live virtual sessions, and live streaming from the conference floor. As a virtual attendee, you’ll be able to see our keynotes, and connect with speakers and attendees.

Register for GSGPDX23 in Portland or Attend Virtually

The possibilities on an agile journey are endless. Whether you want to work in a scrum team, champion agile at your organization, become a coach, or pursue a different path, the learning and connection that takes place at the Gathering are designed to support you in your work as a changemaker.

PDX attendee? View the session recordings