Agile Alliance 2013 Conference

Scott Killen

Context

• PayPal sent 5 people to the conference.

• We divided up all sessions and made sure we had attendance at all key presentations.

• I was awarded all of my first-choice sessions

• Back at the office we summarized our experiences.

The Gaylord Opryland Is A Big Place

1725 Conference Attendees

2884 Rooms in Hotel12 Restaurants

And it’s Hermetically Sealed

My Conversation With Jeff Sutherland

Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)

What successful patterns have you seen for individual

performance appraisals in the context of agile teams?

• 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)

Jeff on Performance

Jeff on Grade Level Advancement

To advance, an employee needs written documentation that she has …

Grade Exceed expectations of …6 Manager7 Team8 Executive Staff9 Customers

10 Industry Press

Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)

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)

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)

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)

Yes, but …Yes, and …

Great idea for retrospectives!

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

Conversation Enhancer/Detractor Exercise

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

Agile Negotiation Framework

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

Hot Buttons ExerciseListener: 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

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)

Team’s Emotional Bank Account

User Stories Maturity Classification(Tracked with Kanban Board)

Continual Backlog Refinement, Get Stories to Ready (David Bulkin, Kevin Fisher)

Backlogs Tied To Value StreamsConsider 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)

Types of Questions

When NOT to Have All the Answers: Stop Giving Advice and Start Asking Questions (Judith Mills, Christopher Avery)

Open and Closed ProbingEssential (Unanswerable) Sorting and Sifting

Hypothetical ProvocativeLeading IrrelevantTelling Divergent

Clarifying RhetoricalFunneling

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

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