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Adopting Agile Practices

Tutorials

MC Agile Program Management: Networks, Not Hierarchies NEW
Johanna Rothman, Rothman Consulting Group, Inc.
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 8:30am

When you think of program management, do you think of big lumbering organizational beasts that add little value, and people demanding “When will you be done?” or “Can we add this feature before the desired release date?” Agile program management encourages small-world networks of collaborative teams that can solve problems and deliver features fast. That requires the entire program be agile and lean—using small batch sizes, integrating continuously, having short iterations, and tracking cycle time so you can coordinate across the organization.

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MN An Introduction to SAFe: The Scaled Agile Framework NEW
Ken Pugh, Net Objectives
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 1:00pm

Many organizations have achieved agility at the team level only to be unable to achieve it across teams. The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) provides both a vision and method for how to achieve this. SAFe is the first documented framework that can be used to scale agile throughout an organization. It is a combination of lean, kanban, and Scrum—lean to provide a context for an organization, kanban to manage the flow of projects, and Scrum to provide agile at the team level. Beginning with an introduction to lean and kanban, Ken Pugh explains why they are required for agile at scale.

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MQ Six Free Ideas to Improve Agile Success
Pollyanna Pixton, Accelinnova
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 1:00pm

Free? Is anything free these days? Based on her experience working with organizational leaders and her research into what drives organizational performance, Pollyanna Pixton shares six ideas—and the keys to their effective implementation—to help assure the success of your agile teams. As a bonus, her suggestions won’t cost you a thing. Pollyanna’s first free idea is how to create a culture of trust—the keystone of open collaboration—within your team and organization. The second free idea is about ownership—how to give it and not take it back.

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Concurrent Sessions

BW12 Game Changing Practices in Software: Data from Recent Benchmark Research
Michael Mah, QSM Associates, Inc.
Wed, 11/13/2013 - 3:45pm

As agile practices become mainstream, compelling patterns are being revealed about defect rates, time-to-market, and effort/staffing. Industry data from QSM Associates reveals that many companies grapple with collocation, pair programming, offshoring, and combining agile with waterfall methods. Some of the best teams find significant schedule and quality implications that are literally redefining the economics of software; others are not. What factors make a meaningful difference?

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