Collaboration or Communication

Tutorials

ME Twelve Heuristics for Solving Tough Problems—Faster and Better

Payson Hall, Catalysis Group, Inc.

Mon, 11/11/2013 - 8:30am

As infants, we begin our lives as problem solving machines, learning to navigate a strange and complex world in which others communicate in ways we don’t understand. Initially, we hone our problem solving talents; then many of us find our explorations thwarted and eventually stop using and then begin losing our natural problem solving ability. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Psychologists tell us that people can regain lost skills and learn new ones to become better problem solvers. Payson Hall shares techniques and skills that apply to situations in real life.

MP Solving Real Problems through Collaborative Innovation Games®

Bob Hartman, Agile For All

Michael Vizdos, Vizdos Enterprises, LLC

Mon, 11/11/2013 - 1:00pm

Are you having trouble getting people in your organization to agree on a path forward? Is collaboration sometimes more like a contest to see who can yell the loudest? Is it difficult to get customers to give you the information you need to create a product charter or unambiguous requirements? Achieving meaningful collaboration with a diverse group of people can be very difficult. Bob Hartman and Michael Vizdos shares their experiences with Innovation Games®, collaboration exercises that dramatically improve the way people work together.

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.

TD Essential Patterns of Mature Agile Teams

Bob Galen, Velocity Partners

Tue, 11/12/2013 - 8:30am

Many teams have a relatively easy time adopting the tactical aspects of agile methodologies. Usually a few classes, some tools introduction, and a bit of practice lead teams toward a fairly efficient and effective agile adoption. However, these teams often get “stuck” and begin to regress or simply start going through the motions—neither maximizing their agile performance nor delivering as much value as they could.

TG Agile Project Failures: Root Causes and Corrective Actions

Jeff Payne, Coveros, Inc.

Tue, 11/12/2013 - 8:30am

Agile initiatives always begin with the best of intentions—accelerate delivery, better meet customer needs, or improve software quality. Unfortunately, some agile projects do not deliver on these expectations. If you want help to ensure the success of your agile project or get an agile project back on track, this session is for you. Jeff Payne discusses the most common causes of agile project failure and how you can avoid these issues—or mitigate their damaging effects.

TQ Patterns for Collaboration: Toward Whole-Team Quality SOLD OUT

Janet Gregory, DragonFire, Inc.

Matt Barcomb, odbox

Tue, 11/12/2013 - 1:00pm

A lot of talk goes on in agile about how collaboration among team members helps drive a shared responsibility for quality—and more. However, most teams don't do much more than just hold stand-up meetings and have programmers and testers sit together. Although these practices improve communications, they are not collaboration! Most teams simply don't understand how to collaborate. Janet Gregory and Matt Barcomb guide you through hands-on activities that illustrate collaboration patterns for programmers and testers, working together.

Concurrent Sessions

BW1 Patterns of Effective Teams

Dan North, Dan North & Associates, Ltd.

Wed, 11/13/2013 - 10:15am

Understanding the dynamics of how teams work and how to make them work better is one of the most difficult problems in software delivery. Adopting agile methods compounds this problem by breaking up groups who used to sit together and forming new cross-functional teams, adding stand-ups, and initiating retrospectives and other new social interactions.

BW10 Requirements Elicitation—the Social Media Way

Stefano Rizzo, Polarion Software

Wed, 11/13/2013 - 3:45pm

Agile methods have proven their ability to improve project success rates. However, when agile methods are applied to complex projects, we need to further explore the area of effective customer involvement. According to the agile philosophy, the users must be part of the development team. But, Stefano Rizzo asks: What if there are thousands of users with good ideas dispersed around the globe and around the clock? Can a Product Owner really represent all their interests?

BT1 Program Management: Collaborating across the Organization

Johanna Rothman, Rothman Consulting Group, Inc.

Thu, 11/14/2013 - 10:15am

To be most effective when managing a large program, the component projects should limit their batch size, create networks of people, and report status in a way that works for the entire program. For those of you who are not quite ready for agile, Johanna Rothman explains how to use staged delivery, release trains, or RUP as lean(er) alternatives to waterfall and agile. Johanna explains how to encourage project teams to create communities of practice using their social networks—start with the existing rumor mill and build on it more formally.

BT9 Growing a Learning Organization from the Bottom Up

Matt Barcomb, odbox

Thu, 11/14/2013 - 3:45pm

Learning organizations seem like a great idea to just about everyone. But how do you actually create them? In many organizations, attempting to promote learning can seem daunting at best and impossible at worst—especially when you don't feel particularly empowered to do so. Matt Barcomb focuses on what you can do from multiple perspectives. He first discusses what a learning organization is and why the concept is important for the future of many organizations. Next, Matt shares approaches and considerations for growing learning environments, including common organizational pitfalls.

BT12 Measure Customer and Business Feedback to Drive Improvement

Paul Fratellone, uTest

Thu, 11/14/2013 - 3:45pm

Companies often go to great lengths to collect metrics. However, even the most rigorously collected data tends to be ignored, despite the findings and potential for improving practices. Today, one metric that cannot be ignored is customer satisfaction. Customers are more than willing to share their thoughts in a manner that can impact your bottom line. Social media gives consumers a stronger voice than ever, and damage to your brand is only one tweet away. The question is: Are you listening to your customers?