Conference archive

Better Software East 2016 - Configuration Manager

Monday, November 14

Bob Aiello
CM Best Practices Consulting
MA

Configuration Management: Robust Practices for Fast Delivery

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Monday, November 14, 2016 - 8:30am to 4:30pm

Robust configuration management (CM) practices are critical for creating continuous application build, package and deployment to support agile’s integration and testing demands, and for rapidly packaging, releasing, and deploying applications into production. Classic CM—identifying system components, controlling changes, reporting the system’s configuration, and auditing—won’t do the trick anymore. Bob Aiello presents an in-depth tour of a more robust and powerful approach to CM consisting of six key functions: source code management, build engineering,...

Ken Mugrage
ThoughtWorks
MC

Creating a Continuous Delivery Pipeline: A Hands-On Workshop

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Monday, November 14, 2016 - 8:30am to 12:00pm

Although continuous delivery (CD) and DevOps are growing in popularity, not much practical information is available about how to get started. This hands-on technical tutorial is the place to get your feet wet and your questions answered. Bring a laptop with the appropriate software installed (see note below), and Ken Mugrage will provide everything else you need for this workshop. You will configure a complete continuous delivery pipeline from source code commit through deployment. Learn when to run each common type of automated test for the fastest possible...

Tricia Broderick
Agile For All
MJ

Help Retain Knowledge: Increase Engagement to Achieve Learning

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Monday, November 14, 2016 - 1:00pm to 4:30pm

Ever walk out of a meeting or training class struggling to remember what was just discussed? Or be annoyed that people request information that you’ve already shared? You are not alone! Leaders struggle with how to create an engaging environment that results in high collaboration and learning. Unfortunately, most leaders start off with the disadvantage of being exposed to practices that recent brain science has proven to be ineffective, such as standing up front in the room and talking with slides for an hour instead of engaging people every 10–20 minutes. In an...

Wednesday, November 16

Andy Kaufman
Institute for Leadership Excellence and Development, Inc.
K1

Lead Teams that Deliver the Goods

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Wednesday, November 16, 2016 - 8:30am to 9:30am

In software development—and in many life activities—success often depends on how well we collaborate with our team and our stakeholders. Yet getting a group of people to truly work in partnership—let alone self-organize—is a daunting challenge. And we’re often left with lingering tensions, anxieties, and sub-par performance because teams are made up of people with varying degrees of knowledge, skill, and commitment. Although we need our team focused on delivering a great outcome, sometimes egos, personalities, and agendas get in the way. Andy Kaufman asks you to...

Jonathan Silva
Axosoft
BW7

Evangelize for Your Project, Team, or Cause—No Matter What Role You Play

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Wednesday, November 16, 2016 - 2:45pm to 3:45pm

Whether you’re a developer, tester, ScrumMaster, CTO, or CEO, you know you have to listen to the needs of your customers and team; accept the fact that they are going to change their minds; and respond, adapt, tap dance, iterate, raise your voice, stand up, and delight your audience in order to ship out the best software of your entire life. Can I get a witness?! Jonathan Silva shares evangelizing strategies that can help you inspire at any level—whether a Fortune 500 company or a startup software company. These approaches include developing your point of view,...

Robb Pieper
Responsive Advisors
AW12

Your Agile Team Needs a Therapist

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Wednesday, November 16, 2016 - 4:15pm to 5:15pm

Imagine you’re on an agile development team—and something feels weird. People disagree constantly, and when they finally do agree, no one commits to deliver the solution. Vocal team members dominate the conversation. You don’t trust your teammates. They don’t trust you. This isn’t a team. It’s just a group of people. Does this sound familiar? Because people are people—not interchangeable robots—building high-performing, self-organizing teams takes specific skills and a lot of work. In his experience working with agile teams, Robb Pieper has often taken on the role...

Thursday, November 17

Philip Lew
XBOSoft
AT2

Managing Agile Software Projects under Uncertainty

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Thursday, November 17, 2016 - 10:00am to 11:00am

In chasing velocity, we often ignore or don’t understand the uncertainties and associated risks in our processes and their results. Agile is designed to handle uncertainty in requirements as new features are requested and priorities shift. But shouldn’t we also be thinking about and mitigating the uncertainties that are unique or even introduced by using agile? Phil Lew suggests that our problem is that we sometimes carry assumptions which either cause us to spend too much effort on things we can’t control or give us unfounded comfort and reassurance. If we can’t...

Raj Induluga
LithSpeed, LLC
Robert Brown
Booz Allen Hamilton
DT3

Teach by Doing: Conversation-Driven Development with ChatOps

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Thursday, November 17, 2016 - 11:30am

Despite the proliferation of tools and processes aimed at lowering barriers and reducing friction across teams, do you still find yourself struggling to make sense of the information hairball, constantly asking—How's the deployment going? Who's responding to that incident? Is staging green? It’s time to STOP! Raj Indugula and Robert Brown introduce the essential concepts and benefits of ChatOps, discuss the anatomy of a chat application/robot, and demonstrate how to leverage ChatOps to help team culture through automation and sharing. ChatOps can improve your team...

Andy Kaufman
Institute for Leadership Excellence and Development, Inc.
BT8

Take Control! Managing Your Time and Commitments

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Thursday, November 17, 2016 - 1:30pm to 2:30pm

One of the most consistent concerns expressed by project teams everywhere is: We don’t have enough time! The stress of having too much to do and not enough time to do it is overwhelming. In this interactive session, Andy Kaufman shares practical lessons to help you get a better handle on what it takes to more successfully manage your time and commitments. Topics include understanding the importance of taking care of yourself (including getting more sleep and exercise), factors that drive procrastination (with approaches to overcome them and help you manage your...

Judith Mills
Judith Mills Consulting
BT11

Don't Ask "Can You Hear Me Now?" Start Listening Instead

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Thursday, November 17, 2016 - 3:00pm to 4:00pm

Most of us believe we are good listeners. However, we often overestimate this skill and are hard-wired to short change it by making assumptions, providing answers, and jumping in when we think we know what people are trying to say. In doing so, we rob ourselves of the chance to encourage growth, build trust and respect, and promote ownership. Listening is about more than hearing the words; it is about tone, body language, and so much more. But wait … listening well can be learned, so join Judith Mills to understand and practice this underutilized skill....