Agile Manchester 2016 — Session Notes
I went to Agile Manchester last week, an absolutely great event that I’d recommend to anyone.
As usual, I made a shed load of notes that probably only make sense to me, but thought I would share them here so people get a flavour of what was presented.
Note that I went to more talks than presented here, but some of them were quite interactive which meant I didn’t have time to take notes before being asked to stand up and dance…
Business Mapping
https://www.evernote.com/l/AC13RLlB6jFG7YtKZUdwGkNqFKbK318_h-8
Good talk about mapping skill sets to the projects coming up in the future, identifying where people want to grow (and how that can be supported) and planning future roadmaps.
When Emulating Agile @ Spotify Goes Awry
https://www.evernote.com/l/AC1EJLsXdBZAj5sIMs1SEvrX09d8q8iQ3Zg
Good talk on how just emulating something (and throwing people in at the deep end without actually think about it) generally makes things go to shit.
Covered what they are doing now, but unfortunately they have just started doing it so didn’t go into much detail.
But the review of how Spotify’s model only works in Spotify was good.
A System of Tribes, Squads and Shared Services
https://www.evernote.com/l/AC2N-tRGXVVK-aDYcFyEgAIEOcD-nIpHuTk
Interesting talk about how groups and and teams within Sky work together, work autonomously within their groups and then diverge and collaborate.
Not much discussion on when stuff goes wrong (which I like) and how the fallout can be managed.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
https://www.evernote.com/l/AC1S6D2bt_lAF6Rg22xkmXxPIb1V6MIY5Tc
Talk about how and when to try new stuff and why it’s not always a good idea depending on timing.
Good overview of learning opportunities which a lot of places don’t do enough of.
The Lead Studio — Running a Modern Agency
https://www.evernote.com/l/AC20NA57Ud5FfZxmCTtIUGdbqnG8MbCDEW8
Really good talk, though the presenters need the “most nervous presenters” award given to them.
An overview of how a company works internally and with their customers
Mob Programming: A Whole Team Approach
https://www.evernote.com/l/AC3G6etkfshA_IqTVVCwC5Vz88mkZXBb7hc
Brilliant talk, really engaging speaker, about Mob Programming and the way groups can work together to produce high quality code and results along with much better social interactions.
Building Successful Communities of Practice
https://www.evernote.com/l/AC2sOHVAwuxMIIdShChYe4_56ruegiICMto
Another really good about communities both inside and outside of work. Similar to how I see Huddles working at my current company, really interesting to see why they may have (or not) succeeded.
Pacing Sprints
https://www.evernote.com/l/AC2u7CIM_GJHH5km1hPwrLXaqJ_fSsbFb54
An interesting talk at the end of the conference, about how they pace sprints when developing software for humanitarian support.
