Do Better Scrum

December 14th, 2009

Do Better ScrumAs a SUGSA Scrum Day sponsor I distributed a little booklet I compiled. I titled it “Do Better Scrum”. Since then several people has asked me for copies. And Tobias Meyer was kind enough to suggest several improvements. So here is the second edition which you can download and use as you wish. If you have a smart digital print shop like Top Copy, you should be able to get them to print and bind it for you as an A5 booklet with a colour cover for around R10 per copy. Let me know how you find it.

Download “Do Better Scrum”


David Anderson coming to Cape Town in Feb 2010

December 4th, 2009

Kanban Software Development

David J. Anderson

I’m thrilled to announce that David Anderson will be in Cape Town from 4-12 February 2010 to conduct a series of events focussed onĀ  Kanban Software Development.

David is credited with the first implementation of a kanban process for software development in 2005. David was a founder of the agile movement through his involvement in the creation of Feature Driven Development and continues to be a thought leader in the Agile space. The full programme, which will be run at the BMW Pavilion Conference Centre in the Waterfront, comprises:

2-day class: A Kanban System for Software Engineering (1 & 2 Feb)

If you want to learn how to implement a Kanban system in your organisation, this course is for you. It is full of case studies and practical exercises that will help you to get started when you return to work. There is no pre-requisite Agile knowledge for this course. The cost is R8000 (excluding VAT). Only 30 places are available.

1- Day Seminar: Management Success with Common Sense Application of Agile and Lean (3 Feb)

If you are a function manager in a technology organization, director, vice president, head of department or senior executive seeking to understand where to leverage more from your technology investment then this seminar is for you. If you are mystified by Lean and Agile jargon but wonder that there might be value to be found if only you could unlock it then this seminar is also for you. The cost is R2000 (excluding VAT). Only 100 places are available.

3-day Kanban Coaching Workshop (5-7 Feb)

This workshop is an opportunity to learn and share knowledge about coaching the introduction of Kanban in an organization. This workshop is restricted to practising Agile coaches who have at least three years’ experience working with Agile methods such as XP, Scrum, Lean and Kanban. Participants will join the community of coaching practitioners that David J. Anderson and Associates can recommend. The cost is R12000 (excluding VAT). Only 12 places are available.

For more information visit our events page. You can also book online.

David will also give a short talk about Kanban at the next Scrum User Group South Africa meeting on 4 February 2010.

This exciting programme is presented by Scrum Sense.


Measuring for Results

October 29th, 2009

At the first South African Scrum Day, held in Cape Town on 1 September, 2009, I gave a talk on the topic of agile metrics. You can just download the slides and save yourself the pain of listening to me!

Peter Hundermark – Agile Metrics from Carlo Kruger on Vimeo.


TED talk on motivation

September 7th, 2009

Watch and listen as Dan Pink tells us what we already know in our hearts: extrinsic motivators are ineffective for complex work!


Agile Metrics

July 17th, 2009

Agile Metrics

We all know the saying “measurement drives behaviour”. Therefore Agilists are understandably wary when management demands metrics to prove that their investment in Agile practices is paying off.

I’ve done some work to identify a small set of Agile metrics that I believe to be helpful. I have drawn particular inspiration from an open space workshop facilitated by Pete Behrens (CSC, CST) at the Orlando Scrum gathering and have also been helped by my colleague Mike Freislich.

This PDF contains my conclusions thus far. I must confess that not all of these metrics are yet in place at any of my coaching clients, so I do regard this as a work-in-progress and expect the power of empiricism to show me my mistakes over time. I would also value the input of my reader ;-) .


Public Certified Scrum Training Courses for 2009

July 7th, 2009

Scrum training class

We’ve just scheduled Certified ScrumMaster and Certified Scrum Product Owner courses for the remainder of 2009.

Briefly:

  • CSM Gauteng 04-05 August
  • CSM Cape Town 02-03 September
  • CSPO Gauteng 22-23 September
  • CSM Gauteng 03-04 November
  • CSM Cape Town 01-02 December

The course fee is R7800 per person, excluding VAT. We offer discounts for multiple registrations from one organisation. We also reserve some places at special prices for bona fide private participants and Previously Disadvantaged Individuals. Please speak to us about these offers. All courses include Scrum Alliance certification and membership.

Don’t delay. Register online now!

Certified Scrum Trainer


Running, tested features revisited

June 3rd, 2009

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Five years ago, almost to the day, Ron Jeffries wrote a great post entitled “A Metric Leading to Agility“. In it he coined the term “Running Tested Features”.

More recently he has talked about another helpful metric for teams transitioning to Agile. It is “Running Automated Tests”. For those who need some guidance about choosing the right test automation tools (and avoiding the wrong ones), Elizabeth Hendrickson has written a great article.


The end of an era

June 2nd, 2009

As Lean enthusiasts might be tempted to celebrate the demise of General Motors and the assumption by Toyota of the #1 auto maker rank, James P. Womack* gives us pause to think about the end of an era.

*Author of “The Machine That Changed the World : The Story of Lean Production“.


Hilton Giesenow talks on CI in Scrum

May 14th, 2009

Last night’s 4th meeting of the Cape Town chapter of the Scrum User Group of South Africa was addressed by Hilton Giesenow on the topic of Continuous Integration in Scrum. Hilton is an MVP (C#) and Development Manager at Cape Town-based 3Fifteen. Intec kindly sponsored the venue and food, and Scrum Sense the drinks.

Continuous Integration

There is a summary of his talk on the SUGSA site. If you want to get more serious, buy the book.

My message is: it’s not necessary to implement good software development practices like CI, unless you’d like to have a high-performing team!


Public certified Scrum Courses in June 2009

April 24th, 2009

Scrum training class

We’re running public Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) courses in Midrand and Cape Town during June 2009.

Briefly:

CSPO Midrand 08-09 June
CSM Midrand 10-11 June
CSPO Cape Town 22-23 June
CSM Cape Town 24-25 June

The cost is R9900 per person, including VAT. All courses include Scrum Alliance certification and membership.

This is your opportunity to pump up your Scrum skills!

The next courses after these will be in August/September.

Click on Training in the menu or follow these links for course information, schedule and venue details and online registration.