As 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.
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 on 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.
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!
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 .
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
As 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.
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