XP Days Benelux

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Unanswered Questions wiki]]> pascal 24 November 2009 00:03 GMT http://www.xpday.net/Xpday2009/sessions/Solve%20Conflicts%20Without%20Compromise.html http://www.xpday.net/Xpday2009/sessions/Solve%20Conflicts%20Without%20Compromise.html Presenters: Jef Cumps & Pascal Van Cauwenberghe

Objectives of the session:

• Understand and explain what a conflict is really about
• Recognize if there is a real conflict
• Learn to resolve conflicts using the Evaporating Clouds technique
• Create more options to break out self-imposed limits
• Create breakthrough win-win solutions instead of compromising

Contents:

Have you ever been in a situation where you had to choose between two conflicting requirements: you really need A and B, but you can only have one? Or have you been in situations where one person needs A and the other needs B and only one of them can get their way?

Often, we'll try to solve these tradeoffs with a compromise solution, "a bit of A and a bit of B" and make everybody unhappy. What if we didn't accept compromise and instead really thought deeply about the causes of these types of conflict?

Our assumptions are:

• that every such conflict is caused by invalid assumptions
• that those assumptions can be found
• that we can find actions that dispel the invalid assumptions
• that this is the way to solve these conflicts without compromising

The Conflict Resolution Diagram (CRD) or "evaporating cloud" technique is one of a set of Systems Thinking tools that came out of the Theory of Constraints. We've found it an effective tool to unearth the unspoken assumptions that lie at the heart of these types of conflicts. Once these assumptions are visible for all, the solution either becomes blindingly obvious or we know what we need to do to invalidate the assumptions that are at the heart of the conflict.

We will work on conflicts that participants bring. These conflicts can have two forms:

• Contradiction: we must DO X but also NOT DO X. For example: I must refactor to improve the quality of the code but I must not refactor the code to avoid breaking it because I don't have a good set of tests.
• Exclusive alternatives: we can only HAVE A OR HAVE B, we can't have both. For example, I want to start a project with only high level requirements to stay agile and take advantage of new information BUT my customers needs to know exactly what they'll get by when.

Bring these types of conflict to the session and we will solve them together. The conflicts you bring along to use in our workshop can be work-related or not. If you have a life without conflict, you can help someone else create their breakthrough solution.

We will explain the techniques step by step. You will work in small groups to apply the techniques on the conflicts that participants have brought to the session. You will leave this session with one less conflict in your life: either you will have discovered that there was no conflict after all or you found the breakthrough actions to resolve the conflict and create a win-win solution for both parties.

Format at length: 90 min interactive tutorial

Intended audience:

Everybody who struggles with conflicts and doesn’t want to settle for compromises

Bring a conflict to the conference, IF you're prepared to solve it

Background and history

If you want to know more about the "Logical Thinking Processes", you can find in-depth information in the books below. We recommend William Dettmer's book: it's a big book, but it explains all the thinking tools clearly, with plenty of examples. If you like to have the information packaged in a novel, you can read the business novels "The Goal" (basic Theory of Constraints) and its sequel "It's Not Luck" (Thinking Processes). If you like a reading challenge, you can borrow my copy of "Thinking for a Change" ;-)

Objective(s) of the session:

• Learn new retrospective techniques by applying them to a simulated real world situation
• Experiment with techniques you already know - do something different with them
• Get some fresh ideas to do group reflection on emergency situations and longer time spans
• Try out new things in a safe environment – then go back to work and do it there too!
• Have fun during this session.

Contents:

Does your team have retrospectives regularly? Are they always effective and do they lead to usable actions? Does your team enjoy attending them and does everyone participate? Keep it that way! You are a Retrospective Hero.

Or are your retrospectives getting dull after a while? Do they have the same format over and over again? Do you use them only at the end of an iteration? Less and less often? Then there is only one solution: become a retrospective hero, so that you can win any retro situation!

In this session you will learn to have effective retrospectives in different situations. You will learn to use old techniques in a new way, and you will get a chance to try out new ones. You will see that retrospectives can be used in many situations!

Become a Retrospective Hero. After our session, you will have reached the next level.

Format and length: 90 min workshop

Intended audience and prerequisites:

Some experience with retrospectives is handy, but if you don’t have that, you can still participate.

Maximum 25 participants

Objective(s) of the session:

Embracing and scaling agile in Enterprise IT shops requires the recognition of and ability to overcome key challenges not faced by product companies. One of these key challenges is getting projects funded without doing a costly, time consuming project requirements gathering exercise. In the workshop we will focus on the concepts and best practices for defining user stories to quickly establish the scope of a project in order to meet project funding requirements. Then we will demonstrate the OutSystems approach of applying patterns to the stories in order to generate a project time line and estimate of effort.

Contents:

Enterprise Agile faces some challenges not found in product companies.  These challenges must be recognized and overcome to fully embrace and scale an agile approach.  We will explore the key challenges and offer ideas on how to overcome them in your organization.

One of the key challenges in an enterprise is the budgeting cycle.  How do you set a project size and scope without detailed requirements analysis and some idea as to the delivery team’s expected velocity?  In addition, these efforts result in ‘signing up’ to some deliverables which we know will change during the course of the project!

As part of the workshop we will explore techniques to quickly size and scope a project using user stories and a pattern based approach to estimate delivery times.  We will show you how to gain your customer’s trust by:

• Reaching a common understanding of the business vision;
• Capturing what really brings business value to the Stakeholders;
• Reaching a win-win settlement for the Budget and Timebox that will ensure a successful project;

Achieving these goals is fundamental for the customer perception of the proposed solution value and to encourage future deals and projects.  We will emphasize the power of an agile approach over traditional techniques using real world examples and game playing.

To conclude we will offer a demonstrative exercise where we will highlight the process steps and use our sizing tool to show how it works in practice

Format and length: 90 mins workshop

Intended audience and prerequisites:

Everyone who wants to accurately size his project.

The conference is organized in Elewijt Center near Mechelen, Belgium. Mechelen is located between Brussels and Antwerp.

Travel

By car:

the conference center is located at Tervuursesteenweg 564, Zemst, near the highway between Brussels and Antwerp. See the map

Traffic alert: expect traffic jams on the E19 around Mechelen (coming from Antwerp/The Netherlands) and the Ring around Brussels (other directions). Get up to date traffic information from Touring Mobilis

By train:

• Mechelen can be reached easily from most Belgian railway stations.
• Mechelen is a stop on the international line Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels.
• Travelers from the UK, France and Germany can take the Eurostar/Thalys to Brussels Midi and take a train to Mechelen (25-30 min from Brussels)
• You can take a bus or taxi from the train station to the conference center or carpool with other conference participants. Bus 280 "Mechelen-Vilvoorde" stops right in front of the Elewijt Center, a blocky building (see the pictures below and the plan of the center).

By plane:

Brussels airport can be reached from most international airports. A taxi will bring you to the conference center in +/- 25 minutes.

Ryanair flies into 'Brussels South' (actually Charleroi). You can take the bus shuttle to 'Brussels Midi' train station (+/- 1 hour) then take a train to Mechelen (25-30 minutes).

Car pooling

If you're looking for or can provide a ride from/to the conference center, add your name to the Carpooling page.

Staying in Mechelen

View Larger Map]]> pascal 15 November 2009 19:37 GMT http://www.xpday.net/Xpday2009/sessions/Creating%20Leaderful%20Teams.html http://www.xpday.net/Xpday2009/sessions/Creating%20Leaderful%20Teams.html Presenter: Deborah Hartmann Preuss

Objective(s) of the session:

• Who is this for? Any team member, leader, or client whose team is unhappy, stuck or not yet delivering its very best. Suitable for users of any process, not just Scrum or XP, as it starts from where you are.
• Why? Your team is limping, or in conflict, or perhaps just complacent. You’ve tried approaches that show promise, but they don’t deliver the smooth synergy you seek. Yet, your gut tells you it’s possible.
• What? Learn how to adjust your leadership style and set up a learning culture to help your teams to grow into shared ownership & leadership, for greater impact, innovation and job satisfaction. I call this ‘Creating Leaderful Teams’.

Contents:

Too often we shift to a process that promises improvement - but remain limited by old mental models; and the expected performance boost doesn't materialise. I think of this as “If you keep doing what you did, you’ll keep getting what you got.” While we carefully train teams in the Agile practices, we sometimes neglect to prepare the team's leaders to help the team grow into their self-organization, an important role. The resulting dissonance between an Agile team and traditional-thinking leaders can cause confusion and waste and quietly limit the team's growth and effectiveness.

The days of micromanagement, absentee leaders or "make it so" must end - but with what are they to be replaced? I’ll challenge traditional mental models of leadership with what writers like Joseph Raelin and Harrison Owen are saying about Leaderful Teams; look at why these new models are helpful; and introduce some thinking tools you can experiment with. The bibliography will help you follow up at work, using ideas that challenge you or pique your imagination.

This lecture invites listeners to put aside their assumptions about what constitutes good leadership, and to listen to what may be strange-sounding ideas. I use words and images to present mental models that help to grow and and energize self-organizing teams. These models spring primarily from the writings of Harrison Owen ("Wave Rider" / Open Space in business), Joseph Raelin ("Creating Leaderful Organizations" / fourfold model of self-organization), and thought leaders in the coaching discipline (Ontological Coaching). I also mention the McCarthys' "The Core Protocols", Avery's "Responsibility Process", and double-loop learning (Agile retrospectives).

Format and length: 60 mins Lecture format. Presents a lot of material to reframe traditional ideas about leadership and get you thinking about how you work and what to try next to help your team flourish. Followed by Q&A if time permits.

Intended audience and prerequisites:

Accessible to anyone working in a team environment, or working with a team (product owner, for example) and having influence on the team. Note: the "team" could be a management team, a tech-writing team.

Objectives:

• Practice listening without judgment
• Learn how to gather information more effectively
• Learn from the experience of others in similar organisations
• Learn to become a more effective problem solver
• Gain a fresh insights into a problem you face at work
• Identify actions to try in your organisation
• BONUS Gain a peer coach buddy to support you in your endeavours towards Continuous Improvement

Contents:

The Yellow Brick Road is the difficult path Dorothy takes towards the Emerald City to find the mysterious Wizard of Oz to help her get home. Swap your bit part for a major role in the Agile re-telling of 'The Wizard of Oz' for your organisation. Let your companions and other characters help you tap into the resources you've always had but never realised to complete your quest for a more Agile organisation.

Put into practice 4 key coaching skills to gain fresh insights on your problems through Questioning, Observing, Listening and Feedback. Work with peers in similar organisations and draw on a wealth of experiences to deal with real problems and come up with your own solutions to try back at work.

About The Yellow Brick Road Game: 

The goal of the Yellow Brick Road Game is to gain fresh insights on a problem you face by looking at it from different perspectives. The overall goal of the session is give you the opportunity to put peer coaching into practice.

By alternating between the roles of Dorothy (the person being coached), the Coach and the Observer, you will practice 4 key coaching skills: Questioning, Observing, Listening and Feedback.

As Dorothy, you will re-count the story of your problem.

As Coach, you will practice the skills of Questioning, Listening and Feedback. You can only listen and ask questions. First, understand what the problem is. Second, understand who is affected and how by the problem. Listen without judgment and listen carefully. Test your understanding early and often to ensure you are on the same path Dorothy.

As Observer, you use your eyes and ears to spot what is going on between Dorothy and the Coach. Note down your observations. You will practice the skills of Observing, Listening and Feedback. After each round, you will provide feedback to your triad. Make people aware of what they are doing and the effect it has on other people. Focus on the behaviour you have observed. Begin with: 'I saw...' and 'I heard...'. Focus on the facts.

Format and length: 90 min workshop

Intended Audience

• Anyone with a curious mind, no previous experience required

Learn More

• The Yellow Brick Road is an Agile Fairytale. Learn more about Agile Fairytales at www.agilefairytales.com - Rediscovering the lessons we learnt as children but have since forgotten

Abstract:

This interactive presentation gives people that are new to Scrum and Agile the basic knowledge and insights needed to start implementing Scrum.

Objective(s) of the session:

The goal of this session is to give people that are relatively new to agile and Scrum a good overview of what Scrum is all about. By explaining the values and principles of Scrum we will prepare the participants to start using Scrum in their own projects or organizations

Contents:

During our presentation, we will answer the following questions:

• What is Scrum, and how does it relate to agile and XP, for example?
• What are the values behind Scrum?
• When can I use Scrum and what results will it help me achieve?
• What's the Scrum process? And the roles, meetings and artifacts?
• How to start implementing Scrum.
• What are pitfalls or smells when starting with Scrum.

While presenting, we will use real-life examples from both our own experience as the participants’ experiences.

We will constantly refer to the values that are behind agile and scrum and how the process and practices support these values.

Format and length: 60 mins interactive presentation.

Intended audience and prerequisites:

This session is specifically aimed towards non-experienced people. So, people who have little or no experience or knowledge in Scrum. This session will concentrate on the basics of Scrum and is therefore not interesting for very experienced people.