Retrospective

Last year ended with a great retrospective on the final round of coaching circles, facilitated by Cara Turner. This was the first round of circles where we split into 3 types: mentoring, coaching and dojo. It seems the end result was very positive. People loved the new circle types! See the photo’s below for the outcomes of the retro.

First we made some posters about the sessions.

Then we talked about things we didn’t like (burnt toast), things we loved (ice cream) and things we’d like to try (experiments)

In the end we had some suggestions and next steps actions

Onwards and upwards

It’s 2012, everyone is back in the groove after December holidays, so it’s time to get the circles going again. We will be kicking off on Monday 13 February, at 6pm. Please signup if you will attend. If you are keen to join a circle or even just find out more about them to decide if they are right for you, then make sure you get yourself to the kickoff. As always those who can’t attend the kickoff may still join circles by adding their details to the coaching circles google doc. However please note, those at the kickoff get first preference for circles of their choosing. Also for newbie, it’s highly recommended you come to the kick off to get an idea of what’s involved and how it works. Remember we will need hosts who can offer venues, signup in the google doc if you can offer one.

Signup for the kickoff here!

When: 2 February 2012, 6:00PM

Topic: Release Planning with Scrum: Controlling the Chaos                    

Sign up: Please sign up here in order to help us with catering.

Venue:
Allan Gray Portswood office in the Presentation Room on the third floor. You can download a map here. Everyone parking in the Portswood parking area will have to pay for their own parking tickets. There is also parking available in Beach Road.

Synopsis:
The Agile Manifesto tells us that we should be responding to change over following a plan.  This encourages us to plan into the future at the last responsible moment.  But we still may need a plan.  A plan can help inform our customers what may be in the next release or by when their favourite feature may appear.  They can help inform stakeholders on the cost of the current focus and hence whether the investment makes sense at this time.  These are Good Things for a business.  The essence of agile planning is to understand that the plan may change.  The plan must be reassessed for validity every time new data comes into the system – usually at the end of a sprint. Plans often allow us to appear more certain than we may actually be.  The hardest part with planning in Scrum is ensuring that everyone understands that things change and we will respond as soon as they do.  Effective agile planning allows us to more reliably respond to the changing business and market needs as early as possible.

Objectives:
In this talk I will discuss some of the techniques that I have used over the last couple of years to do release planning.  I’ll touch on of some of the things that have worked for me and some that haven’t.  The ideas will range from some simple maths, to reporting release progress through a release burnup and overviews, to the how to deal with change and ensuring that people understand what it means.  I hope by the end of the talk I will have shared some ideas and generated some conversation around controlling the chaos that can surround a software development release.

About Patrick Vine:
I started my career more than a decade ago at Microsoft in Redmond. Since then I’ve moved through different companies as developer, architect and manager in diverse technologies and industries.  I first started to dabble in Scrum a couple of years back while working at Yellowtail Software where I helped the roll out of Scrum. While there I gained an appreciation for how well you can manage software using Scrum.  I’ve worked on Fixed Price, Fixed Team, Fixed Budget projects. I am passionate about working with Scrum, learning more about software development and helping teams get better on a daily basis.

Sponsored by

When: 1 December 2011, 6:00PM

Topic: Pecha Kucha

Sign up: Please sign up here in order to help us with catering.

Venue:
Allan Gray Portswood office in the Presentation Room on the third floor. You can download a map here. Everyone parking in the Portswood parking area will have to pay for their own parking tickets. There is also parking available in Beach Road.

Ending the year in high mood our December event promises to be a night of good, (mostly) clean fun!

A number of brave SUGSA members will present around the topic of the Agile Software Development Methodology.

Sheetal Gordhan is currently a servant leader to the R & D team at Mobilitrix where she spends her time asking questions, demanding results and giggles often.

“I will use the 6 mins and 40 seconds to illustrate why I think Scrum is not for the faint hearted. I will make reference to Ken Schwaber, Scrum values and the Manifesto for Agile Software Development and some of my own experience to illustrate this statement.”

Meloné van Heerden is currently a ScrumMaster serving two teams at Allan Gray. Since qualifying as a Certified ScrumMaster 2.5 years ago, she feel that her philosophy around scrum is best described by a quote from Keith Sawyer:
“We are drawn to the image of the lone genius whose mystical moment of insight changes the world. But the lone genius is a myth; instead it’s group genius that generates breakthrough innovation.
Collaboration drives creativity because innovation always emerges from a series of sparks – never a single flash of insight.”

“Self-organisation is a fundamental concept in agile software development. This does not mean that there is no place for leaders, nothing could be further from the truth. Leaders can influence how teams self-organise, but being an effective leader is not easy.
Allan Gray offers a brilliant leadership program to all it’s leaders and I had the privilege of participating in the leadership program this year. I would like to use this time to share some of my key learnings with you.”

Karen Greaves is currently the Software Development Manager at Fundamo, where she works with four awesome Scrum teams to deliver great software regularly. She also regularly co-trains Scrum classes with Peter Hundermark, hoping to become a CST soon. She was previously the Scrum Coach at Intec where she was responsible for their Scrum roll out to approximately 100 people in Cape Town R&D. She has worked in software for over 12 years in a number of different roles and environments. She is passionate about building good software, and creating a work environment which enables technology professionals to be creative, motivated and productive. You can read her blog here.

“Agile Management: How to create a culture to help your team succeed.”

David Campey, Douglas from dotlogic and Andrew from graphicmail have also volunteered and we will give you more info about their talks as we receive it.

Stand-ups every day? Check.
Impediment-removing Scrum Master? Check.
Product Owner who understands prioritising? Check.
Teams that deliver working code every sprint? Check.
Review every sprint? Check.
Retrospective every sprint? Check.

Does this make your business truly Agile? For me there are a couple of checklist items missing:

Development practices that deliver high quality code?

A team of developers who understand one another and operate as a cohesive unit?

Team productivity doesn’t drop when a particular team member is away?

How would you answer? How would your developers answer?

It’s bring-a-dev-day at SUGSA! In fact bring your whole development team.

About Austin Fagan

I work for Unboxed Consulting.

I started writing software in 1999. I think I’m as bad now as I was then. So I don’t code now, my team keeps me as far from the codebase as they can, they shudder at the thought of me coding. I still can’t help being passionate about development. Weird.

I’ve been lucky enough to be exposed to Agile techniques and great development practice since 2006 and I’ve been boring people silly about both since.

Sign up at Event Brite

Agile Alliance is happy to present Asia’s largest Agile conference. Agile India 2012 is the first Agile Alliance conference to be held outside North America.

Come and join us for three spectacular days in India’s technology hub—Bengaluru. Learn and share your experience in software development and agile adoption with various speakers and attendees from different parts of Asia and around the world. Participate and exchange ideas with researchers and academics from around the world as they showcase the best of international research on Agile software development.

Agile India 2012 will have many sessions on all aspects of agile including agile product management. Learn more at Agile India 2012.

I am actively looking for speakers for the agile product management stage, for any further information, please contact me at: annua@digiata.com

Hoping to see some of the passionate South African agilists there!

Below you will find all the pics from the Cape Town event

When: 6 October 2011, 6:00PM

Topic: World Cafe conversations

Sign up: Please sign up here in order to help us with catering.

Venue:
Allan Gray Portswood office in the Presentation Room on the third floor. You can download a map here. Everyone parking in the Portswood parking area will have to pay for their own parking tickets. There is also parking available in Beach Road.

Synopsis:
One of the most effective ways to think beyond the boundaries of one’s own frame of reference is the input of others. World Cafe as a facilitation technique and catalyst for drawing from other people’s experience and opinions is true to our most fundamental form of communication: conversations.

The session will be highly interactive and probably leave you feeling a bit exhausted… But hey, no-one ever said that exhilarating discussion and loads of fun must be easy!

Outcome:
The main outcome of the evening will be that you, as a participant in the World Cafe process, will be able to facilitate a World Cafe at your workplace, in your community or at any gathering of people with a specific issue to resolve.
A secondary outcome will be that we, as the Scrum User Group, will deepen our purpose and direction.

Facilitator:
Alwyn van Wyk and a graphic recorder/cartoonist

(ps: The image accompanying this post can be found on Avril Orloff’s web site along with other great examples of graphic recordings of World Cafe conversations.)

We’re looking forward to meeting you all in Cape Town on Tuesday and Wednesday next week! In preparation for a great Scrum Gathering we thought we’d send through some logistics to help you navigate the two days.

Dates

To to confirm, it’s Tuesday, 13 September and Wednesday, 14 September.

Getting there

The event will be held at Erinvale Estate Hotel (not Erinvale Golf Course – the entrances are next to each other, the hotel is on the right.) A map, directions and GPS co-ordinates can all be found at the Erinvale web site at http://www.erinvale.co.za/contactus.php.

When you arrive on Tuesday there will be parking behind the buildings on the hotel grounds. You will be directed by the Erinvale staff – so just ask.

The program

Registration and breakfast starts at 8:00am on Tuesday and breakfast starts at 8:30 on Wednesday, with the first activities of each day starting at 9:00am. The sessions end at 17:00 on each day. There will be two coffee breaks as well as lunch each day.

Click here for a detailed program itinerary, but don’t stress about printing a copy.  A colour program will be available in your goodie bag that you will receive when you register.

The speaker details can be seen at http://www.scrum.org.za/gathering-2/speaker-information.

Social Event

This year’s social event is sponsored by Fundamo and we look forward to joining you in the Magnolia Restaurant for drinks and post-Gathering socialisation on Tuesday evening, after the last sessions – around 5pm.

Connectivity

There will be WiFi access. WiFi vouchers will be available from the reception desk.

General

If you have any questions, please email info@scrum.org.za or catch one of us on the day at the registration desk or otherwise.

We look forward to having a great Scrum Gathering with you.

Here is some information regarding the venue, times and general logistics.

Venue

To find the venue is easy. Choose the option that best suite your travel arrangements.
1) If you are coming from somewhere in JHB on one of the main highways, you can just download the map from the Sandton Convention Centre’s website: Map
2) If you are using a GPS: S26° 06.394 / E028° 03.221
3) If you are coming from the Sandton Gautrain Station: download a google map from our site

Parking

Parking is available under the Sandton Convention Centre. Entrance into this parking is in Alice Street between West and 5th Streets. This parking takes 300 cars. We are not the only conference on the day, so if this parking is full, please use the Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square malls parking.

Parking tickets will be available at the registration desk on arrival, so you would not have to pay for your parking on the day.

Arrival

At the entrance of the Sandton Convention Centre you will find friendly Sandton Convention Centre hosts. They will assist you in finding the venue, so do ask them.

The Scrum Gathering is located in committee rooms 3-5. Registration will be open from 7:30. Come early to avoid traffic and have a snack + coffee with us.

Event

The event will start at 9:00 and will end at 19:00. Click here for a detailed program itinerary, but don’t stress about printing a copy.  A colour program will be available in your goodie bag that you will receive when you register.. A program will also be available in your goodie bag.

Wifi Access

Please get your wifi voucher at the registration desk on arrival if you need it.

Social

The social will be starting from 17:00 till 19:00. Join us for a drink and some snacks after the event and social with the best Scrum people in SA.

If there is anything else you need to know please email us and we will respond ASAP.

We’re looking forward to meeting you.

Even the most avid learners sometimes get full. The Leopard Lounge will be a place to relax when your brain is full and you need a break, or a place to connect between sessions and have those important conversations with other delegates which are what makes a Scrum Gathering special.

And, not only will there be dedicated tracks for the Scrum Master, the Product Owner, the Manager and the members of the team, but we also have a few extra’s planned.

Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect:

	Mitch Lacey    Board of Directors of Scrum Alliance We have the pleasure this year of hosting Mitch Lacey, from the Scrum Alliance. Mitch  is an Agile practitioner and trainer who has been managing projects for over twelve years with numerous plan-driven and Agile projects under his belt, including core enterprise services for Windows Live. An author of numerous publications and a speaker at many Agile conferences, Mitch will be welcoming us at both the Johannesburg and Cape Town events. Mitch will be on hand during each day to answer any Scrum Alliance questions should you wish to catch up on what is happening in our international community.
	Agile Games    with Samantha Laing & Karen Greaves Agile is about more than processes and tools. It’s about individuals and interactions, and there is no better way to experience this that by participating in agile games. Get ready for a session of high energy and interaction. You’ll be sure to have new friends at the end of this one! And the best bit is that we’re be having Agile Games at both the Johannesburg and Cape Town events.
	A hands-on introduction to sprint zero    with Phil Barrett (CT Only) Before you commit to writing too much code, it’s good to be sure you have got a big idea for your product that really works for users, and that stakeholders agree with the direction you’re taking. You need a phase to explore ideas, and get feedback from users, before you get stuck into your sprints. This makes sure you start off climbing the right mountain, rather than realising you’re on the wrong one when you’re half way up. Creating prototypes in code is expensive and slow, when you’re on the hunt for the right version of the big idea. UCD techniques can really help. Paper and pencil prototypes are cheaper than code and work well enough at the very early stages of a project. They let you explore more ideas in less time. In the workshop you’ll get a chance to: - Use personas and scenarios as a way to get new ideas - Create a cheap paper/digital prototype that is good enough for testing - Run a usability test .. and we’ll cover the reasons why it works and why it’s good for your business, your team and your sanity.
	Agile Jazz    with Andrew Coote (CT Only) Andrew has over 10 years experience as a developer, project manager and Scrum Master in various industries, including Microsoft EMEA in Reading, UK. He is also an accomplished Jazz trumpet player, who has toured with Mango Groove, Johnny Clegg, Natalie Cole and many others. How is that relevant you’re asking? Read below! Using a live performance of a four-piece Jazz ensemble as a reference and demonstration, Andrew will present Jazz as a metaphor for Agile teamwork and the evolution of processes. We work through a cycle emphasising the following common attributes between Jazz and Agile teamwork: Skills, Self Management, Specialisation, Collaboration, Adaptivity, Innovation, Improvisation, Risk Taking, Supporting, Delivering Value, Sustaining Pace, and Passionate Commitment. This is a light, entertaining session that is highly memorable as a metaphor for teamwork.

Scrum Clinic

   Got a question? Ask a doctor! (CT Only)

Got a problem or burning question with your Scrum implementation? Have an issue that you feel wasn’t addressed in any of the sessions? No problem – we have alocated time for our Scrum Doctors” (read: industry experts) to give you some one-on-one advise on whatever it is that you need help with. We have allocated three and  half hours on the second day of the Cape Town Gathering for this large scale Scrum clinic. Sorry Johannesburg, this one is for CT only.

Lightning Talks

   various speakers and topics (CT Only)

Now it’s your turn! We have an interesting line up of volunteer speakers from varying industries that will cover a wide range of topics . 10 minutes to present, 5 minutes for questions. An energetic way to end of the event.