Agile Alliance 2013 Conference
Scott Killen
Context
• PayPal sent 5 people to the conference.
• We divided up all sessions and made sure we had
attendance at all key presentations.
• I was awarded all of my first-choice sessions
• Back at the office we summarized our
experiences.
The Gaylord Opryland Is A Big Place
1725 Conference Attendees
2884 Rooms in Hotel
12 Restaurants
And it’s Hermetically Sealed
My Conversation With Jeff Sutherland
What successful patterns
have you seen for individual
performance appraisals in the
context of agile teams?
Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common
Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)
Jeff on Performance
• Performance ratings demotivate people
• Evaluating performance is a collaborative exercise
• Individuals Rate themselves
• Managers then review and revise
• Team 360 ratings are simple Thumbs Up, Down,
Sideways.
Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common
Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)
Jeff on Grade Level Advancement
To advance, an employee needs written
documentation that she has …
Grade
Exceed expectations of …
6
7
8
9
Manager
Team
Executive Staff
Customers
10
Industry Press
Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common
Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)
Jeff on Compensation
• Start at industry baseline salaries
• Train employees in company financials
• To get a raise and employee must make a
business case
• Product Owner’s tied to revenue points
Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common
Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)
Google Backlog Model
• Always work directly off the backlog
• Always take from top of the backlog.
• No excuses. Don’t know how to do it, you
learn!
• Impediments go directly to the top of the
backlog.
Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common
Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)
Other Interesting Factoids from Jeff
• Teams that have interruptions and learn to
handle them have higher velocities than other
teams.
• At Spotify, managers are responsible for
communities of practice.
• High performing teams need two Product
Owners.
Coaching: Simple Patterns That Avoid Common
Pitfalls for Scrum Teams (Jeff Sutherland)
Conversation Enhancer/Detractor Exercise
Yes, but …
Yes, and …
Great idea for
retrospectives!
Agile Negotiation: The Agilist’s Guide to Persuasion
and Influence (Adam Weisbart, Emily Epstein)
Agile Negotiation Framework
Agile Negotiation: The Agilist’s Guide to Persuasion
and Influence (Adam Weisbart, Emily Epstein)
Hot Buttons Exercise
Listener:
Selects controversial topic w/opinion
Uses inquiry and acknowledgement
Speaker:
Takes opposite position
Antagonizes listener
Can only use advocacy
Coach:
Keeps the listenr on track
Agile Negotiation: The Agilist’s Guide to Persuasion
and Influence (Adam Weisbart, Emily Epstein)
Team’s Emotional Bank Account
Research shows that high performing teams have a deposit ratio of 5 to 1
Conflict Facilitation as a Leadership Skill: A Systems Approach for Leaders &
Coaches (Michael Spayd, Lyssa Adkins)
User Stories Maturity Classification
(Tracked with Kanban Board)
Continual Backlog Refinement, Get Stories to
Ready (David Bulkin, Kevin Fisher)
Backlogs Tied To Value Streams
Consider backlogs tied to value streams and NOT just to teams.
Backlogs can be constructed at customer entry points and at other
stations in the the value stream.
Enterprise Product Owner's Challenge:
Managing Networks of Backlogs (Alan Goerner)
Types of Questions
Questions are used for many more reasons than to elicit information. They
are used rhetorically, to inspire, to create, to direct, to change minds, to
provoke discussion, to poke fun and many more
Open and Closed
Probing
Essential (Unanswerable)
Sorting and Sifting
Hypothetical
Provocative
Leading
Irrelevant
Telling
Divergent
Clarifying
Rhetorical
Funneling
When NOT to Have All the Answers: Stop Giving Advice and Start
Asking Questions (Judith Mills, Christopher Avery)
Final Impressions
The quality of presentations was generally
disappointing.
Networking was fantastic!
There were many key nuggets of learning
I felt claustrophobic after 5 days in the Gaylord
Opryland hotel