Value Stream Mapping (VSM) wears many hats. Sometimes it is a workshop session, where teams collaboratively draft and decode their process flows. Sometimes it is an automated report generated from tools like Jira and Service Now. But there is a third way for teams to use VSMs that is simple and effective for generating real improvements for our workflow.

The approach we’re going to workshop is the manual creation and maintenance of a VSM. It is a simple, regular practice that we can do with or for the team. It allows us to gradually form a picture of our workflow and it fosters insightful, positive changes that are attuned to our specific needs.

During this session, we'll delve into the method. We'll share experiences of diverse teams who've adopted this approach, shedding light on its tangible benefits and challenges. Importantly, we highlight how this VSM becomes a continually evolving tool, promoting consistent lean-agile growth and adaptation that is genuinely transformative.

If you're looking for a simple practice that blends practical insights with actionable strategies, this session is for you. Regardless of your lean-agile experience level, there will be something valuable to take away.

This talk shares four stories from my experiences and learnings on technical leadership. These four stories have moulded my views on technical leadership and drive how I aim to lead teams and teams of teams.  

In this talk, Anne-Marie Charrett will explore how in an ever-changing world, we benefit from leading with authenticity, through creating spaces where people can thrive, through skills based coaching, and to recognise we're in constant change management and to behave accordingly. 

Groups or teams that work together are often thrown off by introduction of a change in the system. If it is a leadership teams, the change could be a significant shift in strategic direction announced by the CEO. For PMO, the change could be a new CIO that creates need to change the methodology of work is managed in the organisation. For delivery teams, the change could be an introduction of a new tech practice like BDD by the head of engineering. In the world that we live in, such changes are abundant and they often disrupt a group/team working effectively before the introduction of the change.

This workshop will use role play to demonstrate the use of a group coaching activity from the world of Edge and Change Theory to help a group/team cross the edge. Walk away with a powerful and practical tool in your toolkit as a relationship and system coach that you can use when coaching through change.

Should an Agile Coach be directive? Is it OK for a coach to point out what a client needs to change, or should a coach only ask questions? This workshop intends to explore the different coaching stances by reviewing two of the most influential psychology models proposed by Carl Rogers and Albert Ellis.  

The public release of the ChatGPT last year has spawned a flood of articles and books on how best to “leverage” the new technology.  Majority of these provide little or no explanation of how Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, do what they do.

In this presentation, I discuss some of the surprising things that LLMs can do, with the intent of developing a rudimentary sense for how they “understand” meaning. I begin with Alan Turing’s classic paper, which will lead us on to a few demos of ChatGPT capabilities that might be considered unusual because they combine two or more very different skills. Following that I will touch upon some recent research on how LLMs are able to develop an understanding of meaning.

My objective is to show that it is not hard to understand the essence, if not the detail, of what is going on at the frontier of this exciting field. Secondly, that the mental models that come from such an understanding can help you use these tools in interesting and creative ways.

These 6 intrinsic motivators are fundamental for the sustained success and productivity of any group. Taken from  Open System Theory (OST), a cohesive set of principles and practices, steeped in over 50 years of application, experimentation and revision.

Taking on all of Open Systems Theory in one go is a bit much - this is a peek in to the world of OST, providing a practical and immediately applyable technique for lifting engagement and providing the basis of the things all productive groups need to be measuring and improving

As Agile Coach you are often called in to work with a team in crisis. The CPR response plan DRSABCD can be used to help you navigate through the crisis and come out the other side with a continuous improvement mindset.

Killing the Unicorn: How to get your teams to step away from becoming a feature factory and focus on value 

MVP definition stinks, we know. But there are better ways to align cross-functional teams around value and step away from being a feature factory. “Killing the Unicorn” workshop is our refreshing take to bring your cross-functional teams together, facilitating the alignment on value and ideating solutions that actually hit the point… while also having some fun along the way.

Are you ready to take teamwork and collaboration to the next level? Then join our action-packed workshop, "Game On: Mastering Teamwork Through Interactive Gaming!" Designed to be a thrilling journey of fun, fast-paced decision-making and strategic collaboration, this session is unlike any team-building exercise you've experienced before.

In this 80-minute extravaganza, you'll navigate a dynamic digital world using a unique, split-button controller system. The twist? Each team member is in control of only one button. Success in the game hinges on excellent communication, effective collaboration, and swift decision-making — real-life skills you can carry into your professional and personal worlds.

Come prepared for an adrenaline-filled exploration of teamwork under pressure. You'll emerge with enhanced communication abilities, a sharper instinct for quick thinking, and a deeper appreciation for the individual roles within a team.

This is teamwork, but not as you know it. Prepare to be challenged, to learn, and above all, to have an incredibly fun time. Game on!

It’s easy to fall into the trap of focussing on output and meeting deadlines. But there’s got to be more to work than just delivery it more stuff..!

we want to show you how you can start to influence your org by learning how to detect and mine for outcomes - with lessons from mining for gold - and start doing more value driving activity 

In a world where software work is misguidedly focused on outputs and production, to the detriment of value and quality, we will try and understand how this came about. Is building software really a form of building? Are software engineers really engineers? Or have we been thinking about this work the wrong way all along? We will go on a journey through the history and culture of software development, and look at how the often overlooked contributions of women in the development of the software industry gives us clues as to how the industry has ended up in this difficult state - and how we can redefine software development as the creative knowledge work that it really is.

SAFe says that agile release trains are lead by the Release Train Engineer, Product Manager and System Architect, but what if you are not using SAFe? What is the best way to structure the top level of your Agile portfolio to achieve the best customer outcomes and support your teams? How do you come together as a team to effectively lead your Agile portfolio?

Being a great leader requires mastering non-verbal communication, which makes up the majority of our communication. Effective non-verbal communication is more than just knowing the right things to do with your hands and tonality etc - it is ultimately about how who you are is embodied in your physiology. Being embodied in our leadership means we transmit the depth of our visions and values in our communication, and invite the same from others. This means really feeling our care as we communicate, so that others feel it also. Key leadership moves this is particularly important for are:

• Taking stands for where we are going and how we are getting there
• Enrolling others in visions and values
• Making declarations that people believe, in which actions are changed
• Inquiring with the presence that invites depth

In this hands on session we will practice playing with our attention and bodies, practicing with things we care about, running experiments in embodied leadership moves we can make.

Improvement. A drive to be better at something. The idea that if we put the work in, we can increase our abilities. A quick google search will show you countless articles, books, videos, and personal blogs all claiming to have figured out the best way to improve and how it changed their lives forever. To quote a mentor of mine “a topic where there is a lot of good research and an amazing amount of pseudoscience, new age wackiness and total crap”.

Throughout this talk I will discuss the concept of an "improvement cycle", which quantifies the effort and time required to substantially improve at whatever you are learning or being taught. Bringing data from previous clients and personal proof points, I will show you how I have seen substantial improvement in organisational ways of working, team maturity, and my own personal goals using these learning cycles and explore some of the theory behind them.

Hackathons are a great way to build innovation in a company. They provide a platform for employees to come together and collaborate on new ideas. Hackathons can also help to foster a culture of innovation within a company.

Flybuys is running its first companywide Hackathon on 6 September 2023. This internally organised event intends to increase innovation and inspire collaboration between Tech and other business areas.  A company-wide engagement survey has the Innovation sentiment as of June 2023 at 67%. The hackathon is an experiment to validate the assumption that the event can increase the innovation sentiment and foster creativity in individuals and teams after the hackathon.   But it doesn’t stop there. What are the non-tangible signs of innovation? What do we witness when an idea is born from a team and followed through to realise its value?  

Hackathons have been said to increase collaboration, creativity and innovation in organisations but do they really? 

In this experiment, we closely follow the journey of team born ideas and the observed behaviours of said team members. We share personality shifts, how team members respond to full ownership of their idea, and how this behaviour differs to company lead initiatives. Our Coaches will observe multiple teams, compile findings, and for the purpose of presenting shifts and patterns.

In this session, we will, from a practical standpoint:  

• Discuss the benefits of hackathons and how they can be used to build innovation in a company 
• Explore whether Hackathons can serve as catalysts for driving creative problem-solving and sparking ideas 
• Examine the challenges, team dynamics, techniques and best practices that unlock a culture of innovation from the findings of the Flybuys Hackathon experiment.  

A double header session:

Our generational gap in APIs (and how to solve it)!

Everything old is new again, or so it seems. Time after time we find ourselves bike-shedding old ideas with new craftspeople. So how do we stop reinventing the wheel… or is there hidden value in the repetition?

Institutional knowledge is an undervalued gem in a team’s productivity. We know this intrinsically (when a team is storming) but how do we maintain that knowledge when teams and organisations navigate high rates of change or turnover.

In this talk I’ll argue the case that bike-shedding old ideas can actually be a valuable instrument in up-skilling new contributors on our API projects and why its actually pivotal to building great API products that customers LOVE.

Can your API product strategy be crafted entirely by experts and API veterans? Let’s find out together.

Data Science and Emergence

How do you establish data science and analytics capabilities in organisations using Emergent Design, an evolutionary approach that increases the chances of successful outcomes while minimising upfront investment. Kailash and Alex share their experiences and those of a number of data leaders, the and provide advice on data technologies, processes, and governance structures so that readers can make choices that are appropriate to their organisational contexts and requirements.

An elite F1 racing team is designed to deliver optimum performance up to and including the driver. The F1 Team has a responsibility to optimise these critical components (tyres, aerodynamics, fuel efficiency, analysis of track conditions etc.) that drive performance of the system including starting at the top with the driver's performance.
Similarly, as agile, system and lean practitioner practitioners of high performing teams, we have a holistic responsibility and commitment to all of the components of a system including the 'driver' of that system, be it a GM, head of business, Tribe/Platform lead, or Scrum Master/Product Owner.
Performance coaching is based on the science of optimising human motivation and behaviour for any given endeavour. The self-coaching Leadership canvas is a lightweight coaching framework designed to improve a Leaders personal performance.
The canvas brings together over 20 years of performance coaching experience of business leaders designed to improve self-awareness, understanding, motivations & targeted actions.
In this workshop simulation participants will test drive the self-coaching leadership canvas working in groups of 3. The canvas will provide guidance on how to use highly effective and less well-known leadership coaching tools for the purpose of self-coaching performance. 

Are you struggling to help teams, leaders, or organisations see their own dysfunction so you can help them to improve?

The dysfunction game is your friend.

In this workshop we'll design games to help make the system visible so you can create 'aha' moments that bring an issue to the surface so you can have a conversation about it.

The Dysfunction Game, is itself a game and it might even have its own dysfunction.