The pandemic taught us many things – about our professions, our teams, ourselves... But it also exposed gaps in our workplace repertoire – not all of us were well-equipped for a virtual workforce and the unexpected challenges that came from losing in-person interactions. Conflict has taken on a new identity that requires a more rigorous understanding of virtual behavior and workplace empathy. In this session, we will take a deep dive into virtual conflict and discover facilitation techniques that empower empathetic mediation and steer conversations toward healthy resolution.

Everything is NOT a “Priority”: A fun and engaging prioritization technique with HGTV's House Hunters activity

Prioritization continues to be one of the biggest challenges in Agile Transformations. Choosing the right set of features often marks the difference between short-term failure or long-term success. So how do you make sure your stakeholders are making the right choices? If you answer yes to any of the questions below, then this workshop is for you!

1. Do you have multiple stakeholders with competing priorities?
2. Do your stakeholders constantly change priorities without explanation?
3. Do your stakeholders tell you that everything is a “Must Have”?
4. Do your stakeholders think that that their work is far more important than the other groups you work with?
5. Does your stakeholder prioritize their work in a vacuum?
6. Do their priorities align back to the overall vision?

Adrienne Rinaldi will share her experience, insight, and actionable techniques and tips that you can apply to any stakeholder prioritization session. She will walk through the preparation and execution of the “Buy a Feature” prioritization exercise, which will enable you to see how this can be leveraged and applied in any organization with multiple stakeholders with competing priorities.

"A brittle Culture can doom even a great organization." - Joe Tye

"How do things get done around here?" It seems like such a simple question to answer, but pause, and try to answer that for yourself. And not from a process perspective. Do you truly understand the purpose (the why) behind the work being conducted? Does the working environment support that purpose and would you consider it a thriving or surviving environment?

Defining what an organization wants to achieve and how it will go about achieving it is a critical step that many organizations completely overlook. We are quick to jump to process conclusions yet if an organization is going to experience a thriving Agile journey, they should first understand: how things get done around here. 

Start with Culture - the foundation that leads to thriving Agile journeys.

The 12 Agile Principles from the Agile Manifesto are building blocks for a successful, sustainable Agile journey - regardless of industry and/or department. Many pitfalls that organizations experience are due to oversight and lack of adherence to the Agile Principles. In this session, I will review the 12 Agile Principles, how they apply to all industries, common issues that lead organizations astray, and proven solutions to get back on course throughout any Agile journey.