Agile is most often applied to teams, but our experience shows us that when an organization implements Agile for consistent and predictable delivery, the forces of change affect aspects of the organization beyond initial interactions, similar to the ripple effect.

In this talk, we will present a model that shows how Agile quickly expands from individuals to teams and beyond. We give insight into organizational aspects that support and sustain Agile transitions long-term and open the door to organizational transformation.

Whether you are new to Agile or are a seasoned practitioner, this talk will provide insights into the ripple effect and help make clear the path forward toward widespread Agile adoption in your organization.

Trust is an important part of Agile. Product Owners need to trust that if a team commits to completing a set of Stories within Sprint that the team will deliver on that commitment. Otherwise, if the Product Owner doesn't trust the team to deliver regularly then they may feel compelled to do nasty things like ask for changes mid-Sprint or cram more Stories into the Sprint than the team can handle. But how does a team set itself up for success and earn the Product Owner's trust by ensuring that they don't commit to something that they can't deliver? In this presentation we'll review the various checks and balances built into the Agile planning process that help ensure that Stories assigned to Sprints are properly vetted with the Product Owner and understood by the team before the team commits to building them. This is an example of how a well-implemented Agile process is both rigorous and pragmatic.

Once you decide to go somewhere you aren't going to jump into your car and start driving without considering how you're going to get there. Even on a short trip you're going to have a route in the back of your mind before you head off. The same applies to Agile projects - once you have approval to start building something you can't simply jump into Sprint 1 without doing some preliminary planning. Even though Agile generally discourages too much up front planning, some planning is essential. Otherwise you run the risk of getting lost. In this presentation we'll discuss what Sprint 0 is and why it's important.

It's a common problem, particularly in enterprise environments.  The team adopts Agile and the Project Manager is left wondering what their role is and how they fit in.  After years of command and control, the concepts of Servant Leadership and facilitation are very hard to relate to in a real way.  Of all of the roles on a typical development team it seems the Project Manager has the most challenges adapting to the paradigm shift that Agile introduces.

Some could argue that a well-oiled Agile team doesn't even need a Project Manager.  A self-organizing team can run itself.  However, in most enterprise settings this is far from the truth, it's impossible to have a highly functioning team without a strong Project Manager to help.  One could even argue that a Project Manager is crucial for buffering the Agile team from non-Agile realities of the organization around it.

This presentation will aim to debunk some of the common myths and misconceptions around the role of the Project Manager on a Agile team in an enterprise setting.  There will be specific focus on the value that the Project Manager can bring to an Agile team, the responsibilities and functions that a Project Manager should be focused on, and tips and tricks that Project Managers on Agile teams can use to make their day-to-day lives easier.

Can your team reliably estimate, plan and execute it's Sprints?  Or do they have problems creating Sprint Plans that make sense based on Story Estimates and the team's Velocity?  This is not an uncommon problem, and the consequences can be significant: lack of confidence in Estimates, no idea what the team's actual Velocity is, Sprint Plans that don't make sense and Product Owners and Customers who have little trust that the team is going to deliver on their Sprint Commitments.

The Theory of Constraints (ToC), a management philosophy first introduced by Eliyahu M. Goldratt in his 1984 book The Goal, can be used to make the relationships between the Agile planning practices much clearer and help to address many of the problems teams have with Estimates, Velocity and Sprint Planning.  The principles behind the ToC provide a straightforward framework that teams can apply to help make their planning process more understandable, reliable and predictable.

This presentation will start with a detailed background explanation of what the ToC is and how it relates to common Agile planning practices.  The principles of the ToC will then be applied to a sample Agile project to demonstrate the relationships between Estimates, Team Velocity and Sprint Planning.  From this attendees will gain insights that they will be able to use to improve their own planning practices with their teams.  Lastly, common challenges and solutions will be covered to give attendees a more complete understanding of how to address boundary cases and exceptions that they may encounter in their day-to-day planning activities.