Agile and Project Management - DrunkenPM Radio

Gil Broza is back with a brand new book that answers a question that is asked in every single class I teach. Can you use Agile outside of software? The simple answer is yes. Agile practices are applied in a wide range of fields that are not IT related. What Gil has put together in his new book "Agile for Non-Software Teams: A Practical Guide for Your Journey" is a step-by-step guide to help you begin your non-software Agile journey, and in this episode of The Reluctant Agilist, Gil shares his reasons for writing the book, some of the key ideas and critical factors people should be considering before heading down this path, and when it is not a fit. Gil's Books: - Agile for Non-Software Teams: A Practical Guide for Your Journey https://amzn.to/30GLceF - The Human Side of Agile - How to Help Your Team Deliver https://amzn.to/2GnxgwZ - The Agile Mind-Set: Making Agile Processes Work https://amzn.to/2sHds4a Contacting Gil: (if you have stories to share about using Agile outside of software, he'd love to hear from you) - Web: https://3pvantage.com - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilbroza/

21 Jan 202050min

TLDR Regardless of whether you are a traditional PM or you are working in Agile, topics like emotional intelligence, creating safety and self-care are part of the current conversation about how we approach our work. This podcast presents another side of that discussion and focuses on how different experiences and events result in trauma that can leave lasting scars that we carry with us as we interact with others. Becoming more aware of different types of trauma, how it shows up in you as well as others, will help you become a more valuable and effective leader for your teams and organizations. In this episode of the Reluctant Agilist, Brandon Brown is back to talk about trauma. Trauma takes many forms and it is something that all of us deal with, but we may not think about how it pertains to our day to day work. As we move through life, each of us experiences different things that have a lasting impact. Sometimes, these things are very obvious, sometimes they are more subtle, and sometimes we don’t realize how deeply they’ve impacted us until much later. As an example, if you’ve ever worked in an organization where you felt that your contribution was not valued or your ideas were not heard, the impact of this may stick with you long after the conditions are no longer in play. You may find, even years later, that you are still reacting to the unfortunate previous situation. Recognizing the trauma you’ve experienced in the past and finding ways to work through it will help you show up in a more open and present state for your co-workers and your team. And recognizing that others have had different, but equally significant experiences can help us offer more empathy to the people we are interacting with. If you'd like to reach out to Brandon with follow up questions, here is how you can reach him: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/brbphilly/
 Twitter: twitter.com/b_pbs
 AboutMe: about.me/brandonrbrown

14 Jan 202040min

It’s the start of a brand new year! And one of the best things you can do for yourself and your career is to start volunteering for a professional organization. By offering a little of your time, you can find a path into a community of passionate PMs and Agilists who can provide support, coaching and mentoring to you as you progress in your career. In this episode of the podcast Agile Coach, Reese Schmit shares her story of how she got involved in helping out with Burning Flipside (an Austin, TX-based Burning Man event), how that led her to start volunteering for local Agile and User Groups and how that led her to become part of the team of folks who plan and run the Scrum Gathering. In the interview, Reese shares her experience of volunteering and how that work has not only helped her create valuable experiences for others but has also helped her develop a wide network of seasoned professionals in the Agile space and all the benefits that can provide. I have talked about this in previous podcasts but volunteering is one of the best investments you can make in your career. It is about giving back to your professional community, but it is also about finding the group of people who might be able to help you land your next gig. So why not start off 2020 by reaching out to a local group, PMI, the Scrum Alliance or the Agile Alliance and find a way to invest in yourself by giving back to the community. Here are some links to help you get started: Volunteering for PMI https://www.pmi.org/membership/volunteer/opportunities Volunteering for the Scrum Alliance https://www.scrumalliance.org/get-involved Volunteering for the Agile Alliance https://www.agilealliance.org/the-alliance/volunteer-signup/ Meetup.com is a great place to start searching for local professional groups who could probably use your help. https://www.meetup.com Contacting Reese LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reeseschmit/ Email: reeseschmit@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/reesendesist

7 Jan 202024min

It has been 10 years since Jesse Fewell and I became Certified Scrum Trainers. We both came to it from backgrounds deeply rooted in traditional project management. We were both PMPs, which was something like a scarlet letter in the Agile community. Ten years… things have changed. In this episode of The Reluctant Agilist, Jesse Fewell and I close out 2019 with a retrospective of sorts, looking back at how things have evolved from a time where Agile and traditional project management were considered to be opposite approaches, to a place where practitioners are starting to understand how to use both for the benefit of our customers and clients. Jesse and I also look forward and share our opinions on where things are headed and what traditional and/or agile project managers need to focus on in order to stay relevant in the job market over the coming years. Happy New Year! And thank you for listening! Contacting Jesse Fewell Web: http://jessefewell.com/ 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jessefewell
 LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jessefewell/ YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/jessefewell

30 Des 201941min

When I am teaching CSM and CSPO classes I frequently get questions from students who have trouble understanding how work flows from the release level down through product backlog items like User Stories on down to the task level. I do cover this in class but for some, it is not so easy to see. 
In hopes of resolving this, I asked Judy Neher, a fellow Certified Scrum Trainer, to help me work through a metaphor that I hope will provide clarity on how we take work from Releases to User Stories to Tasks, how they tie back to strategy and vision and how Epics and Themes fit in as well.   If you'd like to reach out to Judy with follow up questions, here is her contact info: Judy Neher
 - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judy-neher-22ab614/
 - - Twitter: https://twitter.com/judyneher

27 Des 201915min

This episode features a student question and a special appearance by Adam Weisbart. I recently had a student in class who was struggling to get her team to participate during retrospectives. This is a fairly common problem for teams that are either trying to get the hang of how to run a retro, or teams that may have stuck with a particular tactic for so long that it has stopped working. I invited Adam Weisbart to join me for the podcast. If Adam's name sounds familiar, it may be because you've taken a class from him, seen him speak at a conference, watched the video "Shit Bad Scrum Masters Say," or because you've used his Agile Adlibs or his retrospective facilitation kit, Recess. (We'll be spending time on those last two during the interview.) If you've got teams that aren't fully engaging during your Retrospectives, you are not alone. This podcast has some ideas that should help you get that turned around. Links from the podcast Agile Retrospectives by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen https://amzn.to/2DYTBzq Retrospective Facilitator Gathering https://www.retrospectivefacilitatorgathering.org/ Sh*t Bad Scrum Masters Say https://youtu.be/GGbsgs611MM Download a free copy of Agile Adlibs http://downloadretro.com/drunkenpm Recess https://recesskit.com/ Contacting Adam Weisbart Web https://weisbart.com/

8 Des 201936min

Jessie Shternshus founded The Improv Effect (https://improveffect.com) to help businesses reach their full potential by means of interpersonal-communication skills training. Her work includes leveraging tools and practices from improv to help individuals and organizations improve the way they interact and problem solve. Jessie is also the author of the book CTRLShift: 50 Games For 50 ****ing Days Like Today. (amzn.to/2Qy0eAi) In this interview, Jessie and I discuss ways in which improv practices can be used to improve your listening skills, develop your ability to read the room, and find more effective ways to respond. Personal Note: Jessie is brilliant, kind, and extremely patient. During the latter half of the conversation, I asked Jessie about one of the ways I often try to emphasize certain points in class or when I am presenting. In a supportive, kind, and patient way, she helped me see how that "habit" can impact the folks I am working with. I got completely schooled and I am grateful to her for the lesson. For more information on Jessie, her upcoming classes and speaking engagements: Web: https://improveffect.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessie-shternshus-04765a11/ Email: jessie@improveffect.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/theimproveffect

19 Nov 201943min

This episode of the Reluctant Agilist features an interview with Melissa Watts. Melissa works for Major League Baseball as a Technical Project Manager and acts in the capacity of ScrumMaster for a Scrum Team. During the interview, Melissa shares some of the experiences she has had working as a ScrumMaster over the last two years. In this conversation, we explore things like how hard it can be to move from being a member of the Dev Team to being a ScrumMaster in addition to how to run experiments and find different ways to get the members of your Scrum Team to gel and reach that high-performing state we are all aiming towards. Melissa and her team work in a very complex environment on a product that has to perform on a wide range of platforms and is not allowed to have any downtime. They are also faced with the added challenge of dealing with legacy systems and a significant amount of technical debt. If you are working as a ScrumMaster or curious about what the job is like, this podcast offers real-life stories and examples of the day-to-day challenges of the job, how to work through them, and how to pick yourself up and put yourself back together at the end of one of the bad days. If you'd like to contact Melissa with follow up questions: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/melissa-w-a9a9518

10 Nov 201934min