Agile, Scrum, and Kanban: Making your processes work for you, March 9

Who: General Assembly
Where: GA Hq
When: March 9, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm
What: You’ve probably heard of Agile, Scrum, and/or Kanban. Agile is just a concept, whereas Scrum and Kanban are two different methodologies for tracking and achieving progress on a project.
This class will cover the basics of how to organize and lead projects (software and non-software alike) in an Agile manner. We’ll discuss the principles behind the Agile concept, and then get down to looking practically at:
How to break down complex problems into smaller, achievable tasks
Estimating relative level of effort for those tasks
Force-ranking tasks into a backlog of items that deliver the most business value possible with the allotted resources
How to build and maintain a task board that informs everyone involved the actual status of the project in real-time
How to satisfy stakeholders by delivering estimated timelines and planning releases
The differences between Scrum and Kanban
Why you might choose Scrum or Kanban, or even hybridize the two together into Scrumban
The day-to-day activities of leading an Agile project, including prescribed meetings and communications
Adaptations for running an Agile team inside a Waterfall project or organization
How to lead Agile teams when you have no direct authority over individuals

Takeaways

Understand how to design a process for your team that will give you the best chance of success.
Learn how to work better with both individual team members, and stakeholders who just care about the end product.

Prereqs & Preparation

It’s helpful, but not required, for you to have worked on a team that collaborated on a project to completion.

About the Instructor
Paul is a project manager who thrives on challenge and solving significant problems. He utilizes Agile and Lean principles to break down unnecessary systems and get to the root of issues early and often. He uses his practical decision-making skills to balance the different and sometimes conflicting needs of business. Paul’s educational background is in both engineering and management, and it helps him to understand problems from multiple perspectives.
Paul brings years of experience working different roles in software teams including testing, development, design, and product management. He has led both collocated and distributed teams on impactful client projects, including delivering a robust mobile point-of-sale app for Nike’s 200+ North American stores. His industry experience ranges from retail to healthcare, from consumer entertainment to manufacturing.