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Hands-on Introduction to Agile Product Development

Agile is how we think. It’s about how we behave. It’s about how we respond to a world which is changing at increasing speed, largely driven by the software revolution that started several decades ago.

To learn agile, we all need hands-on practice, more than we need to learn about technology or processes. Because agile is about how we behave, not about the theory.

In agile, we value ourselves – us the people! We value how we relate to each other and how we work with each other, more than we value the processes and tools we’ll always need to use. As such, we can practice agile in a way that applies to many different domains, by simulating product development using agile ways of working.

So come and join for a fast paced, hands-on experience, where you’ll learn about agile more broadly, and the scrum framework in particular.

You will also experience the development of an actual product or service using agile ways of working, including initial envisioning, refinement and the actual buildout of the product in simulated form.

Objective

• Explain the five Agile (Scrum) ceremonies: sprints, planning, daily scrum, reviews and retrospectives
• Understand who does what and why in each ceremony
• Understand the purpose and format of user stories
• Understand how user stories can be estimated using story points
• Create and refine product backlog items
• Create and demo a simple, simulated product that you build, for the rest of the class
• Understand how immediate product feedback leads to agile ways of making quick improvements
• Understand the Japanese concept SHU-HA-RI (learn the rule; break the rule; become the rule)
• and how it relates to the agile mindset

Outline

Morning

• Introduction to Agile (Scrum) – Part 1
• Decide Product (work in groups)
• Write User Stories – Part 1
• Sprint 1 (work in groups)
• Sprint Demo

Afternoon

• Introduction to Agile (Scrum) – Part 2
• Write User Stories – Part 2
• Sprint 2 (work in groups)
• Sprint Demo
• Sprint 3 (work in groups)
• Sprint Demo
• Retrospective & Wrap-up

Who should attend

• Individuals and teams including those at startups, SMEs and large organizations. Those low in agile maturity who know they need to transition from traditional project management but don’t know how to do it.
• Those who want to learn experience the agile mindset and its cultural values.
• Those interested in human centric skills such as empathy, compassion, trust & emotional intelligence: how do these skills relate to agile?
• Both those engaged with digital products, and those with more traditional physical products can benefit.

Methodology

• Practice the hands-on creation and development of a simulated product or service, most likely digital offering, using paper, flip charts and other written/recorded material.
• Emphasis on experiential practice in small, persistent groups. Facilitator leads context setting and presents new material. Also encourages group feedback and learning from each other throughout the class.
• As the day progresses, groups become increasingly familiar with the agile mindset shift and feel for themselves how powerful agile can be.

Testimonials

Ravi spent many years previously as a hands-on agile practitioner in financial services before transitioning to full time training. He has previously won highly rated internal awards for taking hundreds of colleagues through agile and has coached teams/individuals on real world challenges on the ground.

"You inspire all of us to stay curious, be open and keep learning"

"Thanks for this wonderful event! Love your passion"

"I had no idea agile was so natural and easy to learn. We all need to be doing much more of this at the company"

Profile of Ravi Agarwal

Business agility transformations in financial services; coach, facilitator and mentor for human centric leadership skills. Critical thinking, emotional intelligence, decision making, empathy, psychological safety

Ravi Agarwal, British born, raised and educated, has over 25 years’ experience in financial services and software engineering leadership roles around the world.
He believes the most powerful learnings happen when we touch the depth of our own humanity. When we do this authentically, it feels like magic. His facilitation style reflects this conviction. By engaging empathetically and individually with learners, whether one-on-one or in class settings, he allows people to uncover their depth, thereby bringing them into these precious learning zones for themselves.

Though intimate with information technology over several decades, he believes access to information can never allow you to flower to your greatest potential. So he focuses on the specifically human, character-centric skills. Emotional intelligence, critical thinking, paying attention, decision making in ambiguous contexts, empathy, psychological safety, mentoring & coaching are his life blood.

Not only does he create original content for such learning, he implicitly demonstrates the learning in real time via his facilitation techniques and who he is, so that attendees can absorb their learning from many dimensions. This is by far the best way to teach character skills.

So please join him. Learn how to blossom your humanity and your leadership journey in life, in the only way that really matters: your own.

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2. Hands-on Introduction to Agile Product Development (for teams) (full day)

3. First Time Manager - the basics. One on ones; feedback, coaching & delegation (for individuals) (two full days)

4. Psychological Safety & Leader Vulnerability – a 21st century super skill (for individuals & teams) (half or full day)

5. Manage your Personal Finances & Spending - A Layman’s Guide (half day) (individuals)

Ravi, a natural polymath, was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He is extremely grateful to have studied Mathematics, French & English Literature under the guidance of some extraordinarily gifted teachers. Though many years apart, he is proud to call both Isaac Newton (English polymath, world pioneering mathematician) & Lee Hsien Loong (former Singapore Prime Minister) his college alumni.