Archive for the ‘Training’ Category

• Accelerated Learning

  Date: 2012.04.27 | Category: Class Design, Training | Response: 0

  Over the past couple of weeks, I have been working with Andrea Tomasini (@tumma72) from agile42 to develop an overview session of the 4C’s and Accelerated Learning. We are co-facilitating a session in advanced of the Atlanta Scrum Gathering to teach the other Certified Scrum Trainers and Certified Scrum Coaches the concepts in Training From the Back of the Room (TFBR).  I have really enjoyed working with Andrea since he is a very experienced consultant and quite knowledgable with TFBR.

  One of the concepts from TFBR that I had overlooked, but was reminded again when working with Andrea, was the importance of Accelerated Learning (AL).  AL forms the foundation of TFBR since it creates the community space where the learners can connect with one another and activate the all-important peer-to-peer learning.  The basic tenants of AL are:

  • Learning involves the body as well as the mind.
  • Learning is fundamentally an act of creation, not consumption of information.
  • Learning takes place on many levels at once in the human brain and is not a linear, one-thing-at-a-time brain activity.
  • Collaboration increases learning; isolation and competition decreases it.
  • Learning occurs through active doing, with time for reflection and feedback not passive listening.
  • Positive emotions and mental imagery improve learning; the lack of both inhibits learning.

  In the Resources section of this site, I have added a mark-up which describes AL and shows how Sharon Bowman has linked these concepts to the 4C’s from TFBR.  Please feel free to use this document if you need to provide an overview of the AL and the 4C’s.

• What is a ScrumMaster?

  Date: 2012.04.04 | Category: Class Design, Scrum, ScrumMaster, Training | Response: 0

  I have been working with a colleague to develop a new course for ScrumMasters (and other Agile change agents) and we were talking about possible objectives for this course, who would attend and what is missing from our current offerings that this class could provide.  As we discussed these ideas we started to talk about just what is a ScrumMaster and what are they expected to do.  In my CSM classes, I use Bernd Schiffer’s “42 Tasks for a ScrumMaster” to explain the concept a ScrumMaster is a full-time job.  This is very useful, but does not identify what roles the ScrumMaster plays and my colleague and I had a very interesting dialogue on the various hats the ScrumMaster is expected to wear.

  1. Visionary – has a specific point-of-view and is passionate about what they see as the future for their team and organization.  As a visionary, a ScrumMaster could be an evangelist or an individual who possesses the calm confidence of knowing what they really want.
  2. Facilitator - while a ScrumMaster must have a point-of-view of vision, when they work with a self-organizing team they must be neutral.  When they are acting as the facilitator, they create the space for collaboration and self-organization to occur and refrain from providing content.
  3. Leader – since the ScrumMaster works in the space of “no authority”,  they need to draw followers to them through the power of their ideas, the strength of their conviction and the ability to communicate their vision.
  4. Mentor – one of the strengths of a ScrumMaster is that they care and respect the people they come into contact with each day.  In order to excel as a mentor, a ScrumMaster devotes much of their day building genuine, personal relationships with everyone they interact with.
  5. Teacher –  ScrumMasters need to possess a deep understanding of Scrum, be knowledgable on the current set of Agile variants (XP, Crystal, DSDM, Kanban, Lean for Software, etc.) and provide thoughtful answers on how to apply Scrum outside the lines.  I expect a ScrumMaster to be comfortable explaining Scrum in a variety of ways, in a variety of forums, to variety of roles and to a variety of people with different levels of understanding about Scrum and Agile.
  6. Coach - sometimes people need “an answer” and sometimes people need help finding the solutions to the challenges on their own.  A skilled ScrumMaster knows the difference and can regularly create effective coaching conversations which produce actionable results.
  7. Change Agent – Scrum is much more than a set of activities or practices we do at work.  Scrum is about change.  As a change agent, the ScrumMaster brings change to all parts of the organization and socializes the impact of change with stakeholders.
  8. Expert Communicator – Scrum is about having the more interesting conversation, the conversation that we need to have and about fostering a dialogue about how to improve.  To support this, the ScrumMaster must model the crucial skills necessary to start and maintain dialogue.

  One of the things we noticed in our conversation was this role of ScrumMaster does not exist in organizations today and many of these roles are in conflict with one another.  In most businesses today, there is no one person who does all these things.  Some people might do some of these activities sporadically but no one does all of them all the time.

• Fourteen Observations of Good Scrum Practice

  Date: 2012.03.21 | Category: Agile, Certified ScrumMaster, Personal, Scrum, Tools | Response: 0

  My courses are deliberately designed to exclude PowerPoint presentations and focus on the peer-to-peer interactions, but I recognize that a significant number of students need something physical to take from the class and review later.  In addition, there is no possible way for me to cover every topic the same way in a two-day CSM class, so I needed something for the learners to refer to as a reminder on how to do Scrum well.  As a result, early last year I wrote a book on Scrum – Fourteen Observations of Good Scrum Practice – as teaching aid for my CSM classes.  From the learners I have spoken with, they find the book to be a useful summary of the main concepts in the class, a handy reminder of what we discussed and short introduction to Scrum that they can share with other people at work.  When you attend one of my CSM class, you receive a complementary copy.

  I have a lot of interest in helping the Spanish speaking Scrum community grow and there is\was a complete lack of books on Scrum written in Spanish or English language books that had been translated into Spanish.  Now no more!  Earlier this year I published a Spanish translation – Catorce Observaciones para la Práctica de un Buen Scrum - of my book.  It was a lot of work, but now there is a high-quality book on the subject for Scrum for my Spanish speaking friends.  My translator, Diana Perez, was awesome and did a great job.

  Finally, I want to thank Chris Sims at Agile Learning Labs for inspiring me to write my own book on Scrum plus explaining to me how easy it is to publish a book on your own.  Without Chris’s inspiration, this book would not be widely available.

   

• The 4C’s

  Date: 2011.10.20 | Category: Certified ScrumMaster, Class Design, Scrum, Training | Response: 0

  Right before Agile 2011, I had the opportunity to co-train a CSM course with an awesome candidate to join the ranks of Certified Scrum Trainers, Karen Greaves.  One of the reasons why I was interested in training with Karen is that she has been applying many of the Training From the Back of the Room (TFBR) concepts that I have been very curious about and looking to apply in my course.  I was curious to see how another practitioner would take these concepts and use them to teach Scrum.

  The most visible benefit of my collaboration with Karen was for me to “4C” my training plan for my CSM course.  4C is an acronym that stands for “Connection, Content, Concrete Practice, Conclusion” and they are framework for an instructor to help design their class that  leverages TFBR and Accelerated Learning.  The 4C’s are described in more detail below:

  • Connections: This is the beginning or opening of a training.  It can also include pre-training time as well.  During the Connections step, learners make connections with what they already know, or think they know, about the training topic.  They also make connections with what they will learn or want to learn with the other learners in the training group, and with you, the trainer.
  • Concepts: This is the direct instruction, lecture or presentation part of a training,  During the Concepts step, learners take in new information in multi-sensory ways: hearing, seeing, discussing, writing, reflecting, imagining, participating and teaching it to others.
  • Concrete Practice: This is the active review that usually follows information delivery.  During the Concrete Practice step, learners actively practice a new skill using the new information, participate in an active review of what they have learned and again teach others what they know or can now do.
  • Conclusions: This is the wrap-up or closing part of a training.  It can also include post-training time as well.  During the Conclusions step, learners summarize what they have learned, evaluate it, make a commitment to use it at work or in their lives and end with a short celebration of their learning experience.

  From my experience with Karen and applying the 4C’s on my own, the framework offers instructors two powerful advantages:

  1. Your course immediately becomes modular.  Each learning objective  is achieved by connecting the learners to the topic, teaching them content, allowing them opportunities of concrete practice to try out the material on their own and closes with a conclusion before moving to the next learning objective.  Your course then becomes just a series of 4C’s that knocks down one learning objective after another.
  2. The 4C’s provide a fantastic diagnostic tool to help you improve your course.  Since the class is now modular, if a connecting activity is not working, you can switch it.  Content section is too long?  Move to concrete practice sooner.  As instructor, I felt that I had really good content and concrete practice exercises, but my courses were weak on connections and conclusions.  Look to Sharon Bowman’s book – The Ten Minute Trainer – for over 150 exercises and activities that help with these areas..

• Font Matters

  Date: 2011.01.19 | Category: Class Design, Training | Response: 1

  I came across this article today about the importance of font to improve reading comprehension.  In the past four months, I have been doing a LOT of instructional design for the variety of classes my business now offers.  Much of this work is based on Sharon Bowman’s awesome, awesome book, Training from the Back of the Room, and one of the six trumps that is relevant regarding font selection for class material is below:

  Different trumps the same

  I have been mixing up fonts in my handouts because I felt if I used a standard font, it would be sightly inconsistent with the classroom experience I am trying to create.  In all my classes, I work to create a learning environment where peers are sharing experiences with another and interacting with the material.  The variety of fonts on a page were just another manifestation of my training philosophy.  Glad to hear it actually helps with retention.

• Training From the Back of the Room

  Date: 2010.12.14 | Category: Class Design, Personal, Training | Response: 0

  Earlier this year, Bob Hartman mentioned this really interesting book on his Twitter feed (@agileforall) – Training From the Back of the Room.  One of the most interesting parts of this book to me is that the author, Sharon Bowman, talks about a completely different teaching paradigm – in this paradigm the instructor’s job is to facilitate the learners’s education rather than just deliver content.  Most of the classroom experience of the the learners is spent interacting with one another, completing activities which reinforce the lessons provided by the instructor and putting into practice the tools and skills they just learned.

  This idea of training from the back of the room is very intriguing to me.  In the past, I had a very traditional classroom which focused on me giving lecture to the students.  Unfortunately, I was not entirely satisfied with the results and was looking for something more interesting and more powerful.  Earlier this year I had a chance to participate and host a Welfare CSM course with Tobias Mayer and saw that one can create real change with the students through a completely interactive and immersive classroom experience WITHOUT one Powerpoint slide.  Since June, I have been trying out a number of activities from this book to help improve my Scrum trainings.  From my initial experiments so far, I noticed that I spend a lot less time talking and the learners seem more engaged in the learning experience.

• Review of Scrum Training on Nov 10th

  Date: 2010.11.16 | Category: Scrum, Training | Response: 1

  Last week, I conducted a one-day Scrum training in Irvine with Conscires.  The class was completely sold out and a great deal of fun.  Catherine Augustin wrote up an awesome review of the class.  Don’t worry if you missed out on all the fun – we are holding another class in January.

• Scrum Training – Nov 10th in Irvine, Orange County

  Date: 2010.10.28 | Category: Scrum, Training | Response: 0

  Bachan Anand and I will be partnering on Nov 10th to teach a one-day course on Scrum.  In this class we will teach the principles and practices that make Scrum effective at managing projects.  The following elements will be covered during the one day course:

  • Scrum in Practice: the course is designed to illustrate Scrum in action.
  • Understanding of the Agile Manifesto and what it means to them.
  • Essence of Scrum: values, foundations and a new way of thinking.
  • Understanding how Scrum values and foundations are related to the practices.
  • Get a sense of what self-organization is (and is not).
  • Can draw a diagram of mechanics of Scrum: framework, roles, artifacts & flow

  Together we will use the principles of Scrum to organize and deliver the course material.  Learning outcomes will be driven by the needs of the participants through a combination of expert instruction and self-directed learning.  Opportunities to reflect-and-adapt on the direction of the class will be offered at regular intervals and adjustments will be made.  At the end of the training, the participants will have the confidence and understanding to begin to socialize Scrum at their own organization and support teams in improving their processes.

  The cost is only $275.  Please sign-up today!

• Estimating & Planning for Agile Teams – Oct 2nd

  Date: 2010.09.12 | Category: Agile, Estimating & Planning, Extreme Programming, Planning, PMI, Scrum, Training | Response: 0

  Having trouble communicating deadlines to stakeholders?  Unable to get a commitment from the Team on when work will actually be delivered?  Having trouble managing dependencies?  Agile processes, like Scrum and Extreme Programming, rely on lightweight techniques to progressive guide and steer a project to completion.  In this hands-on workshop, Carlton Nettleton will review the common Agile tools used by successful Teams to produce project plans which have clear milestones and deliverables and raises risks and dependencies early.  The topics covered in this class will include:

  • Importance of creating a Definition of Done for the Team
  • The role of user stories to capture, develop and validate requirements.
  • Common estimating techniques employed by Teams.
  • How to develop and maintain a Release Plan to track progress.
  • How to use easy-to-understand Agile metrics to monitor status.
  • Link common Agile planning practices to the PMBOK.

  Participants that are PMP will earn 4 PDU.  Register today!

• Reading List (1st Half of 2010)

  Date: 2010.08.23 | Category: Agile, Coaching, Communication, Documentation, Lean, Personal, Retrospectives, Scrum, ScrumMaster, Team, Tools, Training, Transitions | Response: 0

  Wow!  I have read a LOT in the last six months!  I guess that is one of the advantages of being on the road for about six months.

  1. Understanding A3 Thinking – excellent description of how to use and create an A3: a Lean tool for executing Plan-Do-Check-Act (the Deming cycle).  This is the definitive source on A3, Henrik Kniberg has an Agile example and template on his site.
  2. Getting the Right Things Done – good description of the concept of True North, developing strategy from True North and the respectful nature of Lean, the rest is kinda dull.
  3. Pedagogy of the Oppressed – unique perspective on the characteristics of oppression, the oppressed and the oppressors; liberation for both the oppressed and the oppressors originates when the oppressed become fully engaged in the human dialogue of being, not simply exchanging roles with the oppressors.  Interesting connections to corporate life in the 21st century.
  4. Project Retrospectives – discussion on the importance of making a deep-dive examination of a software project when it finally is complete with detailed exercises and agenda.  This is great book if you want to know more about retrospectives.
  5. More Secrets of Consulting – just brilliant!  If you liked the first book, this one has so many practical gems for the consultant.  The only tedious parts of this book are the references to his other books.  My favorite tool: the Wishing Wand.
  6. The Future of Management – this book was a favorite of the CEO at my last client.  There are many Scrum concepts in the case studies provided.  Too bad that many of the principles of self-organization and empowerment supported by the executives never filtered down to the teams
  7. Coaching Agile Teams – WOW!  This is an awesome book, deep and rich with many profound insights on the various roles of an Agile coach.  In addition, Lyssa provides practical tools to improve both the coach and the individual.  This is definitely a book to return to again and again.
  8. Training From the Back of the Room – this is my favorite book from the last six months since it has had the most impact on my personal performance.  It has changed my perspective on how to train adults with its sound theory of education and myriad of exercises which bolster learning.  Share this book with anyone who trains adults (thanks to “Agile Bob” Hartman for tweeting this book title!)
  9. Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development – comprehensive companion book to Scaling Lean & Agile Development (which is very good on Lean and Scrum).  This book is full of good stuff, but just too long.  Unless you are a guru (or wanna be), stick with the first book.
  10. Succeeding with Agile – Mike Cohn has put out another great book based on his years of practical experience with Scrum.  This book is also pretty long, but not tedious.  A great read if you have some experience with Scrum, but want to improve the overall experience, apply targeted improvements or figure out how to expand the reach of Scrum in your organization – it covers it all.
  11. The Back of the Napkin – provides a framework on how to apply visual thinking tools to explain and sell ideas.  Since most of the work I do is conceptual, being able to draw a powerful picture is a useful skill.  A nice addition to my consultant toolkit and I look forward to sharing it with others (I didn’t find the companion book that useful, so skip it).
  12. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series (not pictured) – these books were consistently entertaining, surreal and light; most were less than 200 pages.  The pace slows down around book 3 (Life, the Universe and Everything), but delightful nonetheless.  I cannot believe I just discovered them in my mid-30′s!

  Believe it or not, there are a few books I did not get a chance to read.  I guess these will have to wait until after vacation.

  • Leading Out Loud – about finding your authentic voice in business.  I bought this to get some ideas about leadership and self-organizing teams.
  • Hope is Not a Strategy – I need to understand the sales process better and improve my ability to sell.  This looked interesting.