Fundamentals of Lean Software Delivery - Workshop by Steven Borg & Cheryl Hammond

This pre-conference workshop (additional registration required) provides a full day covering Lean Software Delivery by industry expert Steven Borg, principal consultant and cofounder of Northwest Cadence and Cheryl Hammond, ALM Consultant for Northwest Cadence.

Who should attend

This course is targeted primarily at mid- to senior-level managers who are interested in optimizing cycle times, creating a culture of accountability and innovation, and consistently delivering value to their stakeholders.

Workshop Outline

• Part 1: Lean Product/Software Development Core Principles
• Part 2: Cultural Implications of the Lean Approach
• Part 3: Techniques for Fostering a Lean Mindset

Get the facts on lean software development. Have you ever wondered why agile works? Do you want to go beyond the Agile Manifesto and examine the theoretical underpinnings of the agile movement? Have you questioned what to do when the "industry standard" agile practice fails to have the desired effect in your organization? We’ve been there, too. Join Northwest Cadence experts as they go beyond the rhetoric and offer practical tips that your team can implement today. They examine some of the core principles behind the agile and lean movements, along with the economics that support them.

Workshop Goals

Attendees will gain an understanding of the differences between team and enterprise agility, and the essential agile and Lean principles needed above the team level. Be able to map an enterprise Kanban structure suitable for their organization, and definitions of done at various levels of the hierarchy. Know how to effectively communicate an economic decision-making framework to support self-organization across multiple teams and products.

About the Presenters

Steven Borg is the Co-Founder and Principal ALM Consultant of Northwest Cadence. He has been a Microsoft ALM MVP since product inception in 2005, speaks regularly at software development and Visual Studio conferences and has authored Microsoft courseware and white papers on Team Foundation Server, regulatory compliance in software development, Scrum and lean. Steven has helped hundreds of organizations, both large and small, adopt Visual Studio ALM tools to improve their software development process, reduce costs, increase quality and speed delivery dates. His expertise lies in bringing successful lean and agile adoption to companies currently using traditional project management techniques. Steve also holds several other credentials including MCP, MCSD, MCT and Certified Scrum Master (CSM).

Cheryl Hammond, a.k.a. bsktcase, has more than 14 years’ experience as a software developer in the private and public sectors. She led her team’s successful adoption of Scrum-ban for a mission-critical regulatory compliance project under multi-agency state and federal government oversight, and mentored former COBOL devs into true-believing unit-testing XP evangelists, all of which leads her to believe that anything is possible. She is not sorry for her many biases, including strong preferences for servant-style leadership and team-based, holistic problem-solving and a strong aversion to agile zealotry. Cheryl leads the Northwest Cadence Practices Team, focusing on the ways in which agility, architecture, and test practices improve the lives of developers, strengthen teams, and deliver better software.

More about Northwest Cadence

Northwest Cadence is a national leader in Microsoft ALM and Software Process solutions. Recognized by Microsoft as a Gold ALM Partner, Northwest Cadence focuses exclusively on Application Lifecycle Management with clients across the globe. With experience providing consulting services on Microsoft ALM Tools dating back to product inception (VSTS 2005), Northwest Cadence has actively worked with clients and Microsoft on product development, implementation, and process incorporation. Northwest Cadence has a solid commitment to honesty and excellence. This commitment coupled with the vast experience means Northwest Cadence clients know to expect an exceptional experience every time.

Quotes from past workshop attendees

• “Probably the single most useful part of the entire conference for me.”
• "Excellent session with very applicable content.”
• “This was an excellent session. Not about the tools, but about the processes, and how to go back to our organizations and begin to implement some of the move towards agile processes. It really helped me understand how to begin the transition, just one step at a time. I've been facing the insurmountable task of making a huge change, but now understand better how to begin in small steps to effect change.”
• "The session was really informative with emphasis on ALM and a lot of real world examples…”
• "This session was able to boil: Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, and Scrum into one simple and easy to understand format that can be used as a starting point for any one new to Agile, or a stepping block for those that want to move it to the next level…”

For more information

If you have additional questions about the Enterprise Agility workshop, please contact steven.borg@nwcadence.com.