The Agile Coach Podcast

Joe Ziadeh is back in another value-packed episode of The Agile Coach with Vivek Khattri. Vivek and Joe will be diving into the art of estimation and will be exploring a lot of interesting bits and pieces today such as what is estimation, why do it, the right approach to estimate, amazing story points, and when teams should estimate. Tune in and learn more about estimation now.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The what and why of estimation
• Probabilistic vs. Deterministic approach
• Dissecting story points
• Utilizing the Fibonacci sequence
• Do's and Don'ts of Estimation
• The problem when comparing two teams
• When do teams estimate

QUOTES

Joe: “In the end, somebody's like, hey, I need to have this done by a certain time. And we estimate so that we can make sure that we get that stuff done.”

Joe: “What it's basically saying to an Agile team is, we're going to roughly size this work so that we can determine how long it will take.”

Joe: “When we're talking about agile estimation, what we're saying is, we're not going to take that gut feel we're going to instead focus on empirical estimation.”

Joe: “We're going to use the Fibonacci sequence to estimate our stories instead of just 1,2,3,4,5 level blah, and he was like, Okay, why? And they said ‘ ‘because the Fibonacci sequence is cool.”

Joe: “Never be afraid to change the stuff that your teams are doing. I mean, try it and see if it works. If it works, yeah, keep doing it.”

Joe: “That's what happens when you have two teams. So even if they're comparing the exact same task, no two teams have the exact same amount of experience with that task.”

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• About Joe
• About Balanced Agility
• Balanced Agility Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Dilip Ramachandran took the uphill journey to become a product manager, learned as much as he can, and now has reached the level he has wanted to achieve. Dilip is an author and now the Founder, CEO, and Chief Product Therapist of Nimi. Vivek and Dilip will be talking about his journey and the valuable lessons he learned along the way, only here in The Agile Coach.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Dilip's Professional Story
• The Uphill Journey To Product Management
• The Love Of Product Building
• The Learning Curve As A Product Manager
• Becoming An Analytical Leader
• Leadership Through Empathy
• Understanding Executive Presence

QUOTES

Dilip: “as you progress in your career later on, okay, my mindset was, well, I've been kind of taking, I've been kind of, you know, you know, benefiting from the system, how am I going to give back, what's the next phase of my life.”

Dilip: “I really thrive in a small environment where I'm building products, and creating products or ideating products.”

Dilip: “When you become a leader, your job is not in creating perfect estimates, your job is not be the person who knows all the answers, your job is to be the guide, your job is to be the person taking the team to the tunnel.”

Dilip: “Empathy is really not sympathy. Empathy is really trying to feel what somebody is going through. And you really can't feel what somebody's going through until you really are in their position.”

Dilip: “Figure out what you're really passionate about, and try your best to figure out your path, your purpose, it doesn't have to be perfect.”

Get to know Dilip and what he’s up to:

• About Dilip: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dilipramachandran/
• About Nimi: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nimidev/
• Nimi Website: https://nimidev.com/

Learn more about our host with the link below:

• Vivek Khattri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

It’s Round 2 in this latest episode of the Agile Coach, as Vivek Khattri once again welcomes Michelle Pauk, the Director for Agile Coaching and Kaizen Facilitation at Pfizer. Michelle will be sharing her views on resistance to change and how it affects Agile Transformation, her views on maintaining psychological safety, and the SCARF Model.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Resistance to change in leadership and teams
• Michelle on Psychological Safety
• The More Humane Way of Applying Agile
• Giving a good experience to your Agile team
• The SCARF Model

QUOTES

Michelle: “The studies that come out about Agile transformation and resistance to change are cited as one of the main reasons why Agile transformation isn't successful.”

Michelle: “I see my role as a change agent is to help people navigate through that process in a way that is humane and gentle and respectful of their choice throughout the entire process.”

Michelle: “There are many people who are just told you are going to be part of a scrum team, or you're, we're going Agile, buckle up, buttercup, and they, you know, and they're just, they're along for the ride, but they may not be really into it.”

Michelle: “SCARF is an acronym that stands for Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness.”

Learn more about Michelle in the link below:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-pauk-82a88316/

Learn more about our host with the link below:

• Vivek Khattri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Many people hesitate in getting into the Agile, Scrum, or Product Ownership career simply because they don’t have a background in tech or they come from a different industry. In this episode of The Agile Coach, Kevin King, a Sr. Product Owner for Data Analytics/Integration at Charter Communications will be sharing his story and prove that is not the case. Kevin hailed from a Sales career before getting into Agile and Product Ownership, which led him today to his very fulfilling career. Learn more about Kevin now, so tune in!

HIGHLIGHTS

• Kevin's professional career
• From Sales to Product Ownership
• Misconceptions in Agile and Scrum
• Product ownership requires learning
• Always ask if needed

QUOTES

Kevin: “I worked with I met some of my best friends that I still have today in sales. And it really made me a better person, to be honest, persevering through all the rejection and the hustle you have to have it really set me up for success in my current role.”

Vivek: “If you have the work ethic to work 50-60 hours and grind it out. If you can't do tech, you're gonna be really appreciated because, in my opinion, tech is there's a lot of work-life balance.”

Kevin: “One of the most common misconceptions about getting into the Agile space is that you need to have this glorious background of coding and what infrastructures look like.”

Vivek: “The challenge is not having the tech background, the challenge is you're not being adaptable, you're not being able to learn new stuff, you are not able to like listen to another Product Owner/Product Manager.”

Learn more about Kevin in the link below:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/king-kevin/

Learn more about our hosts with the link below:

• Vivek Khattri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/
• Pabitra Khanal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

In this latest episode of the Agile Coach, Vivek Khattri welcomes Michelle Pauk, the Director for Agile Coaching and Kaizen Facilitation at Pfizer. Michelle will be sharing her unlikely entry to the world of tech and her personal experience from her humble beginnings in Agile and Scrum, to the mindset shift of anticipating risks, to the struggles of being a new Scrum Master.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The start of Michelle's tech career
• Getting into Agile and Scrum
• Mindset shift of anticipation
• Struggles of being a new Scrum Master
• Coaching new Scrum Masters

QUOTES

Michelle: “We are drawn to the things that we need to learn, or we teach the things we need to learn. I think that is absolutely true.”

Michelle: “I guess the mindset shift for me was realizing like, as a project venue manager, I genuinely felt bad that I didn't anticipate that these things would happen.”

Michelle: “One of the things that I try to make space for people I'm mentoring or coaching to think about that reflects on that conversation, but also encouraging them to do some of that reflection work themselves.”

Michelle: “I would just say, you know, the learning process is very messy. Learning happens in the mess. And if you can be comfortable with that, like, you can know everything there is to know about agile, so is it really about you? This is about the team.”

Learn more about Michelle in the link below:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-pauk-82a88316/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Jolene Jangles is back!

Vivek Khattri and Pabitra Khanal welcome Jolene back in this latest episode of The Agile Coach! Jolene is a Transformation Coach and the CEO of Balanced Agility, a company dedicated to developing organizations' capabilities to use agile as a strategic business asset. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• About Balanced Agility
• Getting aligned with clients
• Effectively choosing leaders
• Scrum masters in new organizations
• What a Scrum master really is

QUOTES

Jolene: “So balance, agility, the concept, the name, really even try to convey our approach to everything that we do. So we mainly play in the space of training and coaching.”

Jolene: “It goes to an approach that we take in everything we do, really a balanced approach, as we took a look at what differentiates us from a lot of folks.”

Jolene: “It really starts with the very first conversation that you have with them. So way before the actual engagement. And this is going to vary for the role.”

Jolene: “When it comes to the balanced approach is going there is an understanding what is the job that they're looking for you to do? That's one of the things to know. And knowing if you're going in, where are they in?”

Jolene: “Being a great leader means being able to ask great questions. So when I interview folks, when I'm hiring for these roles, the questions that they ask are almost as important as the answers.”

Jolene: “My biggest tip for Scrum Masters is it's not about the Agile tools. They're just tools and techniques to get you there.”

Learn more about Jolene in the link below:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolene-jangles/
• Balanced Agility: https://www.linkedin.com/company/balanced-agility/
• Website: https://www.balancedagility.com/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

It’s round 2 of our two-part series of The Agile Coach, where Vivek Khattri welcomes a former colleague, Nikhil Nambiar. Nikhil was a former Lead Technical Instructor in the Agile Coach and is now a Senior Consultant for Slalom Consulting. Nikhil will be spending the time of this 2nd episode discussing the basic understanding a scrum master should have, and what is really important with the role of a scrum master.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Understanding API
• Know the basics, be curious
• What's important for Nikhil when interviewing
• Scrum Master problem solving
• Dealing with compliance problems
• Handling objections from other scrum masters
• What is DevOps

QUOTES

Nikhil: “No, you don't have to be technical to be a scrum master. But you need to have a certain level of understanding and certain level of curiosity around what technology is, and what are the things that developers go through in order to be a great scrum master.”

Nikhil: “It's not about knowing how to solve the problem. It's about identifying the problem. And getting the right people in the room to solve that problem.”

Nikhil: “Scrum Masters, first of all, don't even look at that as a problem. Because they'll go like, Oh, this is compliance. This is how the company operates.”

Nikhil: “Agile is not about perfection. So whatever you're trying to do here, is like, you need to view it from the lens of this team. Yeah, not from one Agile principle that has been followed in the industry.”

Nikhil: “DevOps, in general, is a team that is responsible for maintaining the infrastructure where code is deployed.”

Learn more about Nikhil in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nambiarnikhil/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Today is the first of a two-part series of The Agile Coach, where Vivek Khattri welcomes a former colleague, Nikhil Nambiar. Nikhil was a former Lead Technical Instructor in the Agile Coach and is now a Senior Consultant for Slalom Consulting. He will be sharing a bit of his background today and will talk about what Agile means to him, and the importance of quality in product development.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Nikhil’s work at Slalom
• Nikhil on working on code
• What agile means to Nikhil
• Bugs and businesses
• Ensuring quality in development

QUOTES

Nikhil: “I think there's a large perception of how developers view agile people is most likely because we have had poor Scrum Masters and poor product owners, or a lack of quality of resources, or people in those roles, brings about certain impressions.”

Nikhil: “So when I'm when we are developing things, a lot of times it is easy to get caught up in the details and to go into different rabbit holes, because the technology being a knowledge-based profession, especially for engineering, yeah, you can quickly start spiraling out into trying to make things perfect.”

Nikhil: “My opinion is that if you truly want to move quickly, you are going to have issues with your application. And that is something that you need to accept as normal.”

Nikhil: “even though, yeah, the fact is that there are going to be issues, that does not mean that as developers, we shouldn't be improving the quality of our application, our overarching goal still needs to be that we need to deliver high-quality solutions in a timely manner.”

Vivek: “I've been a product person, and we don't need a perfect architecture, we don't need perfectly clean code, we just need something to put it out there.”

Learn more about Nikhil in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nambiarnikhil/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

It’s round 3 with Senior Director of Agile Coaching and Kaizen Lead for Pfizer, Matt Philip in this exciting new episode of The Agile Coach. In this episode, Matt will be sharing his views on the Iron Triangle, Fitness for purpose, the significance of experimentation, and many more. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Iron Triangle Model
• The other triangle: ROI, Sentiment, and Fitness
• Importance of experimentation
• Integrating the possibility of failure

QUOTES

Matt: “I think that the whole Iron Triangle of project management back in the day was it served some, some benefits. There was there's some rigor around managing processes, managing projects, there's a lot of good stuff there.”

Matt: “The most important thing is whether someone will actually use this product and how quickly they'll use it. “

Matt: “ Only the customer, only the consumer can define if it's fit for their purpose.”

Matt: “We see this a lot, whether it's software or otherwise, people are afraid to change stuff because they don't know what they're going to break.”

Learn more about Matt in the link below:

• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/matthewphilip
• Website: mattphilip.wordpress.com/
• Twitter: mattphilip

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and interested in learning more, you can check us out in the Link below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

It’s round 2 with Senior Director of Agile Coaching and Kaizen Lead for Pfizer, Matt Philip in this exciting new episode of The Agile Coach. In this episode, Matt will be sharing with Vivek a little overview of the “8 Stances of a Scrum Master”, and gets down to the details about the “Coaching Stance”. Our duo will also be discussing why it is important to quantify goals when coaching a team. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Matt’s leadership model
• The 8 stances of a scrum master
• Matt on the Coaching Stance
• Why it’s good to quantify things

QUOTES

Matt: “I think there's some great stuff that we can learn from our friends who do experience design as a professional.”

Matt: “I've also found a lot of coaches including myself, it's hard for us to really feel like the sense of accomplishment because it's like this a soft thing. I'm helping other people succeed. But how do I know if I succeeded?”

Matt: “It's actually quite meaningful for a coach, I think, to be able to say, ‘ ‘Alright, here's the quantified value of what I've helped me this to do. And it creating small experiments to get us toward that bit.”

Learn more about Matt in the link below:

• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/matthewphilip
• Website: mattphilip.wordpress.com/
• Twitter: mattphilip

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and interested in learning more, you can check us out in the Link below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc