Sam speaks to three important members of the thriving Agile Community in Greece.

We discuss agility challenges, community and generally vibe around agile, where its been and where it might be heading.

Check out the Athens based Meetup that starting it all: https://www.meetup.com/Agile-Greece/

And be sure to connect with all three of these amazing agilists:

Yiannis Mavraganis
Vasilis Manolas
Nikos Batsios

One more thing:

• If you enjoyed this episode and enjoy the podcast in general, please give us a review, a rating, or comments on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or whatever your podcast app of choice may be. This helps other people find us and spread the love!
• Feel free to also contact Sam Zawadi directly if you have questions of any kind.
• You can view our beautifully simple website and write to us from there at www.unofficialagile.com

Happy International Women's Day - 2021!

We celebrate this this day with Magdalena Simonis, who is a prominent GP with many years of clinical  experience,  who sees a place for strengths-based coaching in complex organisations.

Magdalena is a  government health advisor, primary care researcher with the University of Melbourne and a leading women’s health expert and advocate.  Magdalena holds positions on several not-for-profit organisations bridging gaps across the health sector, whilst informing their health initiatives. 

She is President and National Coordinator of the Australian Federation of Medical Women, Medical Women’s international Association (MWIA) Scientific and Research Subcommittee co-Chair and chair of the MWIA Mentoring and Leadership group and is on the Expert Committee of Quality Care for the RACGP.   

Magdalena’s interests are in community health, chronic disease prevention and the development of sustainable, equitable healthcare services.

One more thing:

• If you enjoyed this episode and enjoy the podcast in general, please give us a review, a rating, or comments on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or whatever your podcast app of choice may be. This helps other people find us and spread the love!
• Feel free to also contact Sam Zawadi directly if you have questions of any kind.
• You can view our beautifully simple website and write to us from there at www.unofficialagile.com

Matt is a highly experienced practitioner, manager, coach , consultant and accredited trainer with a love of Lean Agile, Kanban, ITSM, Service Operations and Business Transformation.

With over 25 years working in a wealth of IT service roles and a decade of adopting, adapting and coaching Lean Agile practices in various organisations, Matt has facilitated transformations that have resulted in huge cost savings, improved service outcomes, increased quality and reduced variability with sharp increases in satisfaction for staff and stakeholders alike. Matt has taken this experience and shared it to become an active contributor to the Agile ITSM/DevOps movement, occasional blogger and conference speaker.

Organiser of online meetup group #LeanAgileUK
and Lean Agile Stockport Meetup Community (https://www.meetup.com/Lean-Agile-Stockport/)

Accredited Kanban Trainer (AKT), Kanban University

Contributor to VeriSM | Service Management for the Digital Age (https://www.verism.global/)

Licenced Agendashift Partner (www.agendashift.com)

getKanban simulation game workshop facilitation (www.getKanban.com)

Specialties:
Kanban, Lean Strategy, Agile, Scrum, Systems Thinking, ITIL Service Design, Transition & Operations, Continuous Service Improvement, Value Stream Mapping, Analytics - Service Metrics and Data Driven Decision Making

Website: http://www.hapus.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hapusITSM
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnermaround/

We talk with Milena Lolli, otherwise known as Mila.  A top notch product designer, Twitch Streamer, talkshow host and all round amazing person.

Mila demonstrates the importance of diversifying our work and gets personal on the Unofficial Agile Podcast!

Merch: https://www.milalolly.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/milenalolli/
Portfolio: milalolli.com/work
Twitch: Stream: twitch.tv/milalolli

One more thing:

• If you enjoyed this episode and enjoy the podcast in general, please give us a review, a rating, or comments on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or whatever your podcast app of choice may be. This helps other people find us and spread the love!
• Feel free to also contact either Sam Zawadi or Ali Asl directly if you have questions of any kind.
• You can view our beautifully simple website and write to us from there at www.unofficialagile.com 

We talk to Chris Stone - The Virtual Agile coach, about the Agile Manifesto, humans as resources, depression and more.

Chris's bio:

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙜𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝, Agile Evangelist / Agile Transformation Lead / Scrum Master possessing over 8 years experience within the IT industry.

𝘾𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 & 𝙐𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮, in my opinion should be critical to why we do things and how we choose to do them. In terms of metrics I subscribe to, you'll hear me talk less often about 'velocity' and 'lead times', and more about 'Days since last user engagement'. This to me is a more powerful metric, keeps us anchored to our vision and the problems we're trying to solve, and ensure we're frequently checking that we're on the right course.

I firmly believe in fostering an environment of autonomy for the teams and people I work. 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙟𝙤𝙗 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙩. If a team, or organisation are no longer reliant upon my input or support, I've been a success in my role.

Nobody should feel like Jira ticket machines. I actively seek for teams I work with to be presented with problems, challenges or opportunities with outcomes rather than pre-determined solutions. Those delivering the work 'in the trenches' are the experts and are best equipped to deliver the desired outcome.

I challenge those I work with to continually experiment, build hypotheses, predict an expected outcome, attempt something and learn by contrasting the actual vs expected outcomes. This isn't limited to software solutions, but also to processes & ways of working.

I don't expect perfection. People make mistakes, experiments don't go as planned. 𝙒𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚-𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 '𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙚' 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 '𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜'. If mistakes happen or things don't go to plan, learn from them and approach things differently next time. I aspire for those I work with to feel safe / brave enough to admit mistakes, "failures" or otherwise and leverage these as opportunities for improvement.

Follow Chris here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thevirtualagilecoach/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPkaxYqvk9rWDMo2KqKg0xQ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/virtual_agile
Website: https://www.thevirtualagilecoach.co.uk

One more thing:

• If you enjoyed this episode and enjoy the podcast in general, please give us a review, a rating, or comments on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or whatever your podcast app of choice may be. This helps other people find us and spread the love!
• Feel free to also contact either Sam Zawadi or Ali Asl directly if you have questions of any kind.
• You can view our beautifully simple website and write to us from there at www.unofficialagile.com 

We are at the forefront of urgent research to resolve and respond to COVID-19 across health, business, technology, governance, sustainability and more.

Join Sam Zawadi in a conversation with two scientists about their viral and immunity research and how the scientific community is making progress on COVID-19.

Please visit http://graslab.com.au/ to find out more about the research being done on viral and structural immunity.

Twitter: @GrasLab

About Professor Stephanie Gras

Professor Stephanie Gras is a Laboratory Head and NHMRC Senior Research Fellow at Monash University within the Biomedicine Discovery Institute. She is leading a laboratory of 10 members (staff and students) working on the T cell response towards infections with a primary focus on HIV and influenza. After a PhD in France focused on Structural Biology and T cells, she moved to Australia in 2007 to join Prof. Rossjohn lab at Monash University. A decade later she has established her research group focused on the understanding of the molecular mechanism and key event of an effective immune response.

She has successfully secured funding from both the ARC and NHMRC to support her lab, as well as been awarded the Dean’s award for Early Career researcher, and the Georgina Sweet Award for Women in Quantitative Biomedical Science. Stephanie has also been extremely successful at presenting her work at both national and international meeting, as well as publishing her research in high profile journals such as Nature, Nature Immunology, Immunity and Science Immunology. Stephanie has a passion for science and love to communicate with the scientific community as well as the public about her exciting findings.

About Dr Dimitra Chatzileontiadou

Research Fellow Dimitra Chatzileontiadou is a postdoctoral research fellow working at Monash University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace in Greece, and moved to the University of Thessaly in Greece to do her Master of Science on Molecular Biology and Genetics applications – diagnostic markers, in the Structural and Functional Biochemistry laboratory, at the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology under the supervision of A/Prof. Nikolaos Balatsos. Following her Master’s degree she completed her doctoral studies in the same laboratory performing biochemical studies on human Angiogenin under the supervision of Prof. Demetrios Leonidas. She was then awarded an IKY Fellowship for excellence of postgraduate studies in Greece – SIEMENS program 2017, as a research fellow in the same laboratory. Dimitra then moved to Australia to work at Monash University, firstly within the Rossjohn Laboratory under Prof. Jamie Rossjohn, and more recently in the newly established Gras laboratory under the mentorship of A/Prof. Stephanie Gras.

Dimitra is currently working on the field of anti-viral immunity using multisdisciplinary approaches, including biochemistry, molecular biology, crystallography and cellular/functional assays, in order to understand the immune system actions when facing with viral infections.

REQUEST: COVID-19 recovered people who want to donate blood for research can contact Stephanie on [email protected]

Kyrry is a certified Scrum Master and Agile Coach.

He specialises in transformation, everything from the team right up to the leadership especially in the finance sector.

As an Agilist he considers Agile as a workplace lifestyle choice. Challenging behaviours, encouraging new values that ultimately lead to a cultural paradigm shift.

Kyrry is a strong communicator and has a passionate approach to nurturing talent and allowing room for growth thereby fostering relationships that enable creative delivery.

The Hitchhikers Guide to Agile Coaching is a must for all coaches new and experienced.

One of his favourite films is Carlitos Way and is a big Arsenal fan.

You can reach Kyrry at his LinkedIn profile here. 

One more thing:

• If you enjoyed this episode and enjoy the podcast in general, please give us a review, a rating, or comments on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or whatever your podcast app of choice may be. This helps other people find us and spread the love!
• Feel free to also contact either Sam Zawadi or Ali Asl directly if you have questions of any kind.
• You can view our beautifully simple website and write to us from there at www.unofficialagile.com

Jenny uses curiosity, creativity, pragmatism and purpose to drive change, solve problems and communicate complex ideas in a human way.

Listen in as she shares her thoughts on helping people navigate their agile journey and why she is so passionate about improving the employee experience.

Jenny's emphasis is on people rather than process, and this conversation really brings out the human side of agile and of change. She is a story teller, passionate communicator and people connector. She brings a unique perspective and influence and inspire action through creative and strategic communications.

Jenny is a professional coach and change expert, with an ability to take on unique perspectives when designing and delivering meaningful human centred experiences. 

Jenny is at her best when working in highly dynamic environments, successfully navigating organisational and individual complexities. She is known for her ability to lead and contribute to successful outcomes that deliver value for people and the business.

Jenny's positive and pragmatic approach consistently demonstrates the benefits of business agility and her ability to explain new concepts and influence others to learn, adapt and experiment is something she is very passionate about.

You can reach Jenny via her LinkedIn profile.

One more thing:

• If you enjoyed this episode and enjoy the podcast in general, please give us a review, a rating, or comments on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or whatever your podcast app of choice may be. This helps other people find us and spread the love!
• Feel free to also contact either Sam Zawadi or Ali Asl directly if you have questions of any kind.
• You can view our beautifully simple website and write to us from there at www.unofficialagile.com

Vijesh is SAFe Agile, A-CSM, CSM, CSPO, Azure Fundamentals and ITIL Foundation certified, and has ​Experience working in Scrum, SDLC and ASAP methodologies. 

Passionate about Agile Coaching and Mentoring, Vijesh also has strong Stakeholder management skills.

He prides himself on his Strong oral, written and verbal communication, analytical, problem solving and decision-making skills, and loves attending meet-ups and networking and is active on LinkedIn. 

Vijesh says he loves the movie Ben-Hur (1959) starring Charlton Heston and has watched it probably 15 times!

He considers Extreme Programming Explained as the most influential Agile book in his life.

More about Vijesh:

With a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and an MBA in Project Management and loads of experience including leading and facilitating high-profile teams in high-pressure software releases, Vijesh has the experience, skills, and results-driven attitude to succeed.

He has 15+ years of overall experience in Banking, Pharma / Life Sciences and FMCG Domains, of which he has been a Scrum Master for the last 5 years, and over 12 years of experience working as an SAP BW Consultant for various clients. Most of his experience was gained in working with reputed clients across various locations, including Europe, Asia and Middle East regions.

Vijesh has worked a myriad of jobs including selling pizza vouchers, teaching C, C++, Java, HTML and Web technology, before working in the infrastructure space.

He turned a new chapter when he started working for IBM as an SAP BI consultant. His inquisitiveness led him to discover Agile and Scrum way of working and has been on a learning path of discovery ever since.

You can get Vijesh on LinkedIn here.

 One more thing:

• If you enjoyed this episode and enjoy the podcast in general, please give us a review, a rating, or comments on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or whatever your podcast app of choice may be. This helps other people find us and spread the love!
• Feel free to also contact either Sam Zawadi or Ali Asl directly if you have questions of any kind.
• You can view our beautifully simple website and write to us from there at www.unofficialagile.com 

With over 15 years of project experience, Lisa has worked in many different roles from a Project Coordinator to Business Analyst and now as a Change Manager. Lisa embraces her diverse experience leading the implementation of change through understanding people's journey to accept and transition through the change.

This year has been challenging for everyone and especially those who have found themselves out of work. Having contracted for a good part of her career, Lisa has developed some key strategies she adopts when finding her next role.

We hope by sharing these strategies you’ll discover some tips you can use yourself, or maybe after listening it confirms you are already on the right path. Either way it's only a matter of time before you get your next role.

You can connect to Lisa on LinkedIn.

One more thing:

• If you enjoyed this episode and enjoy the podcast in general, please give us a review, a rating, or comments on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or whatever your podcast app of choice may be. This helps other people find us and spread the love!
• Feel free to also contact either Sam Zawadi or Ali Asl directly if you have questions of any kind.
• You can view our beautifully simple website and write to us from there at www.unofficialagile.com