Key Themes at IIL’s 2020 Agile and Scrum Online Conference
By Sander Boeije
June 4th, 2020 will mark the opening day of IIL’s 5th annual Agile & Scrum Online Conference. In the past years, this conference has grown into a community of agile enthusiasts, with participants coming from all over the world and all kinds of industries. This year is no different, as #AgileCon2020 promises to be an outstanding learning experience once again. As is to be expected, the current health crisis has influenced many of the presentations this year; however, it’s rarely the main topic of a session because even amid a pandemic, agile is about adapting to change and delivering value.
This article will take you through the key themes that will emerge at Agile & Scrum 2020. Let’s dive right in.
Agile Transformation and Disruption
If there ever was a time for business agility, it is now. Organizations in all industries and across the entire globe have been forced to make radical changes in how they operate. This, of course, is due to the disruption caused by the current ongoing global health crisis which is impacting the way we interact with the world and each other. The ability to pivot and continue to deliver value to your customers has never been so important to the success of your organization. It seems that ‘Being Agile’ has become a must and it is imperative to understand how to make this Agile Transformation happen.
For more on this theme, be sure to watch the keynote presentations by Dean Leffingwell from Scaled Agile Inc., and Darrell Rigby from Bain & Company, as well as the presentations by Avi Schneier, Jesse Fewell, and Dave Sharrock.
Culture and Innovation
A second emergent theme is the need to have a strong Agile and Innovative culture within the heart of your organization. During a time of major disruption, such as we are experiencing today, applying a certain framework, running sprints, doing daily standups, or other agile events might help your team to navigate this crisis (see also the last theme discussed in this article). However, it’s the underlying widespread belief in Trust, Communication, Innovation, and Continuous Improvement that truly moves the organization forward.
Join the keynote sessions by Scott Ambler, Vice President and Chief Scientist of Disciplined Agile at PMI, and Corgibytes’ Andrea Goulet, as well as the presentations by Shaaron Alvares and Oscar Roche to learn ways in which you can build an innovative agile culture into the core of your team or organization.
Personal Agility
A third theme that is surfacing at this year’s event is Personal Agility. Where the emphasis of Agile is mostly on teams and organizations, the individual can oftentimes be overlooked – strange, since it is these individuals who make up those same teams and organizations! And especially during a time where people might become disconnected from others, a check-in with oneself and one’s agility is incredibly relevant.
This is a central theme in the sessions by Betsy Kauffman and Louria Lindauer, and it is mentioned in several other presentations as well.
Agile Methods & Techniques
The final theme is perhaps more miscellaneous, as it relates to various kinds of agile methods and techniques that help teams to be high-performing, work with stakeholders, and deliver value to the customer. For example, keynote speaker Patricia Kong from Scrum.org will explain how you can measure the value of the outcomes that you deliver using metrics that work for you. Renee Liken, Product Owner at FordLabs of Ford Motor Company, will provide a practical way on how you can get meaningful feedback from your users. Keith Wilson will give you a comprehensive overview of Kanban. Andrea Fryrear and Jamie Champagne provide insight in agile marketing and agile analysis, respectively. And Tom Friend discusses several excellent techniques on how to manage conflict. In each case, you’ll walk away from the session with fresh ideas for yourself, your team, and your organization.
We are grateful to our sponsors for making this event possible. These organizations include AXELOS, Cisco, Sabre, SITA, FordLabs, Scrum Inc., Scaled Agile Inc., APMG, PDUs2Go, Steven’s Institute of Technology, ModernAnalyst, TWI Institute, AgileSherpas, Corgibytes, Champagne Collaborations, Success Agility LLC, and more.
