Part 1:

Agile teams around the world are trying to find the answers to some burning questions:

• Should we do Scrum or should we do Kanban?
• Is one better suited for certain types of teams?
• Do we have to progress through one before being ready for the other?
• Is there a good hybrid? (What’s this thing called Scrumban?)

If you’re asking similar questions, this introduction of Scrumban will demystify what many have made an unnecessarily complex debate.

Part 2:

As engineers we want to help solve problems effectively. As Agilists we want to improve continuously. Some familiar tools to help us achieve these ends include feedback loops through retrospectives and operations reviews. But these tools rarely help us answer the question of what we should focus on improving:

• Should you improve in every suggested area teams identify?
• What’s the minimum level of understanding that needs to be achieved before pressing forward with improvement efforts?

Far less familiar in the world of IT, but proven to be incredibly effective in other realms, is the a disciplined approach to problem solving by employing techniques associated with A3 Thinking. Made famous by Toyota, A3 Thinking emphasizes data driven techniques to effectively solve important problems and sustainably improve work processes. In this portion of our presentation, we’ll walk you through the technique as adapted for knowledge work and introduce you to another weapon in your arsenal for problem-solving.

About the speaker:

Your speaker for these topics is Ajay Reddy, an LKU (Lean Kanban University) Accredited Trainer and coach. He’s helped organizations apply Scrum, Kanban and Scrumban at enterprise scale, and is ready to share his experiences with you in this presentation. His book, ScrumbA3n – Journeys from Mess to Success, is scheduled to be published later this year.

Ajay is an associate of David J. Anderson & Associates (regarded as the father of the Kanban Method), founder of Code Genesys.com (a Kanban-Agile IT solutions boutique), and co-founder of ScrumDo.com (a cloud-based project management tool for Scrum teams).

He enjoys spending time with his family, following the Indian national cricket team, and catching a Boston Bruins game every now and then. You can engage with Ajay on Twitter at @ajrdy, on the web at http://scrumban.io, or at local tech meetup groups in Boston and Worcester.