Agile Development Blog

I taught a public Certified ScrumMaster class in Boulder recently, and was struck yet again by how many folks had burning questions about how to manage multi-team programs with Agile.

Technically, the CSM is an introductory course, designed to give the basics of Scrum sprints and releases and of how to lead Scrum teams.  More and more, though, I find that people feel the need to at least understand how Agile works at scale, even as they begin to implement Agile for a single team.  “Tough Questions” from the class included: “How to collaborate with non-Agile teams on a single project,” and “How to handle coordination between multiple Scrum teams.”

I began to answer these questions during last week’s webinar: “The Secret to Coordinating Multi-Team Agile Programs.” In the webinar, I described why Agile teams have the advantage when it comes to quality, value *and* coordination in multi-method programs.  I also gave some practical tips for making coordination and integration work.

I was really excited to be joined on the webinar by Srikrishna Gopalakrishnan, eBay Senior Product Development Manager. I had the good fortune to work closely with Sri when we were launching eBay’s first Agile program.  Sri talked about what it’s really like not only to make the coordination work, but also to change the way you lead and manage, along with putting a different kind of energy into motivation.  Sri and I got to tell our stories, adding real-world experience to make sense of textbook Agile.

I invite you to listen to and watch the recorded webinar.  And, for those of you who listened and submitted questions, answers are on their way shortly.