Using the game "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes", we'll explore and highlight teamwork, communication, developing shared language, creating a shared understanding, and so much more. This session will be an interactive session for a small group, with other observing; with multiple rounds, pretty much anyone and everyone who wants to participate will be able to, but no one will be forced to participate! This is a very practical team activity, which easily scales beyond the team, and works well in-person, but even better with distributed teams as we explore the ways we need to interact when not co-located.

Using the game "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes", we'll explore and highlight teamwork, communication, developing shared language, creating a shared understanding, and much more. This session will be an interactive session for a small group, with other observing, however with multiple rounds, anyone and everyone who wants to participate will be able to! This is a very practical team activity, which easily scales beyond the team, and while it works well in-person, it's even better with distributed teams as we explore the ways we interact and communicate when not co-located.

Join a panel of Agile Coaches for a discussion as to what we've seen, both the good and bad, in organizations they've been coaching. And, what you can do about it, no matter where you are in your organization. Plus, bring your own questions to ask this panel, and take from the experiences of coaches including Glenn Waters, Ellen Grove, Omar Bermudez, Jesus Mendez, John Tobin, and Michael Kaufman.

Over the last two years, Capital One Canada has been on a Lean & Agile transformation journey across our entire business. We're still on our journey, but have already made tremendous progress, and have learnt a lot along the way. Join us for a conversation about what we've done, what we've learnt, and how you might be able to apply it to your own team or organization.

Join a panel of Agile Coaches for a discussion as to what we've seen, both the good and bad, in organizations they've been coaching. And, what you can do about it, no matter where you are in your organization. Plus, bring your own questions to ask this panel, and take from the experiences of coaches including Mike Edwards, Chris Chapman, Shawn Button, Tom Sommerville, Dave Dame, and Sue Johnston.

Join a panel of experienced Agile Coaches for a discussion and Q&A of their experiences as coaches. Each of the panelists has a different background, and a unique journey into their role as an Agile Coach. Along the way, they've each built up a wide and diverse set of skills, from their careers, interactions, and experiences. 

What have some successes been?
How do we even define success for ourself, as an Agile Coach?
More importantly (and hopefully more entertaining), will be some of the lessons learned... We'll explore what was tried, but had a surprising and unexpected outcome. 
And, we'll discuss some of the ways experienced coaches continue to learn, share, grow, and develop everyday!

Why?

That's the most important question to answer. And, did you notice? I specifically didn't do it.
As a GOAT Conference participant, I need to write better User Stories.

What's missing is the "why". That's so important, because writing better User Stories could mean so many things to different people. And if you're going to attend this session, you really ought to know what you're going to get out of it. That's the 'why'.

It's more of an art, than a science. Writing great User Stories, that is.
Why have I been told to use a the funny "As A / I Want / So That" format?
How big is too big, and why should I spend time splitting stories?
Isn't a user story the same as a WBS item?
Good questions, indeed. You likely have more. Excellent.

In this interactive session, we'll explore the fundamentals of writing good user stories. And we'll try to make those good user stories, better. We'll also look at alternatives to user stories, and find ways to represent ideas as product backlog items in other ways. We'll explore why the Card, Conversation, and Confirmation, are so important, and why it's worth the time to INVEST in meaningful stories.

In this interactive session, we’ll explore how each of us views the world differently and how our perception is shaped by everything we've previously experienced. Through magic, illusions, and an interactive exercise, Jeff reveals the ways our perceptions and biases influence our reality and how our individual realities are unique.

Discovering your distinct personal perspective by understanding how biases impact how we make sense of the world around us, we can learn to better understand others. We can gain insights which inform our interactions with customers, colleagues, and competitors.

You'll leave this session with an appreciation for working with others, and approaches to team problem solving in our complex world. No magic spells required.

What's the best way to structure an organization? What's the best way to build and align teams?

Join a panel, which includes Chris Chapman, Mike Kaufman, Peter LePiane, and Geoff Beers, for a discussion and Q&A of what these experienced coaches have seen work, and not work, in various sized organizations. We'll look at organizational design, department design, and team design. We'll dive into the the benefits and pitfalls which come with the coordination and collaboration impacts of these design choices, and frameworks that have been used in various designs.

And we'll explore starting points to consider for getting started, since we'll find there are no silver bullets for success!

Just do a quick search on the Internet, and you'll find plenty of opinions and approaches to Agile. Talk to a few Agile Thought-Leaders, and you'll find even more opinions. Then, talk to a few current practitioners, and you'll find even more opinions and perspectives. Each one of those sources likely has a legitimate perspective.

While all of the expert opinions are based in similar values and principles, how those values and principles are implemented can (and does) vary immensely. This discussion explores some of the challenges and options.

Is one right? Are some wrong?
Are they all right? How might that even be possible?
And if you're new to Agile, how on earth do you know which to listen to, and which to ignore?
Heck, even if you're not new to Agile, there's a lot of differing opinions from which to chose! 

Join Shawn Button & Jeff Kosciejew, two experienced Agile Coaches with very different journeys into Agile Coaching, explore a few of the common frameworks and approaches they've seen, and experienced. This discussion explores some of the challenges and options in what some have to offer, and possible starting points in this journey, while providing context for experienced agilists in how we could be perceived.

In this interactive session, we’ll explore how each of us views the world differently and how our perception is shaped by everything we've previously experienced. Through magic, illusions, and an interactive exercise, Jeff reveals the ways our perceptions and biases influence our reality and how our individual realities are unique.

Discovering your distinct personal perspective by understanding how biases impact how we make sense of the world around us, we can learn to better understand others. We can gain insights which inform our interactions with customers, colleagues, and competitors.

You'll leave this session with an appreciation for working with others, and approaches to team problem solving in our complex world. No magic spells required.