Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Kanban for IT Services and Operations Training Class - Seattle, WA Oct 6-7, 2011

David J. Anderson’s

An Official “Kanban - Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business” Class

with Dominica DeGrandis (instructor)

Kanban is a framework for changing, for improving, the way an organization works together.  If ever-more frequent deliveries from software development are increasing pressure on your teams and creating bottlenecks in the delivery process, look at Kanban to extend agility and balance to IT services and operations teams.

This 2-day Kanban training class uses an interactive teaching method to help students gain an understanding of Kanban Pull Systems and how to apply them to IT services and Operations.  Working in small teams, class attendees will analyze and design a kanban system implementation.

Based on David J. Anderson’s book “Kanban - Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business”, attendees of the class will receive a copy of the book.

Because the value of software is achieved only after being deployed to production, the class begins by studying and mapping the workflow across your organization.  You’ll learn how to improve predictability and therefore increase customer satisfaction.  You’ll learn how to use policies to manage risk and to reset negotiations and recast them as collaborative problem solving.

Used effectively, Kanban will change you and your organization.  If your workplace has been stagnating and you are looking for new ideas to handle increasing complexity around software delivery and support, take 2 days and come along. 

What you will learn

About the presenter

Dominica specializes in Kanban for IT Services and Operations - with teams interacting with software development. She spent her first 15 years in software engineering deeply embedded in Development teams performing builds, deployments and environment maintenance. She has worked in organizations of all sizes, from the US Army, Boeing, and AT&T to small start-ups. Dominica first worked for David Anderson at Corbis in 2006 where she helped deliver the first implementation of Kanban for software engineering in the US. Adept at leading teams performing Configuration Management and Release Management, Dominica found a passion for improving the way development and operations teams work together.

Is this for you?

If you would like to learn how Kanban, Pull Systems and Lean, can provide a useful perspective for improving work done on the periphery of software engineering and you are performing IT Services or Operations, this class is for you. From data administrative services to deployment/release managers to help desk, this class covers beginning to intermediate level material.

Location:

Seattle (Eastside), WA USA

Venue:

5400 Carillon Point
Building 5000
4th Floor
Kirkland
Washington
98033

http://www.carillon-point.com/

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Kanban For OPS:  The Power Of Case Studies

By Dominica DeGrandis 

I joined Daniel Vacanti  last week in Seattle for his Kanban training class for Software Engineering.  During much of the past year, my focus has been teaching Kanban-for-Ops (Operations) classes, and I had forgotten how the two subjects differ in their curricula.

One of the more significant differences is the inclusion of case studies of ops teams using Kanban. While teaching ops classes and attending tech conferences in both the U.S. and Europe, I was able to collect a variety of fascinating stories from various technology companies using Kanban in ops.

To date, little has been published on how ops teams implement Kanban, which may explain why the stories are so well received during class.  I know a session is going well when the class energy level is sustained right through the mid-afternoon.  And nothing, it seems, lifts people’s energy like a real story - eyes light up, voices are raised and questions flow.

On the afternoon of day 2 of last week’s Seattle class, we offered attendees several options: 1) Give more time for people to work on their kanban boards;  2)  Dive into the “How to Get Started with Kanban” session; or 3)  Look at case studies on Kanban-for-Ops.

The class chose the case studies, which brought a different perspective to how the kanban system that these developers had just designed might be useful downstream.  It was fascinating to me to see the interest and excitement this generated.  Developers related enthusiastically to the similar problem sets addressed in the ops case studies.

Problems such as conflicting projects, where different teams share limited resources are common.  In one case study, requests from “pushy” people attempting to jump their item to the front of the line is handled with a policy requiring justification (via brief business case) during the daily standup meeting.  If no objections are raised, the item is allowed to jump the queue.  This policy allows for flexibility when needed and reduces annoying attempts to cut in line.

Presenting case studies provides food for thought when designing a Kanban system.  They are an excellent way to demonstrate the effect of policies on teams.  They also provide attendees with a sense of community – other teams are dealing with similar issues and have found solutions.

Admittedly, all our Kanban training classes and workshops are sprinkled with stories of people using Kanban to solve problems.  But in the Kanban-for-Ops training class, case studies are prominent.  And if the class surveys are an indicator of value, case studies should remain in the Kanban-for-Ops curricula for some time.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Kanban training class - Richmond, VA Sept 14-15, 2011

David J. Anderson’s

Official “Kanban - Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business” Class

with Daniel Vacanti (instructor)

This intensive 2-day Kanban training class provides an introduction to Lean, Pull Systems and Kanban and will explain how established industrial engineering theory can apply to software development process.

This class is based on David J. Anderson’s book “Kanban - Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business”. Attendees of the class will receive a copy of the new book.

Participants in the class will learn how to use the simple process of limiting work-in-progress as a driver of change. Kanban is a change management method and a different approach to striking agreements between IT and the business.

You’ll learn how to define the policies that constrain the collaborative game of software development. You’ll learn how to use those policies to manage risk and to reset negotiations and recast them as collaborative problem solving.

Used effectively, Kanban will change you and your organization. If your workplace has been stagnating and you are looking for new ideas to unleash productivity, innovation, collaboration and creativity, take 2 days and come along.

What you will learn

About the presenter

Daniel Vacanti, MBA, was a contributor to and a primary reviewer of David Anderson’s Kanban book.  He is a 15 year software industry veteran who specializes in the leading, mentoring, and coaching of teams in agile practices. He has a record of delivering customer valued results working with teams and companies of varying sizes. His emphasis is on the business-appropriate use of technology to help companies achieve their specific financial goals.  Daniel has worked with David Anderson for over 10 years and was a Development Manager on some of the earliest kanban implementations with David.

Is this for you?

If you are a software development executive, project manager, development manager, project lead or developer and you would like to learn how Lean, Pull Systems and Kanban can provide a useful perspective to consider the entire value chain beyond the pure software development, this Kanban class is for you!

Location:

Richmond, VA USA

Venue:

  TBD