It is truly hard to believe thatwe are already nearly finishedwithFebruary of 2016! Where has all of the time gone? I thought itwouldbe fun togiveyouaquickupdateon the commitment thatAgileDadmade to betterworkwithand promote Agile inUtah byany and all means possible. Since the start of the year, we havebeen out to train and or coach at 5NEWUtah based companies!ThisismonumentalprogressandhasproventobeagreatboostforallinvolvedintheirAgileprojects.

Lookingforward,wehavecoordinatedwiththePMI-NorthernUtahChaptertoofferaseriesofPMI-ACPprepandScrumCertificationcourses.Wearealsoinconversationswith Brigham Young University to become part of their adult learning extensionprogramandofferScrumCertificationtostudentsandanyoneelseinterestedinthecertification process. We are also working with the Scrum Alliance to sponsor awelfareCSMcourseforthosewhomaynotbeabletoaffordtotakethecertificationcourse as well as an event that we will tentatively call SLC Agile Days. We arescheduledtovisitthreeadditionalUtahcompaniesinthenexttwomonthsandhopetocontinueexpandingourfootprinthereinthelocalmarket.Whatdoesthismeantoyou?WewouldLOVEtogettoknowyouandyourcompanybetterandbecomeyourtrustedlocalpartnerforAgileTrainingandCoaching.

Aswecontinue topress forwardon2016, letAgilepracticesguidethewaytoyoursuccessandpleasefeelfreetograbmeandintroduceyourself.IamalwaysreadyandwillingtomeetnewlocalAgilest.~V.LeeHensonAgileDad

V. Lee Henson, President and CEO of AgileDad would like to take a moment to welcome you to the Salt Lake City Agile Meetup.

Starting 2016 the Agile Way

V. Lee Henson ~ AgileDad February 22, 2016

Should you get your CSM Or CSPO? Are The CSM or CSPO certifications worth the cost? Will they help me advance my career?

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About our Host Lets take a moment to thank and meet our gracious host, Nelson Labs.

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About AgileDad Learn more about AgileDad ad the goals for the SLC Agile Meetup.

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Recently I had a student ask me during a local CSM event here in Salt Lake City if the rumor they heard was true? I inquired and they told me that they heard that anyone who took my CSM or CSPO certification was guaranteed to get a new or better job within 90 days of taking my course. Although my track record is VERY good, I cannot make that guarantee. What I can promise is that Business Weekly recently said that the Scrum Alliance Scrum Certifications were listed in the top 5 must have!

Looking for a new job or an upgrade? Get Certified!

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1) Let’s address the concerns one question at a time. We will start with Should I get a certification at all? The answer here is simply YES! For generations this method has been used to help gauge credibility of a person who has proven through some means to have the skillset needed to function proficiently in their job. While each certification program has set their own terms for just how rigorous they want to set the bar for acceptance, you should not rule out a certification based on this qualification alone. A little research here goes a LONG way.

Should you get your CSM or CSPO from the Scrum Alliance? Are these courses really worth the cost? How will they help me extend or expand my career choice? Does certification help me stand apart from the rest?

2) These courses are often very expensive. Will the learning experience help me expand my career and do most employers pay for their people to attend these courses? The answer to both unfortunately is, it depends. The truth here is that not all instructors teach these courses in the same way. Many even use different materials and exercises to maximize learning potential. Carefully vet out and study the instructor of the course and look for two qualifications: Does the instructor have both book knowledge and on the ground transformative experience in the field? Look for at least ten recent reviews where people expressed they were please both with content and delivery.

The battle has been brewing for some time on the Agile battlefield. The question still remains, which Agile certification, if any, yields the greatest learning experience? Or even better, which Agile certification will reflect my skill set best and be most meaningful on my resume’? In keeping with my Agile mindset of transparency first, I do personally have certifications awarded from PMI, The Scrum Alliance, And the scaled Agile folks. In light of this, I still feel like I can justify what I have learned about certs in general.

As for employers paying for their people to attend, the quick answer is most would if they perceived the value was their for the candidate to attend. Many employers host sessions like these on site to allow for their people to learn in a collaborative environment together. The course materials can often be tweaked or crafted to reflect the industry that you are in and emphasize key points you are trying to improve upon in a team environment. Many instructors offer discounts and incentives to companies who choose to train at their facility. Other organizations offer education funding to their employees and allow them to apply that towards certification courses. Few employers offer nothing at all. The bottom line is you need to ask in order to find out what is available.

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To Certify or Not to Certify? That is the Question?

As the current group organizer, we are looking for both sponsors and places to host upcoming Agile Meetups. The format can be similar to this one, or it could be completely new and different. It could be about really advanced Agile topics, or a nice kickoff for those learning the ropes or getting back on the Agile Show horse. Either way, we cannot do this without your help and support. For the month of March, we are looking at March 28th as the date for our next Meetup! Are you available to assist? Can you help us really make the next meeting a rousing success? Do you have meeting space we can use in order to make this the BEST Meetup in the Valley? Please contact the group organizer or Co-Organizer with any information you may have of how you can be of additional assistance. Thanks in advance for your consideration!

How about we host the next Salt Lake City Agile Meetup at your place?

To Certify or Not to Certify? That is the Q

uestion? Certification yields positive em

ployer response!

Continued…

3) Should I get my Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner from the Scrum Alliance? My answer here is also a resounding YES! The Scrum Alliance has been recognized in the Agile community and by employers everywhere as the de facto certification body for all things Scrum and Agile. Many higher learning institutions and professional business publications have acknowledged and recognized these certificates as a tool to accelerate both learning and your career. Once again, in air of transparency, not all CSM & CSPO courses are alike. The materials in many cases may be different. The exercises during the course are different. The way the instructor teaches and facilitates is also different. In other words, buyer beware! Do take the time needed to research both the class and the instructor prior to selecting the cheapest one in your area. Do also keep in mind that the CSM and CSPO are both entry level certifications. In order to maximize the effectiveness and impact that the certification has both on you and your employer, it is encouraged that you seek out advanced certifications like the Certified Scrum Professional.

4) What about all of the other Certifications? There are many copycats! How do I know I am getting the real deal? Many training companies have tried to make up their own Agile Certifications. One has even gone so far as to publish a document called the Scrum Body of Knowledge or SBOK. After reading this VERY large and VERY prescriptive manual, I realized that Scrum was never intended to be implemented this way! Do not be afraid to ask the important questions when inquiring about a course: Who is the Certification body for this course and where do I learn more about them? How many Certificates have been issued by your organization and when did you begin certifying? Who are your instructors and are they of a professional caliber? Do not get lured in to a class by a less expensive price or an impressive marketing campaign! More times than not the best courses are the ones with simple listings on the official Scrum Alliance Website.

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Powerful & Accurate Agile Estimation http://www/AgileDad.com/Video/Estimation.mov

~ V. Lee Henson

Agile Estimation is not easy. In fact, this may be one of the top three struggles we face when going in and coaching organizations. People inherently try to work with time-based estimation and as a result become hyper-focused on the precision of the estimate when all we are really being asked to do is remain accurate. Before I dive any further into the subject, I want to make certain I emphasize what problem estimation and forecasting is actually trying to solve. In order to begin even considering estimation, you need to have a few pillars in place.

The first decision you need to make as an organization is whether you are committed to be more focused on the outcome from stakeholders based on results from the Agile team as opposed to constantly focusing on how many widgets were created and whether or not the widget count has increased. A popular expert on scaling once said, why should we create 20 of something that we really do not need when six very specific widgets can make the stakeholder happy in the end. This creates a never-ending case of over promise and underwhelm with delivery. I often advise companies to be ready to build quick prototypes or MVP’s as a proof of concept. We literally dig ourselves a hole when we promise a static number of features to solve a somewhat complex problem only to discover that what we actually needed to build and what we wound up worth are polarizing and different.

When teams and organizations understand the difference between solid estimation practices and asking for fortune telling techniques, estimation will get much better. Remember, estimation means that we hit the target. Precision is how many times and how tight we can get a grouping on a single target. Simply stated, there are times when a solid estimate is good enough. Save precision for the life or death projects that truly require that type of prognostication. The key and power from Agile estimates comes from the well-formed teams ability to remain high performing and become the predictable team. The predictable team is the one that yields the best results. The closer we get to the end goal, the better we will become at predicting outcomes and reducing risks. Predictability is a key to Agile forecasting success.

One other point is to understand that time-based estimation practices for most teams, groups, or organizations is often more incorrect than correct. When people lean solely on time based estimates, this comes with the assumption that each team member is 100% equal in skillset and tools needed to complete the job. You are also running with the assumption that there will be zero outside interference and the dedicated teams will be able to run the project start to finish without interruption. The second and in my opinion more catastrophic assumption with regard to time-based estimates is that we run with the assumption that people actually know how long performing a backlog item or task will take and that is will not change each time we do it.

Taking a factory/production line approach to building complicated systems or products causes people to try to think in terms of ideal production capability instead of simply assessing how complex a project or work item really is. Once we adjust our thinking to lend more towards complexity based estimation, the more freedom we will have to move forward with much more accurate estimates.

In the grand scheme of things, if behind the scenes I am able to figure out how difficult something is to create, this estimate never changes. By this estimate never changing, over time I can figure out how long it takes to build something with that complexity and the cost associated with that build. This in essence does not change as long as we maintain high performing teams and keep focused on non-timed based estimates.

Executive forecasting relies on these principles and it is important that we forever focus on becoming as predictable as possible while maintaining a high level of quality and building the products and services that matter using the Minimal Viable Product model offering. In the end the message should be that less is more. We should focus on the least possible output to achieve the best possible outcome.

Agile is our ticket to achieving this success. Please feel free to watch the video listed in the box above to learn more about Agile Estimation and Planning and find out how your organization can take advantage of these advanced practices.

~ V. Lee Henson ~ Lee@AgileDad.Com

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Certified ScrumMaster Feb 23-24 – Provo, UT (Private)

Certified Scrum Product Owner Workshop Feb 25-26 – Provo, UT (Private)

Certified ScrumMaster Mar 3-4 Orlando, FL

Certified ScrumMaster Mar 17-18 – Sandy, UT

Certified ScrumMaster Mar 22-23 – SLC, UT (Private)

Certified ScrumMaster Mar 24-25 – South Jordan (Private)

Certified ScrumMaster March 29-30 – SLC, UT (Private)

PMI-ACP Prep April 4-7 – Sandy, UT

Certified ScrumMaster April 14-15 Sandy, UT

For more information, Please email: Lee@AgileDad.Com

Upcoming AgileDad Certification Courses:

Nelson Laboratories is a leading provider of full, life-cycle microbiology testing services for the Medical Devices,Pharmaceutical, Tissue and Natural Products industries. While we are known for exceptional quality and rigorous testing standards, we are also keenly aware of the bigger picture. It's what we call The Science of Success™. It's partnering with you to achieve your business goals and being fully committed to your long-term success. Every year, hundreds of medical device, pharmaceutical, and natural product companies make Nelson Labs their testing laboratory of choice. For them, the decision is easy. Nelson Labs is a clear leader in the microbiology testing industry, offering more than 400 laboratory tests and employing more than 500 scientists and staff in state-of-the-art facilities. We are known for exceptional quality and rigorous testing standards, but it’s our focus on the bigger picture that sets us apart. It’s what we call The Science of Success™. It’s looking beyond test results and partnering with you to achieve your long-term business goals—mitigating risk, being first to market, and succeeding with your customers. Companies choose Nelson Laboratories for our:

• Thought leaders and approachable experts. We give you direct access to industry authorities who understand your business and add value every step of the way.

• Customer-centric culture. We take the time to understand your vision. Your goals become our goals.

• Real-time project management tools and a dedicated client portal. We provide proactive information, keeping you informed and in control.

• Metric-driven testing processes. We're our own toughest customer, holding ourselves to goals exceeding 99% for things that matter most to you, like quality, turn-around time, and testing accuracy.

• Global compliance expertise and support. We act as a trusted advisor, helping you navigate the ever-changing compliance landscape.

See how we can help you mitigate risk, be first to market, and succeed with your customers. When good science leads to good business, that's The Science of Success™. Nelson Labs, with the help of AgileDad, has embarked on a journey to embrace Agile practices to further build upon their already successful model. Agile will help them continue to focus on achieving the best outcome possible by optimizing their testing procedures to meet the ever growing market demand. As an organization, Nelson Labs is excited to grow in their Agile practice and learn from the proven success of others in the growing local Agile community.

What sets AgileDad apart you ask? We have personally trained, coached, and or certified Agile implementations in 43 of the Fortune 100 Companies! We have been hand selected by smaller organizations to help them be nimble with the talent and resources they have to perform at their absolute best. Our mantra is simple. With great power comes great responsibility. This advice sets the undertone for the objective of every AgileDad engagement. Selecting AgileDad means that you have entrusted us with your most valuable asset, your people. We take this responsibility very seriously. As a result we have provided nothing less than the highest quality training and coaching to a number of companies ranging in size from Startup to Fortune 100. We treat each engagement with the respect and depth that it warrants. We treat each customer the way we would want to be treated and wrap the human side into everything we do. Gone are the days where theory was enough, the new frontier takes us to a place where advanced experience matters. AgileDad has that experience and we look forward to our engagement with your organization.

About AgileDad:

Advancing Agile and doing what makes

sense in the Scrum & Agile Community

since 2001!

This Salt Lake City Agile Meetup Newsletter is intended for the educational enrichment of all those involved in the Agile Community. Please feel free to replicate and or duplicate this document in part or whole electronically or manually with

proper attribution association. For more information about this group, AgileDad course offerings, or Agile Coaching, please contact V. Lee Henson by using the information listed below. 2016 All Rights Reserved.