Agile Advice - Working With Agile Methods (Scrum, XP, Lean)

This is a “last call” for people to register for the ScrumMaster certification course I am holding in Beijing on June 7th and 8th. At this time, I need only a few more people to be able to confirm the course (it is tentative at this time). If you are interested please save yourself a spot. If you know someone else who might be interested, please send along this link:

http://www.berteigconsulting.com/secure/a.php?h=042

I will be making my final decision on the course on April 22nd.

Thanks! - Mishkin.

Sorry folks… over the past day and a half, and expected for the next day or so Agile Advice and other web sites hosted on the Berteig Consulting Inc. servers are experiencing intermittent and poor internet connectivity. If things are very slow or fail part way through a page load, this is why. Hopefully we’ll be back up at full steam soon.

Agile Advice gets about 600 hits per day. This number is growing. If you would like exposure and don’t want to start your own blog from scratch, I am always looking for people to contribute. Topics of interest include teams, organizational development, agile outside software, metrics, appropriate tools, interesting challenges, good books, links, short articles or long, and anything else that you think might be interesting. You can email proposals to me: mishkin@berteigconsulting.com.

The holiday season here in North America is a pretty slow time. Sorry for the lack of interesting entries! I want to remind people that there is a 10% discount if you register or save a spot in one of the classes offered by Berteig Consulting Inc. The trick is, the discount is only available for another five days! Save yourself a spot even if you don’t pay now: Agile Training and Workshops.

I am planning a training course on Agile Project Management / ScrumMaster Certification in Chennai (Madras), India early in the new year (hopefully the second half of February). At this point, dates are tentative, but I would love to hear from readers who would be interested. As well, if you know others who would also be interested, please let me know. I will be firming up numbers and dates early in January as well as making the final go/no-go decision at that time. Please contact me either by email (mishkin@berteigconsulting.com) or by phone +1 905 841 1196 if you are interested.

Some details about the course: it will be a 3 day course rather than the usual 2-days that is taken by the ScrumMaster Certification. I have not yet finalized a price but it will likely be a small amount lower than my regular ScrumMaster course price (which is CA$1200.00). There is the opportunity for me to run an in-house private class while I am there if your organization can send enough people (contact me for details).

I hope that I can meet some of my readers in the new year!

I have finished a first draft of a short book (60 pages) to be published online on the topic of Agile Work. It is all about applying agile methods to non-software environments. I am looking for two or three people who would be willing to review the draft. If you are interested, you need to be able to commit the time for this week to read it and provide feedback. You should also have tried applying agile methods in a non-software environment (anything will do). Please email me at mishkin at berteig consulting dot com if you are interested in doing this.

I’m starting an email group to discuss the ideas of Agile Work. I think that there are enough differences in practice, emphasis and theory from the other agile methods, that it is probably reasonable to start some more discussion about Agile Work as a separate thing.

In particular, I am interested in promoting the application of these ideas far beyond the bounds of just software development. How does this method apply to families? Communities? Organizations? Artistic and creative work? Research? Experimentation? Rote work? Where is it being practiced? What problems do people have applying it? What theoretical considerations are you puzzling over? Do you think its a load of crap or the answer to all our problems? Please join this group so that this can become a discussion instead of just a platform for me to write at you.

Agile Work is for people, not robots.

Take advantage of the 10% discount on agile training and certification courses offered by Berteig Consulting Inc. to Agile Advice readers. This discount is only available until Dec. 31st! If you don’t know 100% if you can attend, consider using the “Save a Spot” feature to register while you firm up your schedule or get approval for the training.

The new winter and spring schedule for courses is up. There are three new courses: Introduction to Agile Work (a one-day course), Agile Team Member training, and Agile Queue Master training (product management / customer). Up until Dec. 31st, Berteig Consulting Inc. is offering a 10% discount to people who sign up for courses through Agile Advice. Follow this link:
Discounted Agile Training

Most courses are in the Toronto area, but some are scheduled for Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax, Vancouver and Ottawa.

Folks, there are still spots left in the course next Thu. and Fri. (19th and 20th). The details including location can be found here. There are only 5 spots left.

I’ve had an article published at the Agile Journal called Managing Process Facilitators (Coaches, ScrumMasters, Agile Project Managers). Please check it out and tell me what you think.

Two days left to take advantage of an 15% discount for Agile Project Management / ScrumMaster Certification courses being offered across Canada this fall. Locations include Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax, and Kitchener/Waterloo. This offer ends on Fri. Sept. 15th 2006, 23:59 EDT. You must follow the above link in order to receive the discount.

I have just finished writing a first draft of A Manager’s Introduction to Agile Work. With feedback from you, my loyal reader, I hope to do two or three iterations of this over the next weeks and develop something that you feel comfortable presenting to middle and upper management. The draft can be downloaded from the Berteig Consulting Inc. Agile Work Resources page. I look forward to your comments, questions and suggestions.

Berteig Consulting Inc. is offering a 15% discount on its fall courses being held in Canada. To make sure that you receive your discount, please follow this link and save your spot:

15% Discount on Agile Project Management / Scrum Courses in Canada

The discount is no longer available after Sept. 15, 11:59pm EST

Sorry for the inconvenience, but it turns out a telephone cable was severed due to some nearby construction work. Fortunately, things are back to normal!