Category Archives: support group

User Stories and Pair Programming: Two Chances to See Us Tomorrow

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Chris will be leading off the Agile Manager’s Support Group in San Mateo with a presentation on the theme, “Help! Our user stories are too big!” As usual, there will be a raffle and free pizza, and as a special bonus, you’ll get to take home a copy of our Agile Dictionary sampler, a booklet containing highlights from the new website.

Meanwhile, Steve Bockman and Rob Myers will be presenting on the theme, “Making Pair Programming and TDD Fun and Effective” at the San Francisco .NET Developers User Group‘s monthly meetup, which will be held at Microsoft’s Market Street offices.

Which one are you going to? Life’s all about making tough choices, isn’t it?

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The Great Agile Spec Showdown!

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Agile evangelists claim that extensive written requirements and specifications can be dispensed with in favor of lighter-weight ‘stories’. It sounds easier, certainly, but can it really be as good? Won’t all of the important details get lost? Join the Engineering Managers Support Group as we stage a participatory showdown between traditional and agile specs. May the best specs win! Of course, we will also feature our usual round-table discussion of your pressing engineering and leadership issues.

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The Power of Self-Organizing Teams

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Greetings,

A lot of attention has been focused on the power of self-organizing agile teams. This power is the foundation upon which Scrum, the most widely adopted agile methodology, is built. Is it hype or is there something there? This month, the Bay Area Engineering Managers Suport Group will experience how a group can self-organize into a team, and how such a team can evolve ever-better ways of working together. Come out and join the fun, now in Santa Clara.

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Great Meetings are on the Agenda – Wednesday

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A great engineering manager knows how to run effective meetings. A written agenda is the road map that these meetings follow to success. When your meeting invite includes a well-crafted agenda, the participants are more likely to arrive on time and well prepared. Your meeting is set to move quickly to a successful outcome, and it might even end early!

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Technical Management Events and Such

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Greetings!

I’m back home, in the San Francisco Bay Area, after a couple of weeks on the road. I went to Chicago for the Scrum Gathering, where I presented Agile 101, and What Makes Agile Projects Succeed (or Fail)? I also facilitated a couple of open space sessions. Notes from one of those, Let’s Practice Agile Estimation, can be found here on the Agile Alliance Wiki.

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Engineering Managers Support Group Tonight!

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The Engineering Managers Support Group is meeting tonight!
Our topic: Active Listening.

Of course, we will also have our round-table discussion session, where you can get input from your peers on the challenges you are facing managing engineers. There will be yummy Thai food, and the usual assortment of beverages. All this, and it’s still free!

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