Scrum Breakfast Training

Delight the Client Workshop with Steve Denning

2011-11-29T07:17:00.001+01:00

As a follow-up to the Radical Management Gathering last September, Steve and I will hold an afternoon workshop on the core principle of Delighting the Client: Its importance to the success of the organization, how to do it, how to measure it.

Space is limited and this event is by invitation only - please contact me if you would like an invitation.

Where: UBS AG, VZA1, Max Höggerstrasse 81, 8048 Zurich-Altstetten, Switzerland - UBS Driving Directions, Google Map
When: Monday, January 9, 2012, 13.00 to 17.00
Cost: CHF 100.--

Program:

13.00-13.30 Coffee und Registration
13.30 Begin
17.00, maybe 17.30 done

Registration Deadline: December 23, 2011

Registration: Online

Venue: Zürich (SwissICT)

2011-11-13T14:29:00.001+01:00

SwissICT
Vulkanstrasse 120
8048 Zurich, Switzerland

3rd Floor

Coffee & Crossiants 8:30,
Course Starts: 9:00 (sharp!)
Course Ends: 17:00

More Information about hotels, parking, and public transportation in the area.

Venue: Zurich (Digicomp)

2011-10-10T09:40:00.000+02:00

Digicomp Academy AG
Limmatstrasse 50
8003 Zürich

5th Floor

Coffee & Crossiants 8:30,
Course Starts: 9:00 (sharp!)
Course Ends: 17:00

More Information about hotels, parking, and public transportation in the area.

New Site for Certified Scrum Master Course Listings

2011-01-15T19:25:00.000+01:00

As I have co-founded DasScrumTeam with Andreas Schliep and Peter Beck, this site is no longer in use.

You can find our Swiss Certified ScrumMaster and Certified Scrum Product Owner courses offerings on our website: DasScrumTeam.com.

Venue: Karthause Ittingen

2010-11-04T07:55:00.007+01:00

I am pleased to announce that this course will be held at the historic Karthause Ittingen. For participants who wish to spend the night, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Hotel Domicil. And we plan to invite everyone for dinner after the first day.

Location
Kartause Ittingen
CH 8532 Warth TG

Coffee & Crossiants 8:30,
Course Starts: 9:00 (sharp!)
Course Ends: 17:00

More Information about hotels, parking, and public transportation in the area.

CSM for Scrum Professionals

2010-11-01T06:28:00.001+01:00

Description

This advanced CSM course is an opportunity for experienced ScrumMasters and Product Owners to solidify their understanding of Scrum, improve their ability to work with management and other stakeholders, and to explore advanced topics. Unlike our CSM/Jumpstart, no time is spent "spoon feeding" the basics of Scrum.

Participants are expected to a have a good understanding of Scrum and practical experience applying Scrum. Unlike most CSM Courses, the CSM/Advanced focuses on the participants role as an agent of change in their organizations. CSM/Advanced is ideal for experienced Scrum professionals who want to improve their ability to apply Scrum to challenging real-life situations.

Audience

Trained ScrumMasters and Product Owners, who wish to deepen their understanding of Scrum
Experienced ScrumMasters who need a Certification course which also brings them forward
ScrumMasters and Product Owners who want to bring their teams to the next level of performance

Prerequisites

Successful Participation in a CSM, CSPO or Scrum Team Jumpstart course (holders of a non-Scrum Alliance certificates or participants of other Scrum Trainings may qualify - please contact us before registering).
6 months experience in a Scrum Team
A solid understanding of Scrum as defined in the current Scrum Guide
Know how to play Planning Poker and use dot-voting.

Preparation

The following articles give you a foundation in the course topics:

What is Scrum?
Scrum Alliance organization information
The Scrum Primer by Pete Deemer and Gabriele Benefield
A ScrumMaster Checklist by Michael James: 5-page illustrated summary of Scrum

You should have read at least one, and preferably several of the following books:

Agile Project Management with Scrum, Ken Schwaber
Scrum and XP from the Trenches, Henrik Kniberg
Agile Estimating and Planning, Mike Cohn
Agile Coaching, Rachel Davies & Liz Sedley

Course Plan

Unit 1 - Review of Scrum Basics.

Introductions, Goals, Topics
Review of Scrum Flow, Roles and Artifacts.

Units 2 & 3 - Scrum in Depth

Using Scrum to manage their work, the participants explore, present and communicate the depths of Scrum

Unit 4 - Scrum in critical situations

Daily Scrum "from Hell" Simulation
Dealing with organizational conflict of interest ("David" Simulation)
Temperature reading

Unit 5..6 - Advanced topics (time permitting)

The topics are identified, prioritized and selected by the participants to further their actual project needs

Units 1 to 4 are musts, the remaining units are chosen based on time available.

Certification

Participants who successfully complete the course qualify for the status Certified Scrum Master and receive a 1 year membership in the Scrum Alliance. Since 1 October 2009, all CSMs will be required to complete a Certified ScrumMaster course and take an online self assessment to receive certification. Please read more about Scrum certification from the Scrum Alliance.

Registration

Duration: 3 days
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Time: Coffee and Registration 8:30, Course Times from 9:00 to 17.00 (with 17:30 for overflow)
For prices and dates: continue to Registration

Lean Leadership with Tom & Mary Poppendieck

2010-04-18T08:31:00.034+02:00

Update: Mary & Tom Poppendieck will return May 25 & 26, 2011 to repeat their Lean Leadership Course!

As global competitiveness comes to the software development industry, the search is on for a better way to create first-class software rapidly, repeatedly, and reliably. Lean initiatives in manufacturing, logistics, and services have led to dramatic improvements in cost, quality and delivery time; can they do the same for software development? The short answer is “Absolutely!”

Of the many methods that have arisen to improve software development, Lean is emerging as one that is grounded in decades of work understanding how to make processes better. Lean thinking focuses on giving customers what they want, when and where the want it, without a wasted motion or wasted minute.

What does this mean in practice? That is what this workshop is all about.

This intensive two day workshop aimed at leaders will help you apply lean principles such as Rapid Response, Constant Learning, Built-in Quality, Local Responsibility and Global Optimization to software development.

In two intensive days of discussion and exercises, leaders will come away with a new frame of reference for thinking about how world class organizations develop software-intensive systems.

Agenda

Systems Thinking -- Putting on Customer Glasses & Value Stream Maps
Technical Excellence -- Correct by Construction & Basic Disciplines
Reliable Delivery -- Managing Workflow & Scheduling
Great People -- People Who Care & Leadership Roles
Relentless Improvement -- Seeing Problems & Solving Problems
The Journey -- Aligning Mental Models & Making Change Happen

You will learn:

How to look at your process from a customer's point of view and identify waste.
What's wrong with software testing and what you have to do to fix it.
How to frame risk and rethink scheduling to permit confident promise-dating and reliable delivery.
The traits of people who work in the most effective system development organizations.
The leadership roles that support the lean framework.
Tools for solving problems that everyone in the organization can use.
How to change when change is hard.

Learn first hand from Lean thought-leaders Mary and Tom Poppendieck how to apply Lean Principles to your organization. Mary and Tom have pioneered the application of Lean Thinking to software development and documented their principles in three books:

Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit
Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash
Leading Lean Software Development: Results are Not the Point

Pricing:

Special Early Booking: CHF 2'240.-- (until December 31, 2010).
Early Booking: CHF 2'600.-- (until April 25, 2010)
Regular Booking: CHF 2'800.-- (until May 23, 2010)
Courses are freed from VAT in Switzerland

Course Info and Registration:

Date: May 25 & 26, 2011
Location: TBD - Last year, we held it at the Seminar Hotel Unterhof, Diessenhofen, Switzerland, but it might be at equally nice venue around Bern.
Fine Print: Our standard terms and conditions apply.
Registration: online on our special registration form.

Certified ScrumMaster/Advanced

2010-01-02T17:06:00.005+01:00

This course description is no longer valid. It has been replaced by CSM/Advanced.

For Advanced Scrum Users

As an experienced ScrumMaster, Product Owner, Agile Coach or Manager inan Agile Enterprise, you have started working with Scrum, read one ormore of the books and have some understanding of Scrum. Maybe you feelsome of the pieces ofthe puzzle are missing? Or are you working withina Scrum Team, but have the feeling you are not making any progress?Even if you already are a Certified ScrumMaster, you are looking foranswers to hard questions.

Howdo you scale Scrum? How do you deal with organizational impediments andteam dysfunctions? How do you improve the quality of engineering?

Twoexperienced trainers/coaches from DasScrumTeam review the essentials ofScrum and address topics identified and prioritized by you, theparticipants. Learn how experienced ScrumMasters and Coaches deal withdifficult situations! Get ready to take your team or your organizationto the next level. So bring your list of questions which the books justdidn't answer!

After taking this course, you should:

Have solidified your understanding of Scrum and Agile Development
Learned how to apply Scrum to complex situations
Have many ideas on how to improve the development process in your organization.

With two sometimes conflicting perspectives from experienced ScrumMasters, you should sharpen your understanding, increase yourexperience and improve your judgment in applying Scrum. And of course,you qualify to become a Scrum Alliance Certified ScrumMaster (onlinetest required) or your membership is extended if you already are a CSM.

Topics

Much of the course content is driven by the participants. The list below is a summary of possible contents:

Scrum Refresher

Agile Values & Principles
Roles in Scrum: ScrumMaster, Product Owner, Team
Rituals (Meetings): Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, Daily Scrum, Retrospective
Documents and Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Task board, Burn Down Charts

The Team: Organizing self-organization
The ScrumMaster: How do I fill the role?
Finishing the Sprint and Scrum Reporting
Typical Scrum Problems: Case Studies and Countermeasures
Scrum Team Works: Tools, Scaling, Techniques
My task as ScrumMaster: Questions and Answers

Throughout the course, exercises, games and simulations help you deepen you experience of Scrum first hand.

Your Trainers

Peter Stevens and ( Peter Beck or Andreas Schliep ) - Check the course announcement for details.

Audience and Prerequisites

This course is ideal for Scrum Masters, Project Leaders, Product Owners or IT Managers who wish to deepen their understanding of Scrum.

You should have previous experience with Scrum. This can be gained by taking the Scrum Jumpstart course, studying the standard literature on Scrum, or working in a Scrum Project. If in doubt, please contact us for more information.

Certification

Participants who successfully complete the course become Certified Scrum Masters and receive a 1 year membership in the Scrum Alliance.

Effective 1 October 2009, all CSMs will be required to complete a Certified ScrumMaster course and pass a Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) online certification exam to maintain certification. Please read more about Scrum certification from the Scrum Alliance.

Registration

Duration: 2 days
Location: Zurich, Switzerland — c/o Digicomp Academy
Time: Coffee and Registration 8:30, Course Times from 9:00 to 17.00 (with 17:30 for overflow)
For prices and dates: continue to Registration

You can also book Certified Scrum Master Training as an In-House training in English or German for your company. Please contact us for more information.

Certified ScrumMaster/Jumpstart

2010-01-02T17:05:00.006+01:00

Jumpstart your Scrum Team!

Do you want to get started with Scrum? Does your team need hands on experience before starting a "real" project? Do need to convince a skeptic that Scrum is the way to go?

As Line Manager, Project Manager, Developer, Tester, Product Manager, Business Analyst or Consultant, you have heard about the advantages of Scrum. Maybe you are skeptical about the claims and hype around Scrum and Agile software development and want to find out more. Maybe you have decided to take the plunge and start your first agile project. Maybe you have started doing Scrum, but it's not working as expected. You want to get better at executing projects. You want to find out more.

How does Scrum Work? How is agile development different than the classical approach? How do you get started? How do you estimate work? How do you plan a Sprint? What changes can you expect when you do Scrum? This course provides you with the answers to your questions and gives you an intense, hands-on look at Scrum, so you know how to move forwards.

A Customer Recommendation:

Anton Schultschick, Head of IT-Support,
Electrical Engineering Department, ETH Zurich
After taking this course, you should:

Understand in your head how Scrum works
Feel in your gut why Scrum works
Know in your hands how to do Scrum.

In short, you should be able to start your first Scrum Project, improve yourperformance in an existing Scrum project and answer important questions aboutwhether Scrum is appropriate for your organization. And you qualify to become a Scrum Alliance Certified ScrumMaster (online test required).

Topics:

Agile Values & Principles
Roles in Scrum: ScrumMaster, Product Owner, Team
Rituals (Meetings): Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, Daily Scrum, Retrospective
Documents and Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Task board, Burn Down Charts
Planning: User Stories, Estimation, Acceptance Tests, Release Planning

Throughout the course, exercises, games and simulations help you understand and experience Scrum first hand.

Your Trainer

This course is taught by Peter Stevens and a Certified Scrum Trainer , usually either Peter Beck or Andreas Schliep of DasScrumTeam. See the course schedule for details.

Audience

The CSM/Jumpstart is ideal for

Teams and organizations getting started with Scrum.
Managers, consultants or project leaders who are considering whether to deploy Scrum in their organizations.
Teams or organizations who have had difficulties doing Scrum properly.

Their are no prerequisites, but familiarity with Scrum, XP or software development will be helpful.

Certification

Participants who successfully complete the course become Certified Scrum Masters and receive a 1 year membership in the Scrum Alliance.

Effective 1 October 2009, all CSMs will be required to complete a Certified ScrumMaster course and pass a Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) online certification exam to maintain certification. Please read more about Scrum certification from the Scrum Alliance.

This course may be offered without Scrum Alliance certification. Check the course announcements for details.

Registration

Duration: 2 days
Language: German or English (according to the announcement)
Location: Zurich, Bern, or Geneva, Switzerland — c/o Digicomp Academy
Time: Coffee and Registration 8:30, Course Times from 9:00 to 17.00 (with 17:30 for overflow)
For prices and dates: continue to Registration

The course materials are in English.

Register for this course online.

You can also jump start your entire team with In-House training in English, German, or French. Please contact us for more information.

CSPO - Certified Scrum Product Owner

2010-01-02T17:04:00.008+01:00

Planning and Managing Agile Projects

Have you looked at Scrum and XP or maybe done an agile project or two, and thought 'looks great, but...!'? How do I plan a project if every month we can completely change the deliverables? When will it be finished? How do I manage the project? How do I negotiate with the Team? How do I calculate a price or a schedule? How do I deal with a fixed deadline, scrope or price? How do I master this job of "Product Owner."

If you are a Product Owner, Scrum Master, Program Manager, Customer or Sales Consultant who needs to reliably estimate, schedule, price and manage asoftware development project using agile methods, this course is for you: A two day immersion into creating great products, agile planning and estimating, managing the agile team and leading the project to success.

Topics

Overview of Scrum
Product Owner: Duties, Rights and Privileges
Creating Products that Excite Your Customers
Guiding self organizing teams
Building Quality In - From Specification to Acceptance
Managing Line Management and other Stakeholders
Requirements: Personae, User Stories, Story Points and Business Value
Creating & Prioritizing the Product Backlog
Sizing the Project, generating time estimates and milestones
Monitoring Progress
Communication and Reporting
Scaling to large projects
Contracting and the Dreaded Fix Priced Bid
The Agile Quote
The Agile Request for Proposal
Scrum in the Enterprise: Process Improvement and Portfolios
Murphy: What can go wrong

After completing this course, you will be able (with the help of your Scrum Team) to create, budget, plan and schedule and quote an agile project and lead it to a successful conclusion.

Audience and Prerequisites

This course is idea for Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Customers, Project Leaders, Product Owners, IT Managers and Sales Consultants who want to plan, budget and bid on agile projects.

You should have previous experience with Scrum. The following books are recommended as preparation:

User Stories Applied; Mike Cohn
Agile Estimating and Planning; Mike Cohn
Scrum. Produkte zuverlässig und schnell entwickeln; Boris Gloger; Hanser 2008

You can also prepare yourself by taking the Scrum Jumpstart course. If in you have any questions, please contact us for more information.

Your Trainers

Peter Stevens and ( Peter Beck or Andreas Schliep ) - Check the course announcement for details.

Registration

Language: German
Duration: 3 days
Location Zurich, Switzerland
Time: Coffee and Registration 8:30, Course Times from 9:00 to 17.00 (reserve until 17:30)
Prices and Dates: Registration

You can also book this course or the non-certified Practical Product Owner as an In-House course in English, German or French. Please contact us for more information.

Venue: Zurich (BSG)

2009-11-22T12:21:00.008+01:00

Business Solution Group AG
Buckhauserstrasse 24
8048 Zürich

5th Floor

Coffee & Crossiants 8:30,
Course Starts: 9:00 (sharp!)
Course Ends: 17:00

More Information about hotels, parking, and public transportation in the area.

Venue: Bern

2009-11-22T12:17:00.002+01:00

Digicomp Academy
Bubenbergplatz 11
CH-3011 Bern

Coffee & Crossiants 8:30,
Course Starts: 9:00 (sharp!)
Course Ends: 17:00

More Information about hotels, parking, and public transportation in the area.

Venue: Geneva

2009-11-22T12:04:00.004+01:00

Digicomp Academy Suisse Romande SA
64, Rue de Monthoux
CH-1201 Genève

Das ScrumTeam Trainer: Peter Stevens

2009-11-22T11:40:00.003+01:00

Peter Stevens, Certified Scrum Practitioner (CSM and CSPO), started hiscareer in 1982 as a Software Engineer at Microsoft. He first got interested in Scrum in 2005 while working for MySQL. Since 2006 he has been using Scrum both throughout Switzerland and abroad, to coach, rescue and guide various projects large and small to a successful conclusion.

An active member of the Scrum Community, he founded the Scrum Breakfasts (now held in Zurich, Bern and Basel) and organized the Lean Agile Scrum Conference in Zürich. He has spoken at numerous events, including the Scrum Gathering in Munich, the Italian Agile Day in Bologna, Agile Tour Events in Geneva and Luxembourg, he is also one of the co-founders of the Lean-Agile-Scrum specialist group of the SwissICT. He writes regularly the Scrum Breakfast blog and has been a regular contributor to AgileSoftwareDevelopment.com.

Currently Peter divides his time between training and coaching a large financial institution on the introduction of Scrum and Lean.

ScrumTeam Trainer: Andreas Schliep

2009-11-22T11:31:00.003+01:00

Andreas Schliep, Certified Scrum Trainer, born 1969, had many years of experience as a software developer, team leader and project manager before he focused on Scrum Coaching and Training in 2006. He brings combined practical experience from the day to day challenges of software projects with the experieneces of various Scrum Implementations in Europe and South America.

Scrum Team Trainer: Peter Beck

2009-11-22T11:25:00.001+01:00

Peter Beck is an accomplished Scrum Coach, Trainer (Certified ScrumTrainer®, CST) and Moderator with deep experience in software development. He has coached a wide range of development teams, project and product manager as well as corporate leaders in the use and roll out of Scrum in companies of all sizes.

Scrum Training in French

2009-10-10T09:48:00.007+02:00

The success of the Agile Tour proves it, Scrum and Agile Project Management are becoming a hot topic in France and French speaking Europe. My popular Scrum Jumpstart course is now available in French. I will offer the course for the first time in French in Geneva.

Does you want to get started with Scrum? Does your team need hands on experience before starting a "real" project? Do need to convince a skeptic that Scrum is the way to go?

This the course for you: an introduction to Scrum for developers, project leaders, business analysts and program managers who want get started with Scrum. After completing this course, your head will understand Scrum, your stomach will have digested why Scrum works, and your hands will be able to do Scrum.

The rest of the details are the same as always: see the Scrum Jumpstart course description for details.

Date: January 14 & 15, 2010
Time: 9.00 to 17.00, maybe 17.30 on Thursday
Location: Digicomp Academy, rue de Monthoux 64, 1201 Genève‎
Prices and registration: http://www.sierra-charlie.com/course

This course is held in French. Course materials are in English.

Certified ScrumMaster with Ken Schwaber

2009-03-10T06:40:00.013+01:00

Flash: Ken is Keynote speaker at the Lean-Agile-Scrum Conference in Zürich and will lead a 'Scrum-But' Workshop on getting the most out of Scrum. Conference Participants receive a 10% discount on the course fee until May 21. Places are still available: Register Now!

Scrum

Scrum is a framework for effectively managing complex projects, programs, and enterprises. Using iterative, incremental techniques, Scrum harnesses self-managing, cross-functional teams to improve productivity and quality, and provide actionable information and techniques for managing risk and return on investment every iteration. This course teaches people in leadership and management roles how to use Scrum to achieve these benefits.

Why?

Agile management is as radically different from traditional management as agile processes are different from traditional methodologies. Rather than plan, instruct and direct, the agile project manager facilitates, coaches and leads. This person is called a ScrumMaster in the Scrum agile process to denote the difference and remind the person filling this role of the new responsibilities. Accepted participants learn how to be a ScrumMaster and how to make a development team, a project, or an organization agile.

The ScrumMaster is the person responsible for the proper execution of Scrum and all change within the engineering and overall organization. Exercises, case studies, and examples used to bring home the realization of how to be a ScrumMaster. All participants are expected to understand Scrum basics prior to attending this course through reading material on the web or perusing the book, “Agile Project Management with Scrum” by Ken Schwaber. This course is "how to" not "what."

Goal

Each individual is trained to be able to assume the following responsibilities:

Remove the barriers between development and the customer so the customer directly drives development;
Teach the customer how to maximize ROI and meet their objectives through Scrum;
Improve the lives of the development team by facilitating creativity and empowerment;
Improve the productivity of the development team in any way possible; and,
Improve the engineering practices and tools so each increment of functionality is potentially shippable

Topics:

Fundamentals of agile and Scrum, running Scrum projects, planning and scaling Scrum projects, offshore development using Scrum, bidding on fixed price/date contracts, and ensuing the adequacy of engineering practices. The agenda for the class is:

Introduction
What is Scrum and Why does it work?
Nuances on Using Scrum
Done
Planning Releases and Sprints
The Sprint
More Nuances
The ScrumMaster – Fact and Myth
Teams – Source of Joy and Frustration
Scaling Scrum to Large Projects and Enterprises

Course Material

Approximately one week prior to the course, all materials, methodology and training materials will be made available to confirmed attendees. An individual license to use these materials will be issued to those attendees who successfully complete the certification program.

Pedigree

The Certification program was started in April, 2003. There are already over 22,000 Certified ScrumMasters. As a result of their successful completion of the program, each participant received an individual license and copy of the Scrum methodology, Scrum training materials, and Scrum software. In addition, Certified ScrumMasters are authorized to participate in "open" development of the Scrum methodology and software, ensuring a growing body of knowledge from a qualified, competent group of certified professionals.

Your Trainer

Ken Schwaber is one of the co-developers of the Scrum process and an Agile and Scrum evangelist. He is a signatory to the Agile Manifesto and founded the Agile Alliance and the Scrum Alliance. He has been a software and product developer for most of his long life. Microsoft Press recently released his newest book, "The Enterprise and Scrum".

Using anecdotes and experiences, Ken teaches the class the Scrum methodology and how to use it to be effective as an agile manager - the ScrumMaster.

Registration

Language: English
Location Zurich, Switzerland — Digicomp Academy, Limmatstr 50, 8005 Zürich
Time: Coffee and Registration 8:00, Course Times from 8:30 to 16.30 (with 17:00 for overflow)
Lodging: please contact us if you need help selecting a nearby hotel.
Prices and Dates: June 2 & 3, 2009. See Registration for details.
10% Discount for participants of the Zürich Lean Agile Scrum Conference

Practical Product Owner

2008-10-08T18:05:00.011+02:00

Planning and Managing Agile Projects

You've looked at Scrum and XP and maybe done a project or two, and you think 'Scrum is good, but how do I plan a project if every month we can completely change the deliverables? How do I calculate a price or a schedule? How do I make Scrum "CFO Compatible?"'

If you are a Product Owner, Scrum Master, Program Manager or Sales Consultant who needs to reliably estimate, schedule and price a software development project using agile methods, this course is for you: A two day immersion into creating great products, agile planning and estimating, and managing the agile team.

Topics

Product Owner: Duties, Rights and Privileges
Creating Products that Excite Your Customers
Guiding self organizing teams
Personae, User Stories, Story Points and Business Value
Creating & Prioritizing the Product Backlog
Sizing the Project, generating time estimates and milestones
Monitoring Progress
The Role of Line Management in a Scrum Organization
Scaling to large projects
Contracting and the Dreaded Fix Priced Bid
The Agile Quote
The Agile Request for Proposal

After completing this course, you will be able (with the help of your Scrum Team) to create, budget, plan and schedule and quote an agile project.

Audience and Prerequisites

This course is idea for Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Project Leaders, Product Owners, IT Managers and Sales Consultants who want to plan, budget and bid on agile projects.

You should have previous experience with Scrum. The following books are recommended as preparation:

User Stories Applied; Mike Cohn
Agile Estimating and Planning; Mike Cohn
Scrum. Produkte zuverlässig und schnell entwickeln; Boris Gloger; Hanser 2008

You can also prepare yourself by taking the Scrum Jumpstart course. If in you have any questions, please contact us for more information.

Your Trainer

Peter Stevens, Certified Scrum Practitioner, born 1959, started his career in 1982 as a Software Engineer at Microsoft. He first got interested in Scrum in 2005 while working as Professional Services Manager, EMEA für MySQL. Since 2006 he has been using Scrum for projects in the German and French parts of Switzerland, to rescue and guide various project large and small to a successful conclusion. He writes regularly about project planning and management for agilesoftwaredevelopment.com. He is also one of the co-founders of the Lean-Agile-Scrum specialist group of the SwissICT.

Registration

Language: German
Location Zurich, Switzerland — Digicomp Academy, Limmatstr 50, 8005 Zürich
Time: Coffee and Registration 8:30, Course Times from 9:00 to 17.00 (with 17:30 for overflow on day 1)
Lodging: please contact us if you need help selecting a nearby hotel.
Prices and Dates: Registration

You can also book Practical Product Owner as an In-House course in English, German or French. Please contact us for more information.

8 Questions for Your CEO

2008-09-24T09:26:00.007+02:00

[This article was originally posted as 8 Questions for Your CEO on the main Scrum Breakfast blog.]

Have you been wondering how to get your CEO's attention long enough to have a conversation about agile? Here are 8 questions, inspired by Rob Thomsett, long time Agile Evangelist and keynote speaker at this year's Agile Business Conference in London:

Are project management and development free of bureaucracy?
Are projects delivered fast enough?
Are the project business cases well developed and managed?
Is the level of transparency around projects sufficient?
Are Steering Committees effective?
Are the progress reports you receive accurate?
Have you ever been, or do you expect to be ambushed about a project you are sponsoring?

Chances are good your top management will answer 'no' to most if not all of these questions, except for the last one. These are all symptoms of disease. This disease has no name, but it is closed, dishonest and distrustful. It poisons the atmosphere and prevents effective communication.

Agile is about openness, honesty, trust, courage, and an ethical attitude towards money. Agile can cure the disease, but is not without side effects: a dramatic cultural change in your company.

By asking the questions, you should have gotten his attention. The eighth question is, 'do you want the cure?'

BTW - Ambushed means that a peer (i.e. rival in the company) learned bad news about your project before you did and surprised you with it in meeting in front of all your peers. Very embarrassing. Operational staff often learns about an ambush through a very heated discussion with said top manager after the fact.

Update - Have you tried these questions on your CEO or executive management? How did it go? Leave comment with the main article, 8 Questions for Your CEO

Scrum In House Training

2008-06-15T18:05:00.010+02:00

An in-house training is a optimal vehicle to get a team ready to do Scrum. Your Developers, Testers Product Owners, Developers, Project Leaders and other team members learn to do Scrum and use Scrum to get their project ready to do Scrum.

“I have experienced Peter as a great trainer and excellent workshop moderator during a two day SCRUM course I was lucky to take part in. Peter has a deep and detailed knowledge of the AGILE methodologies and rich hands on experience with SCRUM.”
-- Dubravka Widmer-Kljajo, Wirtschaftsinformatikerin Web & Java at Die Mobiliar, October 18, 2008

"A training which bore fruit already in the following week!”
François Bachmann, Certified Scrum Practitioner, October 22, 2008

"The exercise Sprint Zero and One was a high point of the course"
Anton Schultschik, Manager of IT Support at the ETH Zürich
See his full video recommendation...

Any of the following course can be performed on your company site in English, German or French:

Scrum Jumpstart - Total Immersion in Scrum to get your team working effectively
Product Owner: Planning and Managing Agile Projects - Make Scrum CFO-Compatible in your Company
Advanced Certified ScrumMaster Training with Andreas Schliep and Peter Stevens
(English & German only)
Sprint Zero with TargetProcess

(The fine print: course materials are in English)

The first step is easy: contact me for more information.

Agile PM with Scrum (in German) Zürich - September 9 & 10, 2008

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Next Scrum Course in German: Agile Project Management with Scrum this September in Zürich:

Language: German
Location: Zurich — Digicomp Acadamy
Date: September 9 and 10, 2008
Time: Coffee and Registration, 8:00, Course runs 9:00 to 17.00
Detailed description: Agile Project Management with Scrum
Price €995.– (CHF 1'580.–)

How to plan, manage and control the Scrum software development process. A hands on introduction to the concepts needed by and tasks performed by the agile Project Manager (Scrum Master) and Customer or Program Manager (“Product Owner”) and the development team.

This course offers the substance of a Certified Scrum Master training without the expense of certification.

Register for Course Agile PM with Scrum (in German)

Price €995.– (CHF 1'580.–)

For those who want more hands on experience, the next day I will hold Workshop Scrum Sprint Zero with TargetProcess (also in German). Hands on, going though the entire process of planing, estimating, starting and reviewing a sprint. Not just for TargetProcess users.

Price €635.– (CHF 990.–)

Register for Workshop Scrum Sprint Zero with TargetProcess (in German)

You can sign up for both courses for €1'495.– (CHF 2'370–). You save €135.–.

Register for both, get theoretical, practical and hands on experience, and save!

Sprint Zero with TargetProcess (in German) Zürich, September 11, 2008

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You have done the Scrum training and read the book. Now it's time to roll up your sleeves and start your first sprint. What now? A hands on workshop, going though the entire process of planing, estimating, starting and reviewing a sprint. Not just for TargetProcess users.

The "getting started with Scrum" workshop will be held directly after the course Agile Project Management with Scrum in Zürich.

Language: German
Location: Zurich — Digicomp Acadamy
Date: September 11, 2008
Time: Coffee and Registration, 8:00, Course runs 9:00 to 17.00
Detailed description: Sprint Zero with TargetProcess

Price €635.– (CHF 990.–)

Register for Workshop Scrum Sprint Zero with TargetProcess (in German)

Want a compete foundation and hands on experience? Combine this course with Agile Project Management with Scrum and save €135.–. Click here for more information.

Terms and Conditions

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Update: Courses after 1.1.2011 are organized by DasScrumTeam GmbH. New Terms and Conditions apply.

Course Fees

Payment is due with your registration. The published price at the time of your registration is the price you will be invoiced. Prices are subject to change without notice. We accept Swiss Francs and Euros.

Participants who have not paid in advance must pay at the door.

Cancellation/Substitution

Registration is binding. Attendee substitutions are permitted. Registrants who fail to attend are subject to payment of the full registration fee if they have not obtained a cancellation approval from our Customer Service at least 6 working days prior to the event start date. If registrants wish to reschedule a registration within 6 working days before the start date of the class, they will be subject to a €100/CHF 165 course change fee. To obtain cancellation approval or substitute a registration, please contact Customer Service at +41 44 586 6450 or via web online.

Rescheduling

We endeavor to hold all courses as scheduled. We reserve the right to reschedule the event 10 days before the event if there are insufficient registrations -- You will be notified in writing (E-Mail, Letter or SMS) if this occurs. You may change or cancel your registration with out fee if we have to reschedule.

Scope

Course duration, price, goals, content, audience, prerequisites and other details are defined in the course description. The course price includes handouts, materials and use of relevant IT systems.

Meals, Travel and Hotel are not included in the course fees.

Certificate of Participation

All participants who are present from the start of the first day til 16.00 (4:00 pm) of the last day of the event shall receive a certificate of participation.

Copyright

By registering for a course, you agree to observe the following conditions of use:

Course Materials and Software used in the courses (e.g. Software & Operating Systems) are subject to Copyright restrictions and are made available for personal use during the course. Software may not be copied or taken home.
Without written permission from Sierra-Charlie consulting, course matierals, text, photos etc. may not copied, scanned, reproduced, translated or processed electronically, nor may they be used for internal or external purposes.
All materials are intellectual property of Peter Stevens, Sierra-Charlie Consulting.

Civil Liability

Civil Liabilty is excluded to limits permited by Swiss Law.

If a course cannot be held due to an Act of God (e.g. Sickness or Accident involving the instructor), the liability of Sierra Charlie Consulting for participant's travel expenses is limited to a maximum of CHF 100.-- (€ 65.--) per person.

In no case shall we be held liable for travel expenses or other third party fees arising as a result of cancellation or rescheduling or an event which was communicated in due time.

Changes to Contract

Sierra-Charlie Consulting reserves the right to modify the course program as well as these Terms and Conditions without notice. Your registration is govered by the conditions in effect at the time of your registration, which you will receive together with your confirmation. The current conditions are published on our website.

Venue, Governing Law

This agreement is subject exclusively to Swiss Law. The venue for any disputes arising out of this agreement in CH-8049 Zürich.

Last Update: June 2008

Workshop Description: Sprint Zero with TargetProcess

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Abstract

You have done the Scrum training and read the book. Now it's time to roll up your sleeves and start your first sprint. What now?

This course emphasizes hands on experience. Based on a real life example, we will work through the entire process of planing, estimating, starting and reviewing a sprint. Not just for TargetProcess users!

Objectives

After completing this workshop, you have actual experience planning and managing a Scrum Sprint. Futhermore, you will have experience and confidence to perform all of the key tasks in planning, executing and managing a sprint using TargetProcess

Audience

Project and Program Managers
Product Owners and Scrum Masters
Consultants and Managers evaluating Scrum or Target Process for their teams or companies
Teams getting ready to deploy Scrum for the first time
Users of TargetProcess or planning to use it.

Topics

Product Planning, Sprint Planning, Definition of Done, Sprint Contract, Daily Scrum, Sprint Demo & Retrospective. Bug Tracking, Customer Communication. Customizing Target Process.

Availability, Pricing and Booking

This course is only offered as an in house course for your company on site in English, German or French. Please contact us for details.

Certificate

All participants who remain until at least 16.00 (4:00pm) will receive a Certificate of Participation.

Conditions

See general terms and conditions for details.

Agile Project Management for Scrum Teams

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Agile Project Management for Scrum Teams has been renamed Scrum Jumpstart.

[Revised January 3, 2009]