Alex Sloley
Agile Coach Facilitator Teacher Mentor
Sydney, Australia
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Alex Sloley is an agile evangelist. On top of his busy career working for companies around the world, he is an avid member of the agile community. He speaks regularly on the global stage and is an organiser of conference organisers. His book "The Agile Community" opens the door for you to join the global agile community movement. He specialises in Agile training, coaching, and transformations. For those in the know, Alex is a member of the Scrum Alliance Coaching Advisory Team, and co-chair of the Agile Alliance Agile Coaching Ethics Initiative Team. For the rest of us, that means Alex helps a lot of people and is a mover and shaker.
On the tech side, Alex is a 15-year veteran of Microsoft, where he was a Scrum Master, Scrum of Scrums Master, and Product Owner. During his tenure at Microsoft, he shipped in over ten Microsoft products, worked with Microsoft Research on high-profile projects, and led his organisation into an enterprise-level implementation of Scrum. Alex’s blue-chip client list includes Cisco, Deloitte, Intel, Macquarie, Nordeus, Nordstrom, Qantas, Satori, Shell, Starbucks, WatchGuard, and Westpac. Alex is a Scrum Alliance Certified Enterprise Coach, ICAgile Expert in Agile Coaching, and an ICAgile Authorized Instructor. And a bit of an overachiever. He likes beer.
Area of Expertise
Topics
The Kanban Practices – One Ring to Rule them All
Join us in Middle Earth where wizards and knights battle the forces of evil using the power of the Six Great Rings of the Kanban Practices! Discover the power and the curses of the Great Rings. And then learn about the One Ring, the practice that rules them all, and that every victorious Kanban team must master.
A Ring for the AKCs in their towers of ivory,
A Ring for the AKTs in the halls of inns,
A Ring for the KMPs working with their teams,
Two Rings for the Service Managers doomed to cry,
One for the Kanban coach under the sky,
In the Land of Evolution where Improvements lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the lightness bind them
In the Land of Evolution where Improvements lie.
Breakout Room Coaching – Easy, Fast, and Effective
Have you ever wondered what you are supposed to do with small teams doing activities in your trainings or workshops? “They look like they’re doing okay…” you think to yourself, and “they’re fine! I should just leave them alone and wander around.” And then you wander around virtual breakout rooms or tables in a large room not really saying much as a coach or trainer. After all, how much can you really coach a table when you only have like 2 minutes available per table during a 10-minute activity?
Yes, you can still coach and teach in those moments where you only have a minute or two! Using a simple process, you can learn 3 easy steps that enable you to coach rapidly across many breakout rooms in just a few minutes. Join us as we explore “Breakout Room Coaching” - the easy, fast, and effective way to coach small groups!
The Fine Art of Zero F***s Given
A fundamental and critical skill for any agile coach or leader is the pursuit of the fine art of "Zero F***s Given" ZFG. In contrast to how ZFG is often described on the interwebs, ZFG does not mean "I don't care"! ZFG is a mindset that embraces a myriad of concepts: fear, empathy, objectivity, neutrality, bias, drama, emotional intelligence, and more! Understanding the philosophy of ZFG will empower you to embrace this powerful skill so that you can become a more effective agile coach and leader.
Innovation in Risk Reduction
Risk reduction was one the original intents of teams and organizations adopting Agile ways of working. As Agile has slowly been expanding in our business and personal lives, this intent has slowly been withering away. Risk is not a very sexy topic. Or is it? Let’s get back to our risk roots! Come join us as we discover how risk reduction can be awesome again! We will overview 7 practical ways that risk can be reduced, perhaps in new and creative ways. Can risk reduction be creative and innovative? Let’s find out together...
The Value Story - do your stories have value?
What's in a story? Perhaps more applicable to agilists today, what's in a user story?
Let's get real about user stories and what they are trying to achieve. Perhaps the user story is not the story format we should be using!
Let's examine the user story format that we all know and love today. We will dive a little deeper into how a story and personas can create synergy. We will discuss how a user story can be presented on a ticket and how stories can be supplemented with information like acceptance criteria.
Of course something so widely used will have anti-patterns. Let's look at a few and have a few laughs as well.
Let's go even further and talk about user story alternatives, I will propose two. But wait! Are there even other user story alternatives? I will introduce two more.
Finally, let's sum up the purpose of the user story and conclude with the central idea that's really important - your story can be anything you want it to be!
Target audience = Agile Coach, Scrum Master, UX Engineer, Product Owner
Mechanics =
- Introduction to user stories, 5'
- User story format, 5'
- The traditional who, what, why format
- Ticket physical formats, 5'
- Personas, 5'
- Antipatterns, 5'
- 2 alternative formats, 5'
- First alternative format of why, who, what
- Second alternative format of why, what, who
- Followed by 2 more formats, as a bonus, 5'
- The value story as defined by Chris Matts, creator of Feature Injection
- The job story as defined by Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School
- Concluded with ultimate message that what works for you is OK, 5'
- The fairy tale format, the Peanuts format, the Star Wars format
- Q&A fills timebox
Learning outcome =
Introduce the user story format and key concepts like ticket format, acceptance criteria, and value. Introduce key anti-patterns to watch out for. Propose 2 alternative user story formats that may be of more value. Introduce 2 additional alternatives to user story format. The key takeaway and final message that you can use any format you want.
Slides = https://goo.gl/cgrRPs
Video sample = https://goo.gl/aG5MTL
Presentation history of this presentation:
- Canberra User Experience Meetup 2016
- UX Australia 2016
- Agile Canberra Meetup 2017
The version presented at Canberra User Experience Meetup 2016 can be found at https://goo.gl/cgrRPs
The version presented at UX Australia 2016 can be found at https://goo.gl/aG5MTL
Alex's conference and presentation history:
• Agile Open Northwest 2012 - Session Leader
• Übermind ÜnConference 2012 - Session Leader
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2012 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2012 - Session Leader
• MAQCon 2012 - Cofounder
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2013 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2013 - Session Leader
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2014 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2014 - Session Leader
• Construx Software Executive Summit 2014 – Workshop Facilitator
• Shell Developers Summit 2015 - Keynote Speaker
• Scrum Coaching Retreat Seattle 2015 - Volunteer Team
• Un:Conference Canberra 2016 - Session Leader
• Agile2016 - Volunteer Team
• UX Australia 2016 - Speaker, Reviewer
• Agile Coach Camp Sydney 2016 - Session Leader
• Agile Tour Sydney 2016 – Workshop Facilitator
• StartCon 2016 - Pitch Competitor
• Global Scrum Gathering San Diego 2017 - Reviewer
• Agile Australia 2017 - Reviewer
• JAFAC 2017 - Session Leader
• Global Scrum Gathering Singapore 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• LAST Melbourne 2017 – Speaker, Workshop Facilitator
• LAST Sydney 2017 - Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering India 2017 – Speaker, Workshop Facilitator, Coaches’ Clinic Coach
• LAST Canberra 2017 – Organizer, Speaker
• Agile NZ 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering Australia 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering South Africa 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Business Enterprise Agility Conference 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Business Agility 2018 – Nominated Facilitator
References to Your Speaking Ability
• Jeremie Benazra - jeremie.benazra@gmail.com
• Simon Bennett - simon@lasting-benefits.com
• Steve McConnell - steve.mcconnell@construx.com
• Damian Troselj - damian.troselj@gmail.com
The Best Agile Metrics - Everything Else Sucks!!!
Look, you need metrics for your Agile organization, right? In the immortal words of Peter Senge, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” So, you need to measure things, and measure them well. And you need to measure the right things too!
Metrics on employee happiness, theoretical value, and work not done are just plain dumb. I will reveal the metrics that you need. That mean something. And that get results. Join us as we discover THE BEST AGILE METRICS!
The Agile Community - How to grow, learn, share, and become a global agile community leader
Around the world there is a global network of people who, with little fanfare and deep dedication, incubate ideas that change our world.
They are the ‘agilists’ — those who adhere to the Agile Manifesto published in 2001. They meet in small and big rooms, around tables and on stages. They help each other to make good ideas great.
If you want to be part of the agile community, this session will open the door to this global movement. With candour and generosity, Alex Sloley invites you to join and shows you how. He reveals why you’ll love it. And he illuminates the path he took to becoming a thought leader in the global agile community.
You can join the agile community, too. If you are willing, you are welcome.
When agilists get together, they change the world. You can be part of that change.
Liberating Structures... 36 facilitation techniques to amp up your org's collaboration
The communication tools of Liberating Structures will teach you how to facilitate the discussions your org needs. I am going to demonstrate how to use these techniques in the workshop. And all the attendees are going to be fully immersed and ready to wield their new knowledge the very next day at work.
Come learn how to help your team(s), org(s), and company(ies)!!!
Target audience = Facilitators, Trainers, Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches
Mechanics =
This session has been designed to be 99% practical application and 1% presentation slide deck.
Materials needed: The workshop will require 1 pad of sticky notes and 1 Sharpie per attendee. The facilitator will require an audible cue tool, such as a Tibetan singing bowl or Tibetan gongs, to be provided by facilitator.
Overview of the first Liberating Structure, 1-2-4-All, also includes instructions. This exercise is divided into 4 micro-timeboxes totaling 15 minutes or less.
Overview of the second Liberating Structure, Troika Consulting, also includes instructions. This exercise is divided into 4 micro-timeboxes totaling 15 minutes or less.
Overview of the third Liberating Structure, TRIZ, also includes instructions. This exercise is divided into 3 micro-timeboxes totaling 20 minutes or less.
The next structure can be added or deleted as needed depending on how we are filling our timebox.
Overview of the fourth Liberating Structure, 15% Solutions, also includes instructions. This exercise is divided into 3 micro-timeboxes totaling 10 minutes or less.
Concluded with summarization of Liberating Structures and pointers to references, including user groups, training, web sites, and the definitive book. The session is intended for a 90 minute timeframe but can be expanded or contracted as needed by adding or removing Liberating Structures.
An attendee will be able to immediately apply multiple Liberating Structures that they have practiced.
Learning outcomes =
Attendees will be introduced to Liberating Structures as a set of protocols for communication and collaboration. The purpose and intent of the protocols will be discussed and described. Attendees will actually participate in a variety of Liberating Structure exercises, enabling the techniques to be applied immediately. To summarize the session a set of online resources will be provided to the attendees so they can research further at their leisure.
Slides = http://bit.ly/2f4Bie8
Video sample = https://www.youtube.com/embed/UNOjqMUv8h0?feature=oembed
Presentation history of this workshop:
- A variety of client engagements since 2011
- Agile Tour Sydney 2016
- Global Scrum Gathering Singapore 2017
- LAST Melbourne 2017
- LAST Sydney 2017
- Regional Scrum Gathering India 2017
- Agile NZ 2017
- Regional Scrum Gathering Australia 2017
- Regional Scrum Gathering South Africa 2017
- Business Enterprise Agility Conference 2017
Alex's conference and presentation history:
• Agile Open Northwest 2012 - Session Leader
• Übermind ÜnConference 2012 - Session Leader
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2012 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2012 - Session Leader
• MAQCon 2012 - Cofounder
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2013 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2013 - Session Leader
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2014 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2014 - Session Leader
• Construx Software Executive Summit 2014 – Workshop Facilitator
• Shell Developers Summit 2015 - Keynote Speaker
• Scrum Coaching Retreat Seattle 2015 - Volunteer Team
• Un:Conference Canberra 2016 - Session Leader
• Agile2016 - Volunteer Team
• UX Australia 2016 - Speaker, Reviewer
• Agile Coach Camp Sydney 2016 - Session Leader
• Agile Tour Sydney 2016 – Workshop Facilitator
• StartCon 2016 - Pitch Competitor
• Global Scrum Gathering San Diego 2017 - Reviewer
• Agile Australia 2017 - Reviewer
• JAFAC 2017 - Session Leader
• Global Scrum Gathering Singapore 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• LAST Melbourne 2017 – Speaker, Workshop Facilitator
• LAST Sydney 2017 - Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering India 2017 – Speaker, Workshop Facilitator, Coaches’ Clinic Coach
• LAST Canberra 2017 – Organizer, Speaker
• Agile NZ 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering Australia 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering South Africa 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Business Enterprise Agility Conference 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Business Agility 2018 – Nominated Facilitator
References to Your Speaking Ability
• Jeremie Benazra - jeremie.benazra@gmail.com
• Simon Bennett - simon@lasting-benefits.com
• Steve McConnell - steve.mcconnell@construx.com
• Damian Troselj - damian.troselj@gmail.com
Extraordinary Retrospectives
Are your retros boring, non-productive, and a waste of time? Come learn about 2 case studies of extraordinary retrospectives.
Retrospectives are the heart of the feedback loop that exists within an agile framework that fosters self-improvement.
Retrospectives lose value due to 2 reasons - they get boring or they have no value in terms of actionable items.
The first case will describe a team's experience organized at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia. A custom tour was developed that focused on "mateship".
The second case will describe a team's experience at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, Australia. A prototype team training based on Visual Thinking Strategies, VTS, usually reserved for 11-12 year old school children.
I will describe how you can partner with a variety of resources, including government programs, that will enable you to do the same thing.
Target audience = Agile Coach, Scrum Master, Facilitator
Mechanics =
- Overview of the retro and the value, 5'
- Common retro antipatterns, 5'
- Case study #1 on an extraordinary retro, 5'
- Case study #2 on an extraordinary retro, 5'
- How can extraordinary retros be created?, 5'
- How do you generate useful action items for continuous improvement, 5'
- Overview of retro tools to ad to the toolbox, 5'
- Q&A to fill the remaining timebox
Learning outcomes =
Learn why retrospectives lose their value. Two case studies will show how out-of-the-ordinary retros can have value. Attendees will walk away with concrete examples of how a transformation agent can integrate with local resources to provide an exceptional retrospective.
Slides = https://goo.gl/x15XbP
Video sample = https://www.youtube.com/embed/qG5GZs3D_kY?feature=oembed
Presentation history of this session:
• LAST Melbourne 2017
• Regional Scrum Gathering India 2017
Alex's conference and presentation history:
• Agile Open Northwest 2012 - Session Leader
• Übermind ÜnConference 2012 - Session Leader
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2012 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2012 - Session Leader
• MAQCon 2012 - Cofounder
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2013 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2013 - Session Leader
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2014 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2014 - Session Leader
• Construx Software Executive Summit 2014 – Workshop Facilitator
• Shell Developers Summit 2015 - Keynote Speaker
• Scrum Coaching Retreat Seattle 2015 - Volunteer Team
• Un:Conference Canberra 2016 - Session Leader
• Agile2016 - Volunteer Team
• UX Australia 2016 - Speaker, Reviewer
• Agile Coach Camp Sydney 2016 - Session Leader
• Agile Tour Sydney 2016 – Workshop Facilitator
• StartCon 2016 - Pitch Competitor
• Global Scrum Gathering San Diego 2017 - Reviewer
• Agile Australia 2017 - Reviewer
• JAFAC 2017 - Session Leader
• Global Scrum Gathering Singapore 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• LAST Melbourne 2017 – Speaker, Workshop Facilitator
• LAST Sydney 2017 - Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering India 2017 – Speaker, Workshop Facilitator, Coaches’ Clinic Coach
• LAST Canberra 2017 – Organizer, Speaker
• Agile NZ 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering Australia 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering South Africa 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Business Enterprise Agility Conference 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Business Agility 2018 – Nominated Facilitator
References to Your Speaking Ability
• Jeremie Benazra - jeremie.benazra@gmail.com
• Simon Bennett - simon@lasting-benefits.com
• Steve McConnell - steve.mcconnell@construx.com
• Damian Troselj - damian.troselj@gmail.com
ATHENA - Agile Coaching Ethics Framework
“Principles aren’t principles when you pick and choose when you’re gonna follow them." – Chidi Anagonye, The Good Place
Have you ever been in a gnarly situation where you really struggled to make a decision? Should I go left or should I go right? Should I go over or should I go under?? Should I stay or should I go??? And at the end of it, how do you know whether what you chose to do was ‘right’?
Big dilemmas can get us pretty worked up, and when the emotions roll in, we often let our instincts take over, while our brains forget to think. Ethics is the difference between what you have a right to do and what the right thing is. Ethics ain’t easy, but having a framework to look at complex situations supports us enables us to put the emotions to one side, and consider things more objectively. In this session we will face some big dilemmas, explore the idea of making decisions with ‘good’ reasons, and discuss how to guide and coach others to develop their ethical reasoning.
Coaching Up to the C-Suite
According to the 2016 State of Agile Survey the #3 cause of agile project failure is “Lack of management support” at 38%. To compound the matter, the #5 cause of prevention of further agile adoption is “Management support” at 29%. In contrast, the #2 reason for success in scaling agile is “Executive sponsorship” at 40%.
Clearly the executives and C-suite are a key part of a successful agile transformation. As an agile coach or transformation agent it is imperative that you work with the C-suite so that your org can successfully adopt agile.
Learn about the different types of C-suite executives through the use of personas. We will cover 6 persona types in detail.
Target audience = Agile Coach, Facilitator, Product Owner
Mechanics =
• 3 min – Set the stage and describe the common problem of how to coach to executives. Includes summarization of Scrum Coach Retreat and how they can be useful in producing actual output like this presentation.
• 3 min – Overview the 6 executive persona types
• 5 min – Describe persona 1, “Risk Adverse” executive and the following information: traits, tells, how to relate, and tools/games/resources to be applied
• 5 min – Describe persona 2, “Disenaged” executive and the following information: traits, tells, how to relate, and tools/games/resources to be applied
• 5 min – Describe persona 3, “Results Driven” executive and the following information: traits, tells, how to relate, and tools/games/resources to be applied
• 5 min – Describe persona 4, “Metrics Driven” executive and the following information: traits, tells, how to relate, and tools/games/resources to be applied
• 5 min – Describe persona 5, “Dictator” executive and the following information: traits, tells, how to relate, and tools/games/resources to be applied
• 5 min – Describe persona 6, “Executive Change Agent” executive and the following information: traits, tells, how to relate, and tools/games/resources to be applied
• 5 min – Provide general resources and tools and games applicable to executives and summarize the persona types and how coaching at the executive level is just plain different
• Fill remaining timebox with Q&A
Learning outcomes =
The value of Scrum Coach Retreats and how agile coaching teams can solve hard agile problems together. How attendance and participation at conferences can lead to distribution of ideas and information. The concept of coaching at the executive level and how it is different. The 6 common executive persona types and associated information, including:
• Traits
• Tells
• How to relate to them
• Tools, games, and resources that can be applied
• An extensive resource list of tools that can be used
Slides https://goo.gl/m49b62
Presentation history of this session:
• Scrum Coaching Retreat Raleigh 2014
• LAST Canberra 2017
Alex's conference and presentation history:
• Agile Open Northwest 2012 - Session Leader
• Übermind ÜnConference 2012 - Session Leader
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2012 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2012 - Session Leader
• MAQCon 2012 - Cofounder
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2013 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2013 - Session Leader
• MobileUXCamp Seattle 2014 - Session Leader
• Seattle Kaizen Camp 2014 - Session Leader
• Construx Software Executive Summit 2014 – Workshop Facilitator
• Shell Developers Summit 2015 - Keynote Speaker
• Scrum Coaching Retreat Seattle 2015 - Volunteer Team
• Un:Conference Canberra 2016 - Session Leader
• Agile2016 - Volunteer Team
• UX Australia 2016 - Speaker, Reviewer
• Agile Coach Camp Sydney 2016 - Session Leader
• Agile Tour Sydney 2016 – Workshop Facilitator
• StartCon 2016 - Pitch Competitor
• Global Scrum Gathering San Diego 2017 - Reviewer
• Agile Australia 2017 - Reviewer
• JAFAC 2017 - Session Leader
• Global Scrum Gathering Singapore 2017 – Speaker
• LAST Melbourne 2017 – Speaker, Workshop Facilitator
• LAST Sydney 2017 - Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering India 2017 – Speaker, Workshop Facilitator, Coaches’ Clinic Coach
• LAST Canberra 2017 – Organizer, Speaker
• Agile NZ 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering Australia 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Regional Scrum Gathering South Africa 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Business Enterprise Agility Conference 2017 – Workshop Facilitator
• Business Agility 2018 – Nominated Facilitator
References to Your Speaking Ability
• Jeremie Benazra - jeremie.benazra@gmail.com
• Simon Bennett - simon@lasting-benefits.com
• Steve McConnell - steve.mcconnell@construx.com
• Damian Troselj - damian.troselj@gmail.com
Agile Dance – Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner!
Dance is a universal component of all human societies, impacting the arts, culture, language, religion, entertainment, and even mating rituals.
Self-care is fast becoming an important topic at Agile conferences, particularly given the 2021 we’ve all had. The mental wellness of individuals, and people together on teams, plays an important role in enabling high-performing organizations. With the move to virtual teams, having a team ‘dance’ can bring a sense of ‘togetherness’ even as we are all physically distant. In this workshop, together we will learn the fundamentals of dance and how to create an engaging team formation activity (for both the physical and virtual world). We will then explore the emerging philosophy of Dance Therapy and how dance can help build and support a culture of self, and team-care.
Agile Cheer - Bring It On!
“You better bring it!
Oh, it’s already been broughten!”
The purpose of cheerleading is to support and encourage their team to achieve peak performance – they give the team the extra oomph to carry them over the goal line! The cheerleaders not only support and celebrate the wins, they also encourage the team when they need to push through their trials and tribulations. Cheerleaders build the hype of the team’s fans by creating infectious energy – just imagine your stakeholders hyped up because of your awesome team!
In this session, an enterprise agile coach and an award-winning professional cheerleader will take lessons from professional cheerleading and apply them in an agile team context.
They will cover the 3 pillars of agile cheerleading – dance, chants, and emotions and explore the fundamentals and benefits of an agile cheer so that you can super-charge your teams.
BE! AGILE! BE! BE AGILE!
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