Kathy Berkidge
Agile BA, Coach and Trainer
Melbourne, Australia
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Kathy Berkidge is an agile professional with over 30 years of experience delivering software solutions and process improvements in multiple roles including business analyst, product owner, project manager and agile team lead. She provides agile training and consulting services to many organisations in Australia and around the world including large companies and government departments. Working with teams and individuals, Kathy helps people understand the agile mindset and how to be truly agile as well as learn agile techniques to improve teamwork, be more innovative and deliver better customer value. Kathy is passionate about seeing people, teams and organisations succeed and thrive in an environment of collaboration and cooperation.
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We're an Agile Team, not a bot! Why AI will never replace teamwork!
AI is being used in all sorts of workplaces and industries. Agile teams rightfully worry that their roles may be taken over by ChatGPT or other technology. Without a doubt, AI will impact information technology and we must learn to leverage it as a tool. However, AI will never replace teamwork.
At the heart of agile is human interaction. After all, the first value of the Agile Manifesto is “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools”. Agile teams connect with their stakeholders and each other by building rapport, listening with empathy, and remaining present. AI can not develop trust and connection. It does not have consciousness or emotions. At best, all AI can do is simulate emotional intelligence through algorithms and learned patterns.
In this session, we will explore the skills and traits we possess that AI can never replace.
Teamwork with Presence
Teamwork is all about effective collaboration. We are constantly interacting and communicating with our team as we deliver customer solutions. Building positive relationships is critical. Being open and honest is key, as is being focused and effective listening. Presence is essential so that people feel heard and truly understood.
While being present sounds simple and straightforward, our minds easily wander. We are constantly bombarded with all sorts of distractions that hijack our attention – and the number of distractions we face isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Stress and fatigue compound the situation, so remaining present becomes a huge challenge.
This session will discuss the power of presence. We will explore techniques that enhance listening and concentration to remain aware and present in the moment. By being more present, we create better rapport and connection with people, which leads to better collaboration and solution delivery.
Maintaining Curiosity to Drive Innovation
Innovation doesn’t happen magically.
Innovative products are created by first developing insights, conducting research, and performing experiments, then homing in on a solution that delivers the breakthrough. We must remain curious – researching, investigating and experimenting, continuously learning as we go.
However, ingrained attitudes, bias and assumptions impede creativity and learning. We may think we know ‘something’ and so fail to explore ‘what else’. It’s easy to be prejudiced by our entrenched beliefs. We must remain open to discovering new, unseen information.
To remain objective and curious, we need to develop an exploratory mindset. By remaining mindful and aware, we can recognize our own bias and any preconceptions that may be influencing us and let go of these limiting positions. We can then approach product development with more clarity, creativity, and openness. This session will explore techniques to develop greater awareness to maintain a curious mindset.
The 3 “S’s” of User Stories
User stories are the cornerstone of agile requirements. Teams use them to plan and deliver solutions that meet their users’ needs. Beyond just solution requirements, user stories focus on value delivery from the perspective of the user.
However, user stories can be tricky to write in a way that they are understood by our stakeholders and the delivery team. It’s easy to think everyone is on the same page and we’re in agreement on what is expected, but then find we’re wrong. All too often, stories are not delivered in a sprint due to them being too big, not scoped correctly, or missing detail.
This session will explore how to write effective user stories using the 3 “S’s”: Simple, Single and Specific. These three simple guides can help us to assess our stories to ensure they are sized appropriately and well understood.
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