What if you had the power to create enthusiasm and unleash creativity just by the way you ask a question? What if sharing stories of past successes could actually help create an actionable vision for future success? Appreciative Inquiry (AI) gives us as Agile practitioners the keys to unlocking the immense creative power and enthusiasm that exists in every individual, group and organization – power and enthusiasm that can drive collaboration and meaningful, lasting change.

Through AI we identify and focus on the ‘positive core’ – strengths, assets, experiences and aspirations of an Agile team and use these qualities as building blocks for the future that we envision. In this session we will explore the background and assumptions of AI. You will learn the fundamentals of AI and the ‘4D’ structure to the inquiry. Then, we will explore the practical application of AI by conducting a mini AI workshop “Appreciating Collaborations’. After attending this session you will be able to begin practicing AI methods and creating strengths-based change not only within an Agile team but across an organization.

RSVP to attend this event at the Atlanta Scrum Users Group!

Bio:

Michael Fortunato is an experienced project/program manager and consultant with over 20 years of experience across a variety of industries. He is currently an Agile Coach with BigVisible Solutions, Inc., working with clients on large-scale enterprise Agile transformations. Also… for those of you that don’t know… Mike is the founder of our Meetup!

A discussion of the obstacles that stand in the way of most agile adoptions and how the ability to effect change throughout the organization is critical to long-term success.

Join Michael Fortunato for an immersive exploration on these, and other challenges during March’s Agile RTP Meetup.

For more information or to RSVP, visit the Agile RTP event page.

BigVisible Coach, PMP, and Certified Scrum Trainer Angela Johnson will present as the keynote speaker at this local PMI event. Come find out what you can do to make the transition from project manager to ScrumMaster as smooth as possible.

Program Description

What Happened to my Day Job? Transitioning from Project Manager to ScrumMaster.
The transition from Project Manager to ScrumMaster can be very challenging. In some cases, Project Managers struggle with the focus shifting from administrative and coordinating skills to an emphasis on the people and soft skills. In this session, we will explore some of the pitfalls in making this transition, the skills needed for making a transition to an Agile / Scrum role and what traditional Project Managers can do to make this transition as effectively as possible.

Register here

Speaker Bio

Angela Johnson is a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), Certified Scrum Developer (CSD) and Agile Coach who provides education consulting services to clients across the United States adopting Scrum and other agile processes. Angela has successfully implemented Scrum/Agile principles in a variety of projects from web-based applications to enterprise level retail and financial projects.

As an Agile Trainer and CST, Angela provides students with foundational knowledge and tools needed to begin adopting Scrum, Agile, Kanban, etc. As an Agile Coach, Angela mentors clients at all levels in their agile transformation working with teams, managers, stakeholders and executives.

A graduate of Hamline University (B.A.) and the University of St. Thomas (M.B.C.), Angela has presented at university sponsored events as well as at the Project Management Institute (PMI) Minnesota chapter events and to the Twin Cities Quality Assurance Association. Angela is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), a Certified Scrum Master (CSM), a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and a Certified Scrum Professional (CSP). Angela facilitates the PMI Minnesota Agile Local Interest Group and is also an active member of the Scrum Alliance, and Agile Alliance.

Join BigVisible and AgileDenver at Mile High Agile 2012: Elevating Agility. The 2011 conference was a wild success, with over 450 people attending and rave reviews from sponsors, attendees and speakers. The conference goal for 2012 is to elevate the state of agile practices in the region, educating a wide audience from novices to gurus, technical professionals to business executives. Mile High Agile 2012 will be the premier regional gathering of Lean & Agile practitioners and a unique opportunity for companies to network with an expected audience of 500 customers, partners, and talented professionals in IT, software, and beyond.

Join BigVisible as we play our way to agility.

The Agile Games Conference is an annual event hosted by Agile New England in Cambridge Massachusetts which is meant to be an immersive exploration of some of the more interesting, playful, and fun concepts behind Agile Software Development. After all, work is important, we should be able to have fun while doing it.

Agile Games 2011 Promo from Lollie Videography on Vimeo.

With topics such as Innovation Games to help hear a customer’s voice, learning games used to save dying languages, coding katas, improv concepts for coaching, and even the use of Legos for facilitating and problem solving, our goal has been to broaden horizons to find powerful and novel concepts people can put into practice.

Practice is a key concept as well. One of our guiding principles has been for sessions to be as interactive as possible, even at one point toying with the idea of a “no powerpoint” rule. Everyone at the conference – attendees, facilitators, and volunteers – is responsible for helping to share their own experience and insights. This is a hands on event. As one of our organizers clearly articulated, our goal is to provide a transformational experience for attendees.

Register to attend using our sponsor discount of $75 off!