Celebrate Agile
We'll celebrate Agile's transformative journey, sharing success stories and exploring its evolution from its origins to modern applications.
Discover how Agile fosters collaboration and innovation, address common challenges, and debunk misconceptions about the "death" of Agile.
Look ahead to emerging trends and future directions, and leave motivated to continue advancing Agile practices. Celebrate, learn, and be inspired!
About the speaker:
Evelien's Agile journey started at Essent in 2010 and since then she has helped many teams at different organizations to become more Agile (ING, Rabobank, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, APG, Philips, VodafoneZiggo, Unilever). Evelien is a Professional Agile Trainer at Xebia Academy. She is certified to teach the Scrum.org classes as a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) and a certified trainer for Training From the Back of the Room.
Evelien likes to focus on the people within the organization, supporting and teaching teams to become high performing. And yes… she loves to give training.
Amplifying Agile with 12 Extra Principles
In my 10 years as a Scrum Master and Agile Coach, I’ve faced countless challenges. Some simple. Some tough. Some "OMG, I'm not cut out for this."
After navigating through trial and error with resilience and absorbing wisdom from amazing mentors, I've gathered lessons that have improved a lot my work and leadership (even personal life!).
In this session, I’ll share 12 extra principles that amplify how you lead and collaborate in your Agile journey.
About the speaker:
Artur Margonari is passionate about Agile, which he applies daily in his personal life. He works as Agile Coach, Trainer and Facilitator at InspirationOwl Belgium and has more than 10 years of experience in practicing and helping organizations in their Agile journey, forming high-performing teams, and delivering great products/services.
Having worked as an Agile Coach and Scrum Master in different departments (IT, HR, payroll, procurement, marketing, portfolio) and in various industries (banking, insurance, software house, pharmaceutical, brewery), he was able to learn more about the end to end flow and product cycle, with a 360° view.
He invests his free time organizing conferences (Agile Tour Brussels and Agile Consortium Belgium Conference previously), and meetups.
His essence can be represented by Mahatma Gandhi’s saying: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Hobbies & passions: music (listening and playing), archery, martial arts, fast learning and traveling.
Reimagining Agile - The Death of Agile is Greatly Exaggerated
No. The Agile Manifesto isn’t dead!
What should be dead are the imitation of agile methodologies that are actually negative training and yield negative examples that get labeled as "Agile." We need to spread the word about what agility flourishing really looks like and feels like.
And how to find the fake stuff hiding in plain sight.
Jon will share how he applies the values and principles in the Agile Manifesto along with critical technical approaches to doing software development. His approach challenges the status quo on agile concepts as all-too-often practiced in today’s companies.
If you want to become a high-performing team, learning how to embrace being agile as you pursue delivering value, come along with Jon as he works at Reimagining Agile to make agile accessible to all.
Cast aside the values and principles in the Agile Manifesto at your own peril. The crazier your part of the world gets, the more we need the capacity of sensemaking that an agile mindset can help provide.
About the speaker:
Jon Kern is co-author of the Agile Manifesto and Agile Consultant at Adaptavist.com.
Jon has been a leading proponent of agile methodologies since first publishing his lightweight methodology in 1997. As part of the February 2001 gathering atop Snowbird Resort, Utah, Jon was one of the original co-authors of the Agile Manifesto for Software Development (www.agilemanifesto.org).
Jon is passionate about helping teams succeed in delivering business value through software and technology. He helps teams articulate, design, architect, and deliver software that solves challenging business problems. From training and mentoring teams to helping provide visionary solutions, and all points in between, Jon routinely has a significant impact on the teams he works with, creating a quick-hit ability to solve problems and deliver results. Projects routinely see high-quality, innovative solutions in less time; and leave the local team mentored on object-oriented and agile techniques, and excited.
Jon has a knack for taking the long view, seeing the big picture - yet knowing the details, and driving business success at every turn.
Organizations that are interested in truly establishing a best-of-breed lean/agile culture focused on delivering business value – and having fun while doing it – love working with Jon. His no-nonsense, pragmatic, holistic approach is a breath of fresh air for many.
Harnessing Happiness for Resilience
Life can be really tough sometimes, but finding happiness can help us get through it and become stronger. This talk will show how we can use happiness to face difficult situations, become more resilient (strong and able to handle problems), and inspire others to do the same.
This talk will go into what happiness and resilience are, how they work together, and why they’re important for feeling good and staying strong. You’ll learn practical ways to use happiness as a guide, as well as simple techniques and habits to stay positive and hopeful when things get hard.
You will also learn how spreading your own happiness and resilience can help lift up and support the people around you. Lastly, Antoni will share examples by providing real stories of people and communities who have used happiness to overcome challenges and make a positive impact.
By the end of this session, you’ll know how to use happiness to navigate tough times, build your own strength, and inspire others to be strong and positive too. This talk is for anyone interested in how happiness can help us deal with life’s difficulties and spread positivity to others.
About the speaker:
After successfully navigating the vibrant fields of fashion design, systems engineering, cloud engineering, cloud training, and team coaching, Antoni Tzavelas found his true vocation: igniting the spark of inspiration in others as a public speaker and leadership coach. With a focus on spreading the potent messages of happiness and empowerment, his mission is to illuminate paths of personal and professional fulfillment for others.
Global engagements have seen him gracing stages at many conferences around the world. Such appearances are complemented by participation in countless community meetups where he has imparted his knowledge and insights, furthering an understanding of leadership, happiness, and empowerment.
Antoni guides individuals to prioritize their happiness in every aspect of their lives. By offering straightforward, impactful strategies through keynote speeches and workshops, he empowers people to unlock their full potential. This is not just his career: it’s his mission to help make the world a more inspired and joyful place.
Aliens to Allies - How Agilists Empower Organisations
Are we, as Agilists, perceived as alien forces by those we aim to help?
As consultants when we land in an organisation are we viewed with suspicion and wariness?
Do our methods, our ways of relating and our language seem foreign and hard to understand?
With 70% or Agile transformations failing(Mckinsey), we have to ask ourselves the hard questions.
Do we do everything we can to take others on the journey to delivering value, or do we become more focused on the method, landing, expanding, and billability rather than delivering measurable value for the client and their customers or end users?
This presentation draws parallels between popular alien myths and the challenges faced during Agile transformations. By examining the roots of these misconceptions and utilising exercises designed to build a common language, empathy and trust, Agilists can bridge the gap between themselves, their teams and leadership to empower organisations to go after their goals.
About the speaker:
Having discovered Scrum 15 years ago, Nisha rapidly transitioned to Scrum Master and Delivery Manager roles, and developed a natural talent for servant leadership, creating then coaching amazing teams in delivering outstanding results. As she's gotten deeper into her practice, she's thankful that her working life isn't confined to producing Gantt charts!
Nisha has a wealth of experience, globally, across industries including logistics, supply chain, e- commerce, hospitality, retail, broadcast media, not-for-profit and start-ups.
She's a highly experienced mentor of Project and Programme Management professionals and Scrum Masters.
She has spoken at conferences such as Agile Tour Vilnius last year and most recently at Lean Agile London in May 2024.
Navigating the Vā: A Pacific Island Agility
In this presentation, Philadelphia will explore the concept of "Navigating the Vā," a Pacific Island approach that can foster agility within teams and organizations.
The Vā, symbolizing the space and relationships between people, is integral to many Pacific Island cultures and offers profound insights into effective collaboration and leadership.
She will discuss three key practices to navigate the that can enhance agility, strengthen relationships, and empower teams to achieve greater purpose, clarity, and success.
About the speaker:
Philadelphia Tivoli is a Fijian and Samoan mother, entrepreneur, artist and Agilist with an extensive background in business and agile delivery. Born in Fiji, raised in Aotearoa, and educated in Sydney, Philadelphia’s entrepreneurial work, agile roles and creative pursuits has spanned Australia, NZ, USA and Europe. Always bringing a uniquely Pacific Islander diasporic perspective, Philadelphia’s artistry, musicianship, self-diagnosed Spotify addiction and cosmetic chemistry “dabbles” give her an artistic, fun and out-of-the-box approach to solving the pointiest of problems.
Scrumify Your Health: Can Agility really give you "Twice the Energy with Half the Stress"
Scrum Creator Jeff Sutherland recently released an introduction to his "Twice the Energy with Half the Stress" (TEHS) framework, which is a version of Scrum for improving your health.
In TEHS, you are the Product, and different parts of your own body are the Developers, Scrum Master, and Product Owner.
In order to evaluate whether Scrum can really make us healthier, Jeremy will embark on 12 sprints of Scrumifying his own health and report to you whether Agility can really make us healthier.
About the speaker:
Jeremy Randall is an Agilist who has served as Developer, Scrum Master, and Product Owner on a number of Scrum teams.
He embraces Agility in his personal life as well, using it not only for day-to-day task management, but also to complete complex personal projects like starting a business, writing a book, and moving his family from the United States to France.
More Agility with Data & Analytics? Yes, please!
In today's world, with increasing market volatility, globalization, rapid tech changes, and sustainability challenges, organizational agility has never been more important. Companies that have mastered their capabilities to quickly and effectively sense and respond to changes are gaining a competitive edge. Science has long confirmed a strong link between data & analytics and organizational agility, leading many companies to invest heavily in data technologies.
But here's the catch—despite recognizing data & analytics as key to agility, many companies struggle to see the benefits. In fact, analytics can sometimes even hinder agility. Did you know there's a 70-80% chance of data & analytics initiatives failing to achieve their goals? These stats, published by Gartner over a decade ago, still hold true today, despite all the investments in data platforms. So, why do some organizations thrive with data & analytics while others fall short?
Seeking answers, Justina conducted scientific research focusing on the human side of data & analytics, uncovering insights that can help organizations get more value and agility from their data initiatives.
In this talk, Justina will show why focusing only on data & analytics technology isn't enough. To truly boost agility, we need to focus on the human side too. She'll explore how leaders, teams, and individuals can create a data & analytics-friendly culture and put in place effective protocols for sustainable, data-driven agility. Drawing from her practical experience and research-backed insights, this talk promises to be both informative and inspiring.
Let's rethink how we use data to stay ahead in a rapidly changing world.
About the speaker:
Justina is a tech leader with 18 years of IT experience who's been on an incredible journey through ERP implementations, Business Intelligence & Data Analytics projects, and custom software development. She's led cross-functional agile teams across international companies, delivering complex tech solutions and driving agile Ways of Working. Justina has been active in creating vibrant cultures of flexibility, collaboration, continuous learning, and experimentation. She was dedicated to building thriving teams and continuously learning how to do it better.
Today, as an independent consultant, Justina empowers companies to unlock their full potential through innovative digital solutions. She passionately believes that any organization can become a digital champion with the right support, an open mind, and the motivation to change.
Justina's passion for technology extends beyond the industry into academia. She is a dedicated researcher and educator, currently a PhD candidate at Vilnius University. Her research focuses on how Business Intelligence & Data Analytics can enhance organizational agility, with a special emphasis on the human-centered aspects that determine the value of technology. Her scholarly work has been published in esteemed journals and shared with the international academic community.
In addition, Justina is a lecturer at Vilnius University, inspiring the next generation of tech professionals. Her mission is to ignite a passion for technology in young minds, guiding them toward fulfilling careers and self-realization in the tech industry.
Team Leadership: Mastering the Skill of Motivating People
Join Bent as we explore the critical challenge faced by many senior developers transitioning into leadership roles: how to motivate and inspire a team effectively.
Promoted to team leads or project managers, you suddenly find yourself responsible for leading other human beings without the proper education, coaching, or mandate. You are educated and have built your career on understanding and dealing with computers. Now, a more complex challenge arises: motivating human beings! As you grapple with this challenge, we'll explore how mastering the balance between managing tasks and understanding people can enable you to lead your team with confidence and effectiveness.
About the speaker:
Bent Myllerup is a Fellow Coach with Better Change Consulting. He works as a management consultant, organisational change agent, and agile transformation coach.
His first paycheck as a software developer was earned in 1987, and since then, he has gained personal experience in various contexts: from junior developer to being on the board of directors, working in a range from garage start-ups to internationally well-recognised corporations. For the majority of his career, his responsibility has been leading and coaching people.
Bent extends agile approaches beyond software and has worked with Agile in embedded environments of software, firmware, electronics, and mechanics. He holds a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering and a master's degree in management development.
Transforming agile challenges into AI driven solutions
About the speaker:
Dave currently works as DM at BJSS, he has held numerous roles and built extensive experience in agile delivery and tech, ranging from developer to manager across several industries.
He's an active advocate of agile and works to enhance teams and workplaces by promoting agile ways of working, principles and values.
How About Less?
We've all heard the saying, "less is more," but when does it truly apply? Join us at Agile Tour Vilnius 2024 as we explore real-world examples and cases where doing less actually leads to better results.
In this session, we'll examine the power of minimalism in various agile practices, such as backlogs, WIP limits, MVPs, workloads, estimating, and metrics. Learn how streamlining your processes can enhance efficiency, boost productivity, and drive greater success.
Embrace the potential of less and uncover the transformative impact it can have on your projects and teams. Don't miss out on this opportunity to rethink and refine your agile approach!
About the speaker:
Algirdas is a software engineer, business solution analyst, Scrum Master. He worked with multiple teams to enable them in Agile practices (Scrum & Kanban). He has lead a 4-hour workshop on Agile fundamentals for TransUnions Testers academy (TUTA). Algirdas holds a PSM 1 certificate and an OKR foundation certificate.
Wrangling the Wild: Tales of a Product Owner in the Trenches
Have you ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or just plain baffled by team dynamics and shifting business needs? You're not alone! Join me for an engaging and fun-filled session where I dive into my roller-coaster journey as a Product Owner over the past year. Get ready for a treasure trove of stories, lessons, and practical tips that will empower POs, PMs, agile teams, and management alike.
What You'll Discover:
This session is a must-attend for anyone feeling hemmed in by their team, Scrum Master, or organization. Through my tales of trials, triumphs, and everything in between, I aim to provide relatable insights and actionable advice to help you tackle your own challenges with confidence and flair.
About the speaker:
With 5 years of hands-on experience as a Product Owner/Project Manager, Audronė brings a unique and vibrant approach to navigating team dynamics and business challenges. Her master's degree in psychology provides deep insights into how to effectively act in a Product Owner's role, helping Audronė decode team behaviors and foster high-performing environments.
From Specialist to the Manager: How to make a smooth and impactful transition
This isn't just a talk - it's a conversation about one of the most significant career shifts you'll face: becoming a manager. Leveraging our coaching experience with tech leaders across Lithuania and Europe, we’ll share our most practical insights and proven techniques for new tech managers looking to make a smooth transition and those looking to increase their impact in their managerial role.
Join us to explore how you can:
This session is perfect for:
About the speakers:
With over a decade of diverse industry experience, Agnė excels in aligning strategic objectives with iterative product development approaches.
Her commitment to client success and the effective use of agile practices position her as a trusted partner for those who care about value first.
Her superpower: deliver more value sooner.
With over 8 years of diverse experience in product development organizations, Gabrielė is a go-to person for finding a unique perspective.
Throughout her engagements, she remains highly inquisitive seeking to understand the challenges and opportunities each organization faces.
Her superpower: empower people to achieve more.
Kill Projects. Re-launch as Products. Why and How
As a Fractional Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO) and advisor to executives and boards, Vaidas has discovered that the quickest path to achieving business results from technology and product teams is to kill all "IT projects" and relaunch them as products. In this talk, he will share real-life cases where he successfully implemented this strategy, highlighting what worked well and what he would do differently next time.
If you are an executive aiming to outpace your competition, or if you seek ideas and inspiration on how to guide your leadership team and company to faster business outcomes using digital products and technology teams, this talk is for you.
About the speaker:
Vaidas Adomauskas is the founder of Agile Coach, the only Agile training and consulting center in Lithuania, the founder of the Agile Lietuva association, and an Agile and digital products evangelist.
Vaidas is currently serving as a Fractional Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO) at smeGo. He also is advising international companies' boards and CEOs on Business Agility, innovating and launching digital products.
He previously held the CPO position at fintech startups First Circle and Uncapped and served as the Head of Revolut Business at Revolut, the fastest-growing startup in Europe.
For over 15 years, Vaidas has utilized Agile methodologies and digital products to expedite companies' path to achieving business results. He provides consultation and advisory to company boards, CEOs, and managers, conducts training, and serves as a coach.
Vaidas's ICAgile Certified Professional course is accredited by the international Agile Consortium (ICAgile), enabling participants to earn international ICAgile Certified Professional (ICP) certificates.
Mythbusting serving teams: mastering dual perspectives for success
Yannick will be busting some myths and misconceptions of what is expected when serving an Agile team.
He will do this by approaching the position from 2 perspectives: serving your team ("soft" angle) and managing your team ("hard" angle), complete with some real life examples and situations how you can leverage both to set up yourself and your teams for long-term success.
This topic is perfect if you're just starting out and looking how to get started on the right foot or if you're looking to shake things up with an existing team!
About the speaker:
With almost 20 years of diverse experience in software development, of which more than 6 years as Scrum Master and Agile Coach at Telesoftas, Yannick's wish is to make the life of Agile teams and Agile leaders simpler and more sustainable, one coaching, mentoring or lecture session at a time!
He leverages his background as a developer to translate developer language to leaders and vice versa, to foster mutually beneficial. collaborative relationships.
5 ways to create trust and build a safe environment
A safe environment, enabled by trust, is key in any human group interaction, fostering open communication and effective collaboration. Drawing from my extensive experience as a consultant and trainer over the past 7 years, I am excited to share with you 5 powerful real practices I use to establish trust and nurture a safe space within diverse groups of individuals, even those who have never crossed paths before.
Throughout my journey, I have encountered various challenges in gaining the trust of different groups of people, each with their unique backgrounds, perspectives, and expectations. However, by implementing these techniques, I have been able to break down barriers and foster an atmosphere where individuals feel empowered to express themselves freely, support one another, and ultimately, maximize their collective learning potential.
Join me as we explore practical approaches, all aimed at creating a transformative environment where trust thrives, and collaboration flourishes.
About the speaker:
Raul Barth is a seasoned Lean Agile Consultant, trainer, coach and SAFe SPCT Candidate at Gladwell Academy, with a deep understanding of Lean and Agile values and principles. With a Green Belt in Lean and certifications as a Professional Scrum Master I & II (PSM) and Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO), Raul brings a wealth of expertise to his work.
Over the past 15 years, Raul has gained extensive international experience in Agile, software development, IT, R&D, team management and leadership, having worked in diverse locations such as Brazil, France, Netherlands, and the UK. Throughout his career, he has dedicated more than 10 years to Lean and Agile.
Raul's technical proficiency is rooted in his academic background, holding Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Computer Engineering, as well as a Master's degree in Big Data. His practical experience in Agile spans across various roles, including team member, Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Agile Coach and Consultant. For the past 7 years, he has been actively engaged in guiding organizations through Agile transformations.
Passionate about Agile and Lean, Raul firmly believes that successful Lean-Agile transformations depend on mindset and people. He views frameworks, methods, and processes as tools to achieve goals such as faster time-to-market, quality, motivated teams, and customer satisfaction.
Currently, Raul serves as a consultant and trainer, leveraging his expertise in English, Portuguese, and French. He is dedicated to supporting Gladwell's partners in their pursuit of success through Agile and digital transformations.
Building an Agile Future: The Intersection of Change Management and Agile Development
In his presentation, Lukas will bridge the gap between Agile and Change Management, addressing how both disciplines can work together to amplify transformation success.
Tailored for Agile experts, the presenter focuses on integrating iterative, adaptive agile methodologies with structured change management to boost adoption and value realization.
By leveraging his extensive experience, Lukas demonstrates actionable strategies for embedding change management within agile frameworks, driving sustainable organizational change in an evolving landscape.
About the speaker:
Lukas is a Certified Prosci Advanced Instructor and a dynamic change management consultant with over 15 years of experience transforming organizations through adaptive strategies. Specializing in guiding teams and executives through change, Lukas leverages agile frameworks to foster resilience and continuous improvement in rapidly evolving environments.
With a Master's in Applied Economics and Finance, Lukas has helped global organizations deploy agile principles, enabling them to iterate on business strategies, align leadership with change initiatives, and deliver value-driven results. His approach balances stress management and wellness with agile leadership, ensuring both individuals and teams thrive in fast-paced contexts.
Lukas’ diverse expertise as a C-level coach and certified strategy facilitator positions him as a trusted advisor in creating scalable, adaptable frameworks for long-term success.
Humane agility with Team Topologies
Organizations seeking true agility should embrace the diversity of their team types. Instead of assuming all "cross-functional" teams are the same, we should encourage evolutionary interactions between different teams rather than striving for uniformity.
In this talk, we will examine common team types and interaction patterns, emphasizing the importance of managing cognitive load to support the human factor in agile environments. Participants will gain insights into organizational design that extends beyond software development teams, fostering a more collaborative and resilient agile ecosystem.
Join Radek to learn how to build humane agility and move away from thinking about organizations in a mechanistic way.
About the speaker:
Radek Orszewski is a Lean Agile coach, consultant, and trainer. He has been practicing many methods and tools for over 15 years working in the international organization across Europe. He’s an Accredited Kanban Trainer (AKT) and Consultant as well as one of the first Team Topologies Advocates in Central Europe.
He’s also an experienced Scrum practitioner (CSP-SM & PO). In his independent work, he focuses on optimizing business value flow by including all technical and non-technical stakeholders and working with C-level management. In 2023 he delivered "No wishful thinking forecasting" speech at Agile Tour Vilnius.
From Common Sense To Alignment: Uncovering the Value of Changed Mindset
In his speech, Karolis will share how he as an external Agile consultant worked on changing the Fixed mindset to a Growth mindset in different companies, where to start, and how to deal with preconceived resistance.
When agility meets ownership: the birth of change and innovation
In today’s “fast-paced”, “ever-changing”, “everything-is-important” world, product owners are often caught between the forces of chaos, conflicting priorities, and the drive to build the most innovative product possible.
In this session, “When Agility Meets Ownership: The Birth of Change and Innovation,” we will explore the crucial role product owners play in navigating this dynamic landscape.
Through practical insights and real-world examples, we will dive into the product owner’s impact on managing change versus chaos, the deeper aspects of stakeholder management beyond morning coffee chats, the importance of effective product demos, team dynamics, and so much more.
Attendees will walk away with actionable strategies for:
Join us for an engaging and insightful session that will empower you to lead with confidence, foster innovation, and drive meaningful transformation in your product ownership journey.
About the speaker:
Davy Kenis is a (technical) QA coach who specializes in helping companies enhance organisational effectiveness through structured approaches. With over 15 years of experience Davy has worked across various of domains: Telecom, Banking, Logistics, B2B,... in both national and international organisations.
With a background in software development, he began his career as a test expert, driven by a passion for integrating quality into every aspect of the Software Development Lifecycle.
Today Davy mainly focuses on empowering organisations and teams to achieve their goals and unlock their full potentials while delivering high-end quality products and services.
With his experience as agile coach, product owner/manager, DevOps consultant and QA expert he is able to give a different perspective on software development. Constantly seeking for new ideas and inspirations to refine his own skills and share this knowledge with teams and organisations.
Besides his commitment on quality and organisational development, Davy has discovered a passion for public speaking. He views it as a mission to inspire and engage an audience, with a blend of education and entertainment.
The Agile COO: Driving Operational Excellence in Fast-Changing Environments
Living in a world of constant change is the reality Gintarė faces as the COO of an e-commerce startup. In this session, she’ll share how she has embraced Agile principles to keep operations running smoothly while adapting to shifting priorities and fast-moving challenges.
She will dive into her personal experiences—what’s worked, what hasn’t—and how she's have broken down silos, made quick decisions, and kept teams focused and flexible.
About the speaker:
Strategist at heart, Gintarė is a result-oriented business leader who breaks down complex changes with an action-focused approach to achieve results.
Driven by daring ideas, innovation, and technology, she never fails to push the boundaries of what can be done in business. Her experience includes nearly two decades and various areas — from IT and Telecommunications to various startups.
Her strong interest lies in people-culture-leadership relationships, which she leverages to lead organizational changes — with stability being key.
Unleashing Creativity: what to do when ‘what went well’ conversation isn’t working anymore
In this talk, we explore techniques to boost engagement and creativity of your interactions at work. Using real-life examples, we'll demonstrate how seemingly unrelated activities like making metaphors, drawing, playing games or even snacking can transform retrospectives, brainstorming sessions, and other collaborative events.
Join us to discover (or revisit, if you’ve been doing it for a while) how to tailor these approaches to your team's unique dynamics, overcome initial resistance, and create a more vibrant, connected, and productive work environment.
About the speakers:
Agnė has been exploring agility for over 10 years now and she has supported a number of teams through change - company reorganisation, growth and scaling.
She has coached teams and individuals on Lean methods, Kanban, Scrum, as well as different prioritisation and decision making frameworks. While Agnė wore many hats during her career - project manager, program manager, scrum master, people lead, she has always steered it towards people and interactions.
Her favorite part of Agnė's job is to find creative ways to get people talking and finding solutions in unexpected places.
Jane is a seasoned Agile Coach with a diverse background in the IT field, having held various roles - from User Support Specialist to Scrum Master, Agile Coach and Engineering Manager. The breadth of experiences allows her to combine different perspectives and be creative as well as flexible in her methodology. For example, have you tried using music for boosting up your meetings?
Jane specializes in improving ways of working to enhance efficiency, utilizing a variety of methods and tools, and driving for outcomes. She's passionate about finding root causes of issues while maintaining empathy and holding space for her team.
Agnė and Jane met when they both worked as agile coaches at the same company in Estonia. They clicked right away, seeing their mission at work the same way - at the same time they challenged each other and learned a lot from their time working together. So much so, that they continued consulting each other even when they moved on to different companies, and even started independent contracting activities together.
Building Tomorrow's Products: Adapting Agile Practices for AI-Powered Products
Generative AI is here - and it's here to stay. The products of the future are currently being built on Large Language Model (LLM) technologies, harnessing the power of textual recognition and generation to create human-like interactions and experiences.
But what does that mean for the Agile Coaches and Product Managers supporting the teams building LLM-powered products? This session walks through the lessons learnt in working with a team on a Generative AI product, and how this requires a shift in our approaches.
About the speaker:
Ben is a Scrum Master, Coach and Agile Thinker, currently working as Agile Lead at 15gifts. In the past, Ben has worked at companies of different sizes and approaches, including Bright, American Express, and Applied Systems. He has over 9 years of experience working with teams of various sizes, domains and maturities, utilising a toolkit of different techniques and processes to build and grow thriving teams.
For the past 4 years Ben has also been co-organiser of the Lean Agile Brighton meetup and annual conference.
Things that Ben likes: Disney, Liberating Structures, Brighton and Hove Albion, actionable metrics and rock music.
Embracing Change: Leadership Agility in a Rapidly Evolving Landscape
In a world where change is the only constant, being agile is no longer an option – it's a necessity for survival. But what does it truly mean to be an agile leader in the age of disruption? Join us for a captivating journey into the heart of agile leadership, where we unravel the secrets to thriving in an era of unprecedented volatility. Discover why the most successful leaders aren't just tech-savvy but also deeply human.
We’ll explore the essence of true agile leadership – enabling teams to achieve extraordinary results while creating great workplaces and value for society. Discover the paradoxical mindset shifts that agile leaders must embrace, turning uncertainty into opportunity. Learn how to masterfully blend cutting-edge technologies like AI with the quintessentially human skills of empathy, emotional intelligence, and creativity.
Through real-world case studies, you'll learn to navigate the delicate dance between innovation and operational excellence, fostering a culture of experimentation while maintaining a laser focus on customer-centric excellence.
This talk isn't just about keeping up—it's about staying ahead, embracing the chaos, and leading with agility and heart.
Prepare to be inspired, challenged, and equipped with a practical toolkit for unleashing the agile rebel within – because in today's rapidly evolving landscape, the future belongs to the boldest and most adaptable leaders.
Buckle up and get ready to redefine what it means to lead effectively in this fast-paced world!
About the speaker:
As a business agility specialist and executive advisor, Mun-Wai specializes in building adaptive and innovative organizations. Her clients learn from and appreciate her pragmatic and people-first systems approach. “Release the potential of your staff and they will release the potential of the business” is what she goes by. She has over 20 years of corporate and agile experience. Started in Engineering, she ended up being Chief of Staff when she started messing around in HR, Finance and Facilities. She works in organizations around the world, from startups to large enterprises, across various industries. Her ability to make the complex simple allows her to help the executives understand how their decisions affect the rest of the organization across the globe.
She frequently speaks at global conferences and professional gatherings. She also shares her experience, thoughts, and insights through her podcast, blogs, articles, and monthly Leadership Memos at https://www.munwaic.com.
Embarking on the Agile Adventure: A coach's Journey
Discover the power of a journey line to explore your personal or professional experiences.
In this interactive talk, Rachel will share her own career journey as a consultant and independent agile coach, highlighting key milestones, challenges, and lessons learned.
We'll collectively create a shared journey line, identifying common themes and sparking insightful conversations.
By the end, you'll have tools and inspiration to reflect on your own path, set new goals, and navigate your agile career with greater clarity.
About the speaker:
Rachel is a passionate agile coach & consultant dedicated to guiding teams and organisations on their agile journey, with a decade of experience across diverse project environments including consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, oil & gas and retail.
She is committed to coaching, mentoring and training. A career in consulting has helped her to apply a can-do attitude to problems faced and find a collaborative solution.
Earlier this year, Rachelle returned from a year & a half trip around the world and is back consulting with a client for almost 6 months and will share the journey to get here.
Fitting agile into hardware: a square peg in a round hole
So, you thought agile was the magic sauce for everything, right? Enter hardware development, where change isn't exactly welcome, and flexibility sounds like a bad joke. Hardware says, "Nah, I'm good with my long timelines and strict processes."
Trying to make agile fit here? It's like jamming a square peg into a round hole—funny in theory, frustrating in practice.
In this talk, we’ll laugh at the chaos, cringe at the failures, smile at the"what was I thinking?" moments and explore the quirky ways we've tried to make it work.
Spoiler: It’s messy, it’s awkward, but hey, sometimes that square peg just needs a little sanding down to fit in. Join me for some ironic insights and mashed solutions!
About the speaker:
Temi has 15+ years of industry experience in product, project & change management and business analysis across United Kingdom & North America. She has worked extensively in healthtech and applied sciences - involved in product initiation, commercialisation and sunsetting, agile transformation.
Her passion includes helping professionals arrive at new results that they desire personally and professionally through transformational coaching.
She is a Maxwell certified coach and a behavioural analyst (Maxwell DISC).
She volunteers as an executive coach with The Center for Non-Profit Coaching which offers coaching services to executives of non-profit organisations.
Also, Temi works with technology organisations on team transformation – building trust-based and effective teams.
Temi is ever learning & ever giving. Temi believes sleep and rest are under-rated.
Leadership in an Agile world and the need to rethink how we learn
Did you know a Scrum Master is an Agile leader? That change agents are that too? But what is a leader - any leader - really?
In this talk, we will discuss why learning to become a leader is such a challenge. We will discuss how the result is that our leaders are often winging it and how this results in rampant impostor syndrome.
We will explore how this struggle stems from the way we learn and how by adopting a different kind of learning, we can recover the lost art of leadership.
Takeaways:
About the speaker:
Erik started life as an ecologist, but found better employment opportunities as a programmer… and soon started wondering why work often is so painful. Until he discovered Agile.
For Erik, Agile is the next step in the evolution of how we organise ourselves and how we embrace learning. With Agile we are catalysing major social change starting at the one place where we spend most of our time - our work.
Erik is a Flow Master, writer, speaker, and editor. He works at Scrum Facilitators, where they are committed to contributing to this social change by helping everyone to understand and adopt Agile.
The Agile Dilemma: Experience Over Certificates
In today’s Agile landscape, certifications are booming, driven by employer demands and the pressure to stay competitive. Many professionals find themselves chasing one certificate after another, seeking validation and fearing they’ll be left behind. But does this trend truly foster growth, or does it create "paper experts"—individuals with credentials but lacking practical, real-world experience?
This talk delves into the psychological aspects behind this phenomenon, focusing on how the pursuit of certifications often stems from deeper issues of self-esteem and the need for external validation. We’ll explore the balance between seeking qualifications and building genuine confidence and mastery through hands-on experience.
Attendees will gain psychological insights on when further certification is beneficial and when it becomes a distraction from true Agile success, along with strategies to manage external pressures from employers and the market.
About the speaker:
Raminta Sunshine is an Inspirational Speaker and Transformation Coach who helps people worldwide pursue their dreams and unlock their true potential. Through conferences, workshops, seminars, media, and 1:1 CBT (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy) sessions and coaching, she empowers individuals to find their path to purpose and passion. Raminta is a Certified Coach (ICF), Points of You® Certified Trainer, and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Communication. She has studied Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for 4 years and dedicates 80 days a year to learning and self-reflection with world-renowned teachers to better serve others.
With 10 years of experience in personal development and psychology, and 17 years in education, communication, and event organization, Raminta has honed her ability to understand the deep psychological factors that influence personal growth. Her work centers on helping individuals break free from self-doubt, perfectionism, and the need for external validation—key themes that resonate in her talks. She jokingly refers to herself as a "certified perfectionist" 😊, reflecting on her past tendency to seek validation through endless qualifications. Now, she uses this experience to show how people can move beyond the trap of chasing diplomas and embrace real-world confidence and growth
Now traveling the world as a digital nomad, Raminta continues to share her insights globally. In her latest talk, "The Agile Dilemma: Experience Over Certificates," she brings a fresh psychological perspective, exploring how the relentless pursuit of certifications, particularly in the Agile world, can mask deeper issues of self-esteem and external validation. Raminta empowers individuals to stop chasing diplomas and focus on real growth through hands-on experience, showing that true success and fulfillment start from within, not on paper.
Maximizing value with an Evolutionary Org Design
There are many ways to scale the Product development. You can find tons of articles on the web describing various frameworks and custom approaches. Many advertise themselves as the ultimate solution for all the scaling pains and issues. And all of that is barely true. One reason for that is the lack of emphasis on the Organizational Design adaptations it takes to enable true agility.
If you are looking for ways to scale your Product beyond a single team or feel, that your current scaling framework fails to deliver on promises - this session might be the right choice for you! In his talk, Denis will reflect on his experience of organizing and optimizing Organizational Design and Product development at scale in successful tech companies, ranging from startups of few teams to ""unicorn"" scale-ups. Learn how utilizing a data-driven approach, Empiricism and Systems Thinking may help you to move your organisation beyond a rule book and achieve real adaptivity across the whole org or its parts.
About the speaker:
Denis is an Org Design Consultant, Professional Scrum Master, Kanban Coach & LeSS Practitioner working with development teams and company leaders since 2014. He has taken an active part in multiple Agile transformations and organised Product development Scaling at various startups and enterprises in Europe, North Africa and the US, including “unicorn” startups N26 (Germany) and PandaDoc (USA).
Enhancing Efficiency: Leveraging OKRs and Flow Metrics for Optimal Performance
Scaling a startup is a complex journey, often plagued by inefficiencies and bottlenecks. Our experience was no different. However, by focusing on flow metrics, we dramatically improved our operational efficiency.
Through the use of Monte Carlo Simulation, we gained a deeper understanding of our speed of delivery. This approach enabled us to identify areas for process improvement and adjust our goals to align with reality. As a result, we successfully shortened our cycle time from 106 days to 10 days or less. Here’s how we did it and the lessons we learned along the way.
About the speaker:
Gosia has been working in the IT industry since 2013, starting as a manual tester in a small startup. She explored various roles, including QA manual and automation, business analyst, project manager, and scrum master, ultimately finding her passion in sharing agile knowledge. Gosia enjoys helping people and companies embrace the agile mindset and build their culture around it. Her experience includes Scrum, Kanban, NEXUS Scaled Scrum Framework, Lean Management, and Management 3.0.
Agnostic Agile - Principles over Frameworks
All to often we are stuck on rigid frameworks and strict 'guidelines' when we should focus on what works and what doesn't and why. Being agnostic is about returning to the root of agile and truly unlock the potential.
There are in total 13 principles in Agnostic Agile Manifesto that Danny will cover, and especially deep dive into the 8th which is about never misleading or misrepresenting, as it turns out Agile is often misrepresented in the modern context.
About the speaker:
Danny is currently working as an Agile Coach but has a background in Game Development as both a Game Designer and Software Developer. Aside from that he has been a teacher and educator for almost every level of the Danish education system has to offer, within IT, Communication, Project management and programming, he also has published both scientific work about Horror in Computer Game Design and two fictional horror novels.
For the last 5 years Danny has been working in large corporations as both a Scrum Master and an Agile Coach. During this time he held several internal and external talks on Agile.
Failure is the Pillar of Success - How Losing Can Help You WIN
Success in Agile transformation often stems from understanding and leveraging failure. In this session, "Failure is the Pillar of Success—How Losing Can Help You WIN," we explore the pivotal role of failure in the Agile journey.
We begin by examining the primary reasons why Agile transformations fail, providing clarity on the common pitfalls and missteps. Building on this foundation, we offer actionable strategies to overcome these failures, transforming fear and setbacks into opportunities for growth.
By embracing a fearless mindset and using failure as a strategic tool, teams can turn obstacles into stepping stones for sustainable success.
This session will equip attendees with the knowledge to pivot from losing to winning, ultimately fostering a more resilient and effective Agile practice.
About the speaker:
Samant Kumar is a seasoned Portfolio Manager and Agile Program Manager at Capgemini, boasting over 21 years of extensive experience in Agile Program/Project Management and software solution delivery across diverse domains. His professional journey is marked by a rich repertoire of certifications including SAFe SPC, ICP-ACC, A-CSM, CSM, and CSPO, solidifying his reputation as an agile champion.
Having previously contributed to IBM, Samant has cultivated a career focused on agile coaching, leadership, and management across product, program, and project dimensions. His proficiency spans agile tools, virtual collaboration tools, and career guidance, underscoring his commitment to achieving successful project outcomes and nurturing team excellence.
Samant's educational background includes a postgraduate degree in Finance and Marketing, complementing his Bachelor of Technology credentials. Actively engaged in the Agile community, he is a distinguished speaker at Agile/PM conferences, Symposiums, and local PMI chapters. His contributions have earned him recognition such as the Globee Award 2024, along with numerous accolades from Capgemini and IBM.
He is affiliated with esteemed professional associations including IEEE, PMI, Asian Society of Indian Engineers (ASIE), Scrum Alliance, Agile Alliance, Scrum.org, and Keep Austin Agile (KAA).
Samant has also served as a judge in prestigious events like the Stevie Award, Globee Award, Texas Science and Engineering Fair (TXSEF), and Science Exhibition of Houston.
Committed to mentorship, he actively participates in programs at Katy ISD School District, Texas, and adplist.org. Samant has contributed to several publications featured in prominent platforms such as UT Dallas Project Management Symposium, IGI Global Publishing, Dzone, and SIUE PM Symposium.
Beyond his professional commitments, he resides in Katy, Texas, with his wife and two children, finding joy in reading, cooking, meditation, and mentoring on spirituality.
Samant Kumar's multidimensional expertise and dedication establish him as a valuable asset in the domains of Agile and project management, embodying leadership and innovation in his professional endeavors.
Fueling Product Owner Growth: Insights from 3 Agile Coaching Case Studies
In this session, we will explore three real-world cases from Agile coaching practice that highlight the journey of Product Owner growth. Through these cases, attendees will gain insights into the challenges faced by Product Owners at different stages of maturity, and the tailored coaching strategies that were employed to overcome these obstacles.
Whether you are looking to accelerate the growth of your current Product Owners or are an Agile coach seeking new approaches to empower your clients, this session will offer valuable perspectives and practical guidance to fuel the growth of this pivotal role.
About the speaker:
With seven years of experience as an Agile Coach, working with global companies Maria’s journey in Agile has not only been about implementing practices but also about fostering a community—evidenced by her role as the organizer of regular International Agile summits in Tbilisi, Georgia.
As a Professional Kanban Trainer and the author of a popular Udemy course, Maria is committed to spreading Agile practices through education and training. As a Ph.D. in Management Science and lecturer at three universities in Georgia, she continues to merge academic theory with practical application. Balancing her professional life, Maria is also a mother of three teenagers, which brings its own unique set of Agile challenges!
Human Intellect overpowers Artificial Intelligence
Ashutosh will speak about how in spite of Artificial Intelligence permeating across the corporate landscape and workplace, its ultimately the human intellect which holds the sway.
He will showcase a few Agile working situations like authoring user stories, providing estimation, planning sprints and how AI tools like ChatGPT can help us come out with an initial framework for our work. However, to make the Agile Way of working work, what's needed is a Coachig mindset, individuals and interactions and application of human intellect.
About the speaker:
Ashutosh is a Senior Industry Professional having 25 years of experience in the field of Enterprise-wide Agile Transformation, Scaled Agile & Scrum implementation, Agile Coaching, Agile Test Strategy, Software Project Management, Project Consulting, Leadership Coaching and Mentoring.
He has consulting experience & expertise in many areas including coaching & consulting teams in their Agile journey, scaled Agile Framework implementation & rollout, implementing Agile Practices like Test Driven Development (TDD), ATDD & CI/CD, etc.
Shared Leadership - leaders are everywhere, how research on agile teams meets practice
Leadership has been considered from every angle (almost) and the efforts are going strong. New ideas, books and trends, fads are popping out frequently. Are you curious is there something more to say?
It’s not a secret that leadership in Agile is a fundament, looking from attitude and role to practice at every level of the organization. However, It is time to embrace shared leadership, a very helpful concept in describing an emergent team phenomenon whereby leadership roles and influence are distributed among team members. This approach has surprising support in studies about team performance, well-established history, and even practitioner anecdotal evidence.
Everyone can be a leader. Can this be all so simple?
In the talk, Jakub will share his hard (and less painful) multi-year experience, in creating an environment and working as a leader and with other leaders. All that will be accompanied by practical tips and scientific research. The talk will be finished with hope and surprise for the audience.
About the speaker:
Jakub is an Agile Coach and Design Thinking Coach trying to humanize the workspace. He supports people and organizations in creating an environment conducive to learning and goal-oriented work driven by empathy. Jakub promotes learning through experimentation and problem understanding, bringing a systems perspective. He is driven by diversity and the creativity that emerges from working with a group.
Jakub is a certified trainer and facilitator, lifelong learner, hobbyist, and scientific researcher (PhD in progress) actively participating in Agile communities, trying to run, read philosophy, travel, and understand contemporary art in his free time.
“My dad” has a fixed mindset. Can I still have an agile mindset?
Let me introduce “my dad” to you. He is my father, my mom, my teacher, my ex-manager, my habits, my “eating at the same time every day,” my geography, my country, my society, my DNA, and everything that fixes my mindset. Putting the past aside, do I need to still live with and like my fixed mindset? Why do we like it and stick to it? Don’t we need to have an agile mindset to survive? Yes, we do; this is what we were taught. So, how can we develop and let it emerge, even in places that are full of people with a fixed mindset (No matter if our organization is practicing agile or not, we are probably surrounded by people with a fixed mindset)?
In this talk, after interviewing with more than 20 managers, agile coaches, and team members, I will provide insights into why we have a fixed mindset, why we like it, why we are afraid of shifting to an agile one, and how we, starting with ourselves, can develop and foster an agile mindset in our teams and organizations.
About the speaker:
Necmettin Özkan is a seasoned expert who dives deep into the waters of agility, agile mindset, continuous improvement and more. Among the frameworks, he closely works with ITIL, COBIT, Scrum, and Kanban. Mixed with academic and 15-plus-years practical experiences, he gained balanced, systematic, and critical thinking perspectives.
Recently, he has been working toward his Ph.D. degree at Gebze Technical University, on Agile Mindset. He is also passionate about contributing to the body of knowledge by sharing through public speaking at over 40+ events, organizing events, lecturing at universities, mentoring for start-ups, and reviewing for international journals and conferences, and producing publications.
Effective strategies for managing different behaviors in meetings
Meetings are essential for collaboration and decision making in any organization, yet they don't reach their full potential due to unproductive behaviors.
During this presentation we will explore some practical techniques to handle various challenging behaviors that we encounter in everyday life.
By identifying common behaviors - such as silent participants, frequent interruptions or off-topic distractions or even open conflict - we can better prepare and come up with strategies to address them.
These strategies aim to foster a more inclusive, productive and positive meeting environment where all participants can contribute.
Attendees will leave with some actionable items that they can use in their meetings, ensuring their sessions will be not only productive but also enjoyable and engaging.
About the speaker:
Andreea began her career as a Computer Science teacher, transitioned to programming, but soon realized that helping herteam by facilitating meetings had an even greater impact. This led Andreea down the path of Agile, where she focused more on meeting facilitation and providing in-house Agile training for her distributed team.
With over 12 years of experience as a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and Professional Scrum Master (PSM I), and 4 years as a Project Manager, her focus shifted towards meeting facilitation, team building, leadership, mentoring, and fostering an Agile community in Brasov.
Andreea believes that by focusing on the people behind the product, helping them grow and stay aligned with what matters most, we can boost motivation and improve overall product quality.
The Product Owner’s Nightmare - from Chaos to Contribution
What if you could transform chaos into meaningful contribution? As Product Owners, we’re often expected to align all the different stakeholders around a single product vision and, frankly, it’s hard! With the developers’ focus on technical excellences, the clients’ request for even more features, and your organization’s view on keeping the budget in check, how could we stay sane in this nightmare world?
Imagine turning every challenge into an opportunity for your team to thrive. How would this shift your approach to managing diverse stakeholder priorities?
In our workshop, The Product Owner’s Nightmare: from Chaos to Contribution, we will explore practical insights and actionable strategies for navigating diverse stakeholder agendas. Through interactive exercises and structured debriefs, you will gain concrete tips to tweak and apply immediately in your professional contexts, empowering you to foster understanding and collaboration among your stakeholders.
After Agile Tour 2023 Bernadeta and Charles-Louis discussed the fact that there weren’t many topics focused on Product Ownership at the conference - so that’s how, in November 2023, we decided to create a workshop in the hope that it would be presented at the conference… and here we are 😉
About the speakers:
Bernadeta Nikrevičė – From Chemist to Scrum Master. This remarkable transformation has equipped her with a unique perspective, allowing her to effortlessly experiment with IT teams and drive change through small, incremental experiments.
Bernadeta thrives on innovation and empowering teams to reach their full potential. She excels in facilitating, coaching, and leading teams to achieve peak productivity and collaboration. Her passion for continuous learning and the Agile mindset fuels her eagerness to adapt and grow constantly.
She trully believes that you can achieve anything you can imagine, as long as you remain focused and diligently work towards your dreams. This outlook guides her in all her endeavors, and she is dedicated to helping people turn their dreams into reality.
With a background that combines scientific rigor and agile philosophy, Bernadeta is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between technical precision and agile flexibility. Her journey from chemistry to IT has not only enriched her skill set but also given her a profound understanding of the dynamics of change and the importance of small, consistent steps in achieving significant progress.
Charles-Louis de Maere’s mission is to make the world a better place one step at a time by reducing frustration levels in the workplace. His main area of expertise is in the field of human relationships.
As a Scrum Master/Agile Coach, Charles-Louis thrives when bringing people in contact with agile values and letting them apply their understanding of it to their context. This can be limited to the IT department. However, he’s noticed the benefits are much higher when everyone is on board. Charles-Louis is also more interested in pragmatism than applying dogmas without reflection. The goal should still be to work on something of value and perform relevant work. He’s worked both with start-ups as well as big institutions, adapting his coaching to what’s needed.
As a trainer/facilitator, Charles-Louis strongly believes people learn at their best when they are given the space to experiment and start important conversations. Although he has a fair idea of the structure of the training, he also lets the training topics emerge from what the participants need to enrich their experience, rather than enforcing his strict training program.
Emotions source of our motions
Is it possible to "leave your emotions at home"?
Could it be that there are no bad emotions at all?
How to cope with the strong emotions of others?
How familiar are you with your own body and emotions?
Do you believe that emotions significantly affect our motions, actions, decisions, projects, and results? ...and vice versa?
Join a highly interactive workshop by Vladimirs Ivanovs and Marija Maijere from agiletransformer.com and discover answers to the questions above.
Would you like to foster your emotional literacy?
Get familiar with your rainbow of emotions and learn to appreciate them.
About the speakers:
Vladimirs Ivanovs is Optimus Prime of the agiletransformer.com team. He has worked in various sectors and provided coaching and training all over the EMEA region. He was Agile Coach for British Petroleum and lived in Azerbaijan and Georgia for a few years, working with senior leaders.
His passions are graphic visualization (sorry, no PowerPoint in his training) and his mustache.
Vladimirs has presented different topics at Agile community events for more than 10 years. He is a certified trainer of the trainers for the "Training from the BACK of the Room" approach.
Marija Maijere is agiletransformer girl and the creative soul behind new games, workshops, and innovative practices. Her passion and active studies in the area of Expressive arts, Psychodrama and Drama therapy serve as an infinitive source of innovations and helped to create dozens of unique training programs for companies and universities.
Marija's background in product management and digital marketing in industries from retail and telecom to online dating and recruitment helps her find a common language with anyone.
They motto is "Learning with FUN!", and so are their workshops.
They're not only colleagues, but a married couple with 22 years of experience and 2 kids raised with love and agility.
Don’t cascade OKRs! Build a Solar System!
AI, digitalisation, sustainability ... There are always new strategic challenges to overcome, and strategic alignment remains one of the most critical criteria for success.
Outcome-oriented strategy development and execution, for example with OKRs, can be a transformative force to create strategic alignment. However, the widespread practice of cascading or copying organisational charts often slows down and hinders engagement.
But there is an alternative: ‘The Solar System’ - a model developed by Cansel Sörgens, through her practice proven OKR expertise of 8+ years, to strengthen cross-team alignment and collaboration. In this interactive workshop you can learn how to break down silos and foster interdisciplinary cross-team collaboration that goes beyond vertical and horizontal dimensions.
Takeaways:
About the speaker:
Cansel Sörgens brings over 15 years of experience in leading strategic, cross-departmental projects and driving Agile Transformations. As an Organisational Coach, she supports companies of all sizes across diverse industries, including e-commerce, med-tech, consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy. Cansel’s expertise is particularly strong in agile strategy development, outcome oriented OKRs, and fostering cross-department collaboration. She shares her knowledge as an international speaker, author, and founder of OKR Lean Coffee.
Let's hit the gym! Working out our teamwork
Teamwork is tough, and it’s not getting easier. As more teams switch to remote or hybrid work models, building and maintaining a sense of connection and shared purpose among team members is becoming increasingly challenging. If we're going to get our teams healthy, we need to hit the teamwork gym!
Join collaboration architect and coach, Mark Cruth, for an engaging workshop on the practices necessary to build a healthy team! We'll develop a shared understanding around topics like roles and responsibilities, how we work intentionally together, and building relationships with other teams. With just four simple exercises, you can bring your team in shape to become more productive and innovative.
So let's pump...you up!
About the speaker:
Focused on practice over theory, Mark is a pragmatic modern work designer and coach. With over a decade of experience experimenting with teamwork practices at places like Boeing, Nordstrom, Charles Schwab, and Rocket Mortgage, Mark's mission is to inject modern ways of working, a transformation mindset, and the power of expert storytelling into everything he does.
Today Mark works as the Principle Modern Work Coach for Atlassian, a company focused on unleashing the potential of every team! Mark spends his days coaching both Atlassian and customer teams on new ways of working, then sharing what he's learned at events around the world!
Mark is an international keynote speaker on a variety of topics related to improving communication and inspiring change within and across teams. Over the last two years, he has spoken at 50+ events around the world, as well as 20+ different local meet-ups and community groups. For a sample of his speaking experience, check out the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZKLF1aWD4Q&ab_channel=RunningRemote
Along with his speaking, Mark also writes about teamwork for Quartz. Check out my recent articles here:
Shake Up Your Thinking: Unleashing Innovation (and Fun!) Using Liberating Structures
The year is 2024 and we have technology at our fingertips that our ancestors could only have dreamed of, plus the wisdom of some of the most inspiring business leaders and writers to learn from.
"So why is it that so many organizations of all stripes are filled with disengaged workers, dysfunctional groups and wasted ideas?” (liberating structures.com)
If you’re bored with the same old meetings, status reports or presentations, come and join our workshop where we will teach you new ways to release the creativity that’s just under the surface in yourself and in your organisation. For those who may have already encountered some Liberating Structures, we’ll teach you some new ones which you’ve probably never seen or had the opportunity to use. And you’ll then get the opportunity to practice them yourselves in a highly interactive way.
If you’ve listened to conference sessions and thought “that’s great in theory, but I’ll never be able to use that in my organisation”, this workshop is for you!
About the speakers:
Darren has 30 years of experience in the IT industry, having been a developer, team manager, Scrum Master, and Agile Coach. He is currently the interim Head of Product and Delivery with the London Borough of Hackney, where he is responsible for a team of Product Managers and Delivery Managers delivering better services for the residents of Hackney. Yes, innovation is alive and well in the public sector!
He is also a Professional Kanban Trainer with ProKanban.org, teaching organisations how to improve the flow of value through their processes, and has recently discovered a passion for visual facilitation, thanks to Charles-Louis De Maere!
Nisha started her professional journey as a Business Analyst and then progressed to leading large-scale projects and programmes across various industries.
Stumbling upon Scrum over a decade ago, and with a keen ability to rally teams and orchestrate successful change, Nisha quickly found her footing in Scrum Master and Delivery Manager roles. She's since honing her craft in servant leadership, building and coaching teams to deliver outcomes that make Gantt charts blush!
Nisha Joshi is also the co-host of the engaging podcast, "The Delivery Space". She brings a fervour for sharing authentic experiences of driving change within organisations.
Agile Adventure: Designing Organizations with Robotics Subsumption Architecture
This LEGO Cards-based workshop allows participants to experience the principles of Robotics Subsumption architecture and their application in building agile organizations interactively.
Why the Subsumption architecture? Have you ever encountered roadblocks with frameworks like SAFe, LeSS, or Scrum at Scale? Are issues related to managing dependencies, bottlenecks, and delays causing headaches? It might be time to explore an innovative approach – the application of Subsumption architecture.
Join us in this workshop as we delve into the realm of building an agile organization, guided by the visionary Mike Beedle, the inventor of Enterprise Scrum and a distinguished signator of the Agile Manifesto. Mike once said, "Ideally, all hierarchy is in subsumption." But this hierarchy isn't about top-down control; it's a new way of designing organizations for enhanced agility, autonomy, and seamless collaboration.
Discover how adopting an organizational design grounded in Robotics Subsumption architecture can empower your organization to become self-managed, delivering products and services to market faster than ever before. We'll unravel the concept and unveil the remarkable benefits that await those who embrace this transformative approach.
About the speaker:
Sue is deeply passionate about creating and designing an organizational ecosystem for agile organizations, enabling multiple agile teams to collaborate seamlessly as a cohesive, self-managed unit. Her quest for answers reached fruition in 2016 when she crossed paths with the late Mike Beedle, the visionary behind Enterprise Scrum. Under his guidance, she witnessed firsthand how a venture capital firm could be restructured to effectively deliver products and services in today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) market.
With over 16 years of expertise in coaching and guiding organizations in the adoption of agile practices and Scrum at an enterprise level, Sue has been instrumental in driving transformation for Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, she possesses extensive experience in the design and development of software systems using C, C++, Object-Oriented Design, and more, for the telecom, financial industries, and internet startups. Having lent her expertise to renowned companies like Accenture, ADP, Bell Labs, Deutsche Bank, NYSE, and numerous others, her impact has been felt across diverse sectors since the completion of her master’s degree in computer science from NYU.
Applying BRIeF: A Hands-On Workshop on Business Resilience and Disruptive Innovation
Are you seeking effective strategies to enhance resilience and foster innovation in your organization? Join our workshop, designed specifically for business leaders, managers, and professionals in strategic planning and innovation roles.
In this interactive session, we delve into the Business Resilience and Innovation Enhancement Framework (BRIeF), a proven model for navigating today's rapidly changing business landscape. Experience firsthand how BRIeF can transform challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation.
For instance, imagine your organization facing a sudden market shift due to emerging technologies. In our workshop, you'll apply BRIeF to this scenario, crafting strategies that not only navigate this disruption but also capitalize on it to gain a competitive edge.
This workshop isn't just about learning a model; it's about equipping you with practical tools and strategies to turn potential crises into catalysts for innovation and growth in your organization while providing your organization with an Agile alternative to traditional business continuity planning.
About the speaker:
Angel is an energetic and forward-thinking Agile coach specializing in leadership development and organizational agility. His pragmatism and experience in organizational coaching and Business Agility are the driving forces behind his methods. Throughout his 15+ years of hands-on experience as a coach, trainer, and mentor, Angel has provided expert guidance to organizations and Agile leaders in North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Angel’s leadership has been particularly notorious at the ING Group, where he has performed as the first Agile Champion at ING Spain and chairman of the first Global ING Agile Experts Group since 2010. He has also supported companies from more than 40 countries, contributing to the Agile journeys of King, Toyota, Falabella, Banco de Chile, Roche, BBVA, Sunhotels, DEWA, FAB, PZU Group and the Catalan Institute of Oncology.
Angel holds the Scrum Alliance’s highest-level certifications in the field. Being the first Spanish CST (Certified Scrum Trainer), the first Spanish CEC (Certified Enterprise Coach), and the first European CALE (Certified Agile Leadership Educator).
Angel is also a PCC (Certified Professional Coach) by the International Coach Federation, a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), Certified specialist in team coaching and systemic leadership, Management 3.0 facilitator, Certified Kanban Management Professional (KMP), Certified LargeScaleScrum Practitioner (CLP), Certified SAFe® Program Consultant (SPC), Licensed NLP Practitioner and TTI-certified Behaviour and Motivation Analyst.
In addition, Angel is the founder of the Agile Coaches Alliance, the Business Resilience Institute and DM Agile Coaching. He has participated as a speaker and keynote at more than 100 international conferences and Agile events worldwide and has been a significant contributor to the international Agile community since 2009.
Metaphorically Safe
Achieving psychological safety is hard. It requires time and effort in building a lot of trust.
What if there was a way to accelerate the process?
What if there was a very simple tool that we can adopt that makes even the more introvert people feel comfortable opening up?
What if we had already known about that tool and have just forgotten how powerful it is?
That tool is Metaphors, an extremely powerful sorcery lost in time.
Yes, because as children we grow up learning through stories that are metaphors for topics that may be too difficult for our younger minds to digest.
As adults we hide hard truth behind stories that seem apt to children and instead speak deep truth.
A wolf, a wooden puppet, an animal farm.
In this workshop we’ll aim to rediscover the power of metaphors as a way to create an environment where it’s psychologically safe to share stories, facts, feeling that otherwise it would normally be hard to share.
We’ll try a series of exercises operating at different level to learn techniques to have conversations that feel safe for the people involved. We’ll draw symbols, we’ll build ducks with Lego, we’ll impersonate objects, we’ll become objects.
We’ll project our thoughts into metaphors. Safely.
About the speaker:
Francesco is a Collaboration Alchemist on a mission to make the world of work more fun. His current focus is on building learning experiences in a safe and inclusive environment by leveraging all of the cutting-edge techniques for Visual Thinking, Brain-Science based learning and Facilitation for highly collaborative meetings to ensure people are and feel at the center.
Improve your stories by fixing your Cast
People love to hear good stories. Stories are like jokes, the ones we like we tend to spread like Nutella on a loaf of bread, the ones we don't like…
For centuries, storytelling has been our primary method of transferring knowledge and creating lasting impact. And even in today's business world a good story can make the difference between value added or missed opportunity.
In this session, we'll delve into the enchanting world of crafting and sharing impactful stories, exploring how it can help you in your role as a product professional.
About the speaker:
Jan is a seasoned Product Owner Coach with a rich background in guiding product teams.
Concurrently, Jan coaches Product Owners to enhance their product management skills, he coordinates several Communities of Practice for Product Owners and he consults on product strategy.
As a Trainer, Jan designs and delivers advanced training sessions for Product Owners, he teaches Start-up Strategy and Design Thinking at a university college in Antwerp and he is a certified trainer for Training From the Back of the Room.
Throughout the years Jan gained diverse experience as a Product Owner, Scrum Master, Business Analyst , garbage collector and even as a local police officer, demonstrating his versatility and commitment to continuous learning and adaptation.
His unique blend of Belgian humor, strategic thinking, and hands-on coaching makes him a valuable for any organisation wishing to improve the way they work.
Agile Leadership in Chaotic Times: Boosting Well-Being in a Connected World
As the lines between work and life blur in our rapidly changing world, managers are under immense pressure to support both their teams and themselves.
This workshop offers actionable Agile techniques to help leaders manage stress, enhance well-being, and thrive amid the complexities of post-pandemic challenges, hybrid work, and global unrest.
Discover how inclusion, emotional clarity, and group dialogue can create a more resilient and connected workplace.
About the speaker:
Ivo's total experience spans over a 20+ years in roles starting from technical IT end of spectrum till hands on Scrum Mastering from 2013, Agile Coaching and Team Coaching from 2017. He has spent most of his career in international, English-speaking business environments mostly in EU and US-based organizations. In 2021 Ivo became the 1st CTC (Certified Team Coach) from Scrum Alliance in the Baltics region.
New Angle on Performance Reviews: Driving High-Performing Teams with Team Performance Review
Have you ever found individual performance reviews to be subjective, or experienced fear and stress during the review process? You're not alone.
In this session, Sarah will explore a fresh perspective on performance reviews that can alleviate the pain and maximize the gains of individual performance evaluations.
While some companies have abandoned traditional performance reviews altogether, Sarah proposes a new approach—a team performance review.
This session is designed for individuals in any role, providing a valuable opportunity to explore a fresh perspective on performance reviews. While participants may not have managerial responsibilities, they can still make a significant contribution to their team's success. By understanding the subjective nature of individual reviews and their impact on collaboration and productivity, they can actively contribute to high team performance and foster a positive team dynamic.
This session empowers individuals to create a positive impact within their teams, regardless of their direct management responsibilities.
About the speaker:
Sarah is an Agile coach with 16 years of expertise who focuses on practices and ways of working. Sarah brings to the fore and feels hurdles, explores progress, and celebrates goal accomplishments, recognizing that people are “empowered, supported, and completely capable of doing it.”
She transitioned from practicing to coaching, during which her heart and mind were transformed: “Aha, it's a learning journey; celebrate passing through it.” She discovered her abilities of bringing order to chaos and being observant and curious about growth, all while establishing and maintaining communication and collaboration bonds.
She is privileged to work with people, strengthening their involvement in the purpose, enabling them to own their lives autonomously, and triggering their thoughts to focus on goal fulfillment through powerful conversations.
With a background in banking, healthcare, and telecommunications, she has experience working as a reliable collaborator. She is well-organized, energetic, a self-starter, and a team player.
We Don't Have Time! 15-Minute Team Coaching Practices to Glue Your Team Back Together
We don't have time for long retros and team coaching sessions. We have work to do." Sounds familiar? In our fast-paced world, focusing on team improvement often takes a back seat to immediate tasks.
As Agile Coaches, we face a paradox: we're taught to solve problems, but true coaching is about empowering others to find their own solutions. So, how do we create space for reflection and improvements without resistance, all within tight time constraints?
Enter the power of 15-minute informal interactions. This workshop explores how to leverage these brief moments to boost team productivity and cohesion. We'll use a balanced approach that builds on organizational strengths and fosters a positive culture.
Through interactive exercises, we'll answer three key questions:
We'll practice the Five Disciplines Model of Team Effectiveness, sharing quick yet profound exercises:
Using Agile Tour Vilnius 2024 as our case study, we'll go beyond standard agile practices to unlock the hidden potential in everyday interactions.
By the end of this session, you'll have a practical toolkit of 15-minute practices to implement immediately, driving lasting improvements in your team's dynamics and performance.
Join us to discover how small interventions can make a big impact in our time-crunched world. Let's glue our teams back together, one 15-minute practice at a time!
About the speaker:
Anna is an Agile Coach, Trainer, and Consultant with over 15 years of experience in Agile coaching, process optimization, and strategic delivery.
Since 2010, she has been helping companies and teams shape innovative ways of working for scalable growth and impactful results. Her expertise has benefited organizations such as SGS Digicomply, Krisp, Ucraft, HSBC, Acba Credit-Agricole Bank, and Joomag. .
Anna has coached more than 300 teams and trained over 4,000 individuals in Agile ways of working. She is a speaker at Agile events and conferences, and the author of two courses: the Agile Team Accelerator Program and the Ultimate Team Performance Toolkit.
Being herself a true humanist, she loves working with people, craving together "Agile mindset" and getting the most out of each team.
How to win at product management
Assumptions and uncertainty are part of product development and management. In this short workshop we will work on understanding why breaking down work is so important.
