Oops, We Inflicted DevOps on our Business—Now What?

It seems that everyone is aflutter with DevOps, the shiny new panacea for all of our software ailments. What technical goodness can DevOps bestow upon us? What riddles does it unlock for us as technologists? How do business goals align in order to wring the true value from DevOps?

Delivering value faster is a desire of many business and IT leaders, and it often looks like a win-lose proposition to achieve it. Metrics and edicts seem to have competing interests, like the car racer being told to "go faster" and "save fuel." Allison shares her experiences with organizations and teams embracing DevOps and how it impacted both IT and business. We’ll explore the dynamics of goals and the conflict they can incite through an interactive game to further dive into what happens when DevOps is and isn’t in tandem with agile coaching.

Join this workshop to look at what it means to align business and IT goals for creating a successful DevOps culture and how agile coaching fits in.

Getting Real without Getting Fired - Saying Things in a Way People Can Hear

Are important words often left unsaid at your place of work? Do you feel like you're navigating a complex maze in conversations? Does your message tend to miss the mark with co-workers, who increasingly seem to be impediments to reaching your goals? Are these unspeakable truths in your workplace that you wish someone would resolve for you?

Trust and communication issues within the workplace can hollow out an organization. Invisible lines get drawn. Alternate forms of communication open up to subvert perceived rivals. Allies are recruited, reinforcing an us vs. them behavior cycle. Organizations are suffering from a lack of trust, and it's costing them speed, productivity, and collaboration. What can YOU do about it?

Regardless of your title, you can be a leader in your organization, and a leader's first job is to inspire trust. In this session, Allison shares models to evaluate your own behaviors and facilitate activities to help you find your voice for speaking the truth in a way that builds trust. Softening the truth can feel comfortable in low trust environments--it's simpler, nicer, and can make you look like a team player. It can also lead to miscommunication, undelivered news, and blame shifting. On the other hand, saying the truth in all of its ugliness is risky and potentially career-limiting. Finding the sweet spot of communication to become a trusted leader takes self-awareness and practice. Attend this workshop and learn to recognize how your behavior is building trust--or not--and practice speaking hard truths so that others can hear it.

Change Management is Leadership

Do you feel like you’re on the frontline of change management? Stressed or frustrated because your efforts don’t feel like enough to make the change real?

Agile Coaches often manage every aspect of change in agile adoptions. And the right sponsorship for real change is missing. This session will help you equip yourself with the tools and people needed to be successful.

Join Allison to learn how to overcome a lack of change sponsorship.