"Get the Agile Basics Right" workshop

Hi everyone,

I'm am running a 1-day "Get the Agile Basics Right" workshop in late June.  This is Agile for everyday people - no rocket scientists need apply. 

It's a public course (but I am (naturally) happy to run it as an in house course too) and I'll initially run it in Scotland (but I'm happy to travel).

The course is designed specifically for people/organisations who:

• are considering adopting Agile for the first time (or are joining an established agile team),
• have recently adopted Agile but still have unanswered questions, or,
• have been doing Agile for a while but are struggling. 

It is a "get the basics right" course and is suitable for anyone working on or with software development projects - you'll find it valuable if you are a customer, analyst, tester, developer, designer, manager or "other".  It doesn't matter what technology you work with, your seniority, or what type of organisation you work for.  My only criteria is that you have to have been successfully working in - or with - software development for at least one year. 

You will learn:
- Why the old ways don't work so well, no matter how hard you try, where we went wrong, and who's to blame.
- Why and how agile works.
- How to use Agile to make loads more money, deliver projects on time, "wow!" your customers, and make your workplace much happier.
- How to plan an Agile project without getting too stressed about it.
- How to execute an agile project.

We will also briefly cover more advanced topics, including, 
- "Agile in the Large" which is how to apply agile thinking to multi-project environments
- Agile techniques for maintenance/support teams.
- How to get your customers involved and committed.

We will also spend some time covering the principles of Test Driven Development (TDD) but in a very effective and non-technical way. 

In case you don't know much about me: My name is Clarke Ching.  I've been running AgileScotland in my spare time for about 4years now.  In my day job I am an Agile/TOC consultant.  The "Pragmatic Programmers" are publishing my business novel "Rolling Rocks Downhill" in 2-3 months time.  RRD tells the story of a senior IT manager who discovers Agile using Theory of Constraints, Lean and Quality thinking.  Strangely, although he figures out how to do Agile on individual projects, how to sell it, and how to apply the same principles to multi-project environments, he never actually uses the word Agile.  If you've read Goldratt's book "The Goal" then this is the same as that - it uses the same principles, even - but it is set in commercial software development, not manufacturing. 

I've done variations of this course (in house) for my clients many times over the last few years and the feedback has always been very, very positive. I've helped folk who are (sensibly) cynical about agile to understand why it works (not just how) and how to use the agile principles to get better, quickly and easily.  I've even had feedback from a few agile converts who have told me, after the course,  that they've "finally got it". 

The course only costs  £300 per person (+VAT), including lunch, etc and will be based in central Edinburgh.  If you prefer Glasgow, Dundee or Aberdeen, Paris, London ... then please let me know and if it's feasible then I will run local courses.

If you are interested (even if you're not ready to commit) then please send me an email - clarke.ching@spiceUpIT.com. I'll give a 20% "early bird" discount to anyone who registers interest within the next week (it makes my planning far, far easier). 

Oh, and please forward this note on to any friends or colleagues who you think may be interested :)

thanks,
Clarke Ching
www.clarkeching.com
+44(0)7920114893